Steve Jobs on Apple Turnaround: A Ship with a Hole
Short unidentified recording · 1997
What Jobs talks about
Jobs uses a vivid image to describe Apple’s condition: “a ship with a hole in the bottom, leaking water.” The point is that the company needed immediate direction and repair, not cosmetic fixes.
He frames his role as steering Apple back on course. Even in a very short exchange, the line captures the urgency and seriousness of the turnaround he was leading.
Jobs speaks throughout; another voice interjects briefly off-camera.
In his words
“Apple is like a ship with a hole in the bottom, leaking water”
“My job is to get the ship pointed in the right direction”
“Uh-huh.”
“That's okay.”
Key points
- Apple was leaking badly and needed urgent attention.
- His job was to point the company in the right direction.
- The image suggests both crisis and the need for decisive leadership.
Full transcript
Apple is like a ship with a hole in the bottom, leaking water, and my job is to get the ship pointed in the right direction. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. That's okay.
Transcribed from the audio by speech recognition (Deepgram). Timestamps link to the video above. Errors are possible.