I'm not sure that's true. Jobs wanted to take the Mac in a direction I think was a mistake. (Think of an iPhone ahead of its time) Jobs also had some major failures like the Apple///. I think the initial direction Apple took the Mac against Steve Jobs was wise. However it made some huge major mistakes such as not getting it linked into a modern operating system, mismanaging the development of MacOS, the whole Taligent/Copland disaster, a confusing product array, and worst of all the PPC transition. Yes the transition went smoother than anyone expected but their choice of PPC in hindsight clearly was a big mistake. Apple did try to introduce innovative products like the Newton. But most were ahead of their time. I think Jobs learned from his mistakes and NeXT and from looking at Apple's mistakes and came back to create some great stuff. However the transitionary time was uncomfortable. (The lined garishly colored iMacs, Sys9 and OSX 10.0 - 10.1, and so forth) The rise of MP3s and the inability of existing companies to put a half decent interface on them was honestly all that saved Apple. Throw in the rise of viruses and malware that helped bring some PC users to the Mac and that's the main success. Apple's resurgence owes as much to the mistakes of everyone else as it does Jobs.