设计

????在史蒂夫眼中，产品的外观、手感和操作远远超过纯粹的技术规格。PC制造商还在追逐更快的处理器速度，而乔布斯却在追求更加智能、简单灵巧的设计。

????苹果公司（Apple）一位前任员工回忆起乔布斯曾经有一次在公司召开的会议上认真思索Mini Cooper的魅力所在。（他的一位同事当时正在销售这款汽车。）

????他回忆道：“最后，他得出的结论是，这款汽车之所以炫酷出众，正是因为它小巧玲珑。史蒂夫认为，当时正是苹果公司充分利用金属材料的最佳时机。当时，大部分电脑制造商仍在使用塑料，但他认为，要想使电脑更加小巧，必须很好地利用金属材料。”

????这一举措最终带来了回报：苹果公司的钛铝合金笔记本电脑备受追捧。最近推出的MacBook Air型号笔记本也被视为设计、价格与性能三者完美结合的典范。

????One ex-Apple employee remembers sitting in a meeting with Jobs, who was mulling over the appeal of Mini Coopers. (An old coworker of his sold them at the time.)

????"He finally decided they were cool because they were small," he says. "Steve said that's when he knew Apple had to get really good at metal. Most computer makers at the time were all using plastic, but he knew to get smaller, you had to get metal really, really well."

????The move paid off: Apple's titanium-turned-aluminum notebooks became bestsellers. The most recent MacBook Air models have been held up as examples of the ideal intersection of design, price and performance.