“It’s no one’s fault but Xerox’s that it cannot figure out how to make market successes out of its own inventions.”
And that’s Job’s brilliance and failure...he knows how to market (i.e. design & interface) but can not invent an original product on his own. More power to him. It paid off with a jet ride from Cali to a Tennessee liver.
"And that’s Job’s brilliance and failure...he knows how to market (i.e. design & interface) but can not invent an original product on his own."
Well... let's stipulate to your point for the moment.
A larger issue regards what we call "innovation." Looking through history, the vast, vast majority of society-changing innovations were not of the "inventor with light-bulb going off over his head" variety. Instead, the Thomas Edisons and Henry Fords of the world had an ability to borrow ideas, often from seemingly unrelated fields, and
make them happen by assembling the necessary networks of people. It's a leadership thing. Recombinant innovation of that sort is what Jobs excels in (and, for that matter, what Xerox has never figured out).
You might want to read Dr. Andrew Hargadon's book,
How Breakthroughs Happen. Hargadon is one of a new breed of academics who have studied the innovation process (in his case, from the inside as an engineer as well as as a researcher) and have interesting things to say to managers who want to drive a culture of innovation in their companies.
You might emerge with more respect for the kind of manager Jobs is, and the kind of company today's Apple is.