Steve Jobs on Design: Good design, great work
What Jobs talks about
In this short off-stage recording, Steve Jobs briefly congratulates people around him and repeatedly praises the work as “good design.” The exchange is informal and personal rather than a formal talk.
The strongest thread in the transcript is Jobs’s reaction to what he sees: he calls it good design, says he wants to buy it, and thanks the people involved. It gives a quick glimpse of how closely he tied design to quality and delight.
Even without a formal presentation, the recording captures Jobs’s appreciation for craftsmanship and his habit of encouraging teams directly. It is a small but revealing moment of his design-first outlook.
Jobs speaks with several people around him, including collaborators and attendees.
In his words
“Good design.”
“I want to buy it.”
“Now you know why we have to do this project.”
“A lot of good stuff today.”
“It's going to be a blast.”
Key points
- Jobs responds enthusiastically to the work in front of him.
- He explicitly praises “good design.”
- He says, “I want to buy it,” showing real interest in the result.
- He thanks and congratulates the people around him repeatedly.
- The moment suggests design and execution mattered to him in everyday interactions.
Full transcript
Right there. Everything looks great. Congratulations. Hey. Hi, Steve. Congratulations. Thanks. I'll see you guys later on. Hey. Hi, Steve. Congratulations. Thanks. I'll see you guys later on. I don't think so.
Congratulations. Oh, thank you. Good design. Thank you. I want to buy it. Yeah. Yeah. Good. How about you? Are you guys all right? I think he's good. I know. You're Jonathan, right? Yeah. Yeah. Hi, I'm Dean Ornish. Oh, hello. Hi. Oh. Hi, I'm your social friend, Ashley. Hi, Toshi. Oh, it's nice to meet you. Oh, thank you. Likewise. I got to go back here.
How are you doing? Good. Well, now you know why we have to do this project. Excuse me. Thank you. It's awesome. Right there where you put it. Steve, nice job today. Thank you. Thank you. Good job. Good job. It was a pleasure. Nice job. Thank you. Good job. Good job, Steve. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I just got to do it. I got to do it. I got to do it. I got to do it. Lead person. Lead person. OK. I forgot the name. I got to do it. I got to do it. I got to do it. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Steve. Thank you. Thank you. Good job today. Thank you.
Thank you, Katie Kotlin. How are you? You look so relaxed. Good job. Good job. There's people. Yeah. Right? Good visit. Thank you. A lot of good stuff today. It's going to be a blast. You're going to invite us all over? Yes. I movie too. OK. Are you going to be ready? Yes, we'll be ready.
Transcribed from the audio with OpenAI Whisper. Timestamps link to the video above. Errors are possible.