Jack's [Ma Yun ] theory is that whoever controls data controls the world.

Having made up my mind, I went to see Steve [Jobs]. I brought a hand-drawn sketch with me, and I said, "Please make something like this." He said, "Don't show me such an ugly design sketch." But he also said, "You've got the right idea. I totally agree that the time has come when we can make the ultimate mobile machine."

If something happened, like engineers starting to quit, things would go downhill fast.

Whatever the country, whatever the culture, whatever the time, when you become a big enough organization, you start to collapse and slow down.

Our proposal had more than just money. We would increase their staff and keep their headquarters, their brand and their management in place. We made them a comprehensive offer they couldn't refuse. Shareholders simply receive cash, but with the staff and management, we had to show that we could share the same vision. Employees would probably resent us if money were all [we offered].

But a big paradigm shift is staring us in the face. If I left things to someone else despite having my own thoughts on it, I wouldn't be true to myself.

I would say that hardware is the bone of the head, the skull. The semiconductor is the brain within the head. The software is the wisdom and data is the knowledge.