• 乔布斯把自己罹患癌症并决定尝试替代疗法的事情告诉了莱文森。他也是最早得知此事的人之一。根据艾萨克森的描述，莱文森“每天都恳求他”。争吵几乎毁掉了他们之间的友情。他对乔布斯说：“你不做手术光吃这些乱七八糟的药是不可能解决问题的。这不符合癌症发展的规律。”

    • 关于为何乔布斯等了九个月才做手术，他说：“我认为史蒂夫有一种很强烈的渴望，他希望这个世界能够按他自己的愿望发展。但有时候这没用，现实很残酷。”

    • 关于乔布斯为何决定生产手机，他说：“乔布斯经常苦苦思索哪些产品可能让我们公司陷入困境。”乔布斯得到的结论就是：“抢我们饭碗的可能是手机。人人都会随时携带手机，这会使iPod显得有些多余。”

    • 莱文森是力促乔布斯同意外部开发商参与iPhone项目的人之一。他说：“我跟他打了六七次电话来游说他，跟他谈应用软件的潜力。”他说，如果苹果不支持外部开放商，总会有其他的智能手机厂商会这么做。

    • 乔布斯所做的让步就是允许外部开发商来编写应用程序，但程序首先要经过苹果的测试和许可。莱文森称：“这绝对是神来之笔。既能让苹果受益于思想的开放性，同时又能保证端到端的控制。”

    • 乔布斯要求流行科技网志Gizmodo归还苹果遗失的iPhone4原型机。“他会凭本能做出反应。这里边有一种傲慢情结，深深植根于乔布斯的个性中。”莱文森称，这种傲慢在苹果处于劣势地位时还好，但当苹果在手机市场已经占据主导地位时就不行了。他说：“我们需要向大型公司转型，同时解决自身的傲慢问题。”

    • 乔布斯迟迟不愿针对用户抱怨iPhone4天线的问题作出回应。乔布斯当时正在夏威夷，但他与莱文森通过电话保持着“经常性的联络”。莱文森劝他要稍微谦虚一点：“让我们试着弄清楚到底是哪里出了问题。”

    • 根据艾萨克森的撰述，在乔布斯参加的最后一次董事会会议上，莱文森也进行了发言，称赞乔布斯在“确保公司平稳转型”方面所做出的努力。

    译者：李玫晓

    • Levinson was one of the first people Jobs told about his cancer and his decision to try alternative therapies. Levinson "pleaded every day" with him, according to Isaacson. The fights almost ruined their friendship. "You cannot solve this without surgery and blasting it with toxic chemicals," he told Jobs. "That's not how cancer works."

    • On why Jobs waited 9 months to have surgery. "I think Steve has such a strong desire for the world to be a certain way that he wills it to be that way. Sometimes it doesn't work. Reality is unforgiving."

    • On why Jobs decided to build a cell phone. "He was always obsessing about what could mess us up." The conclusion Jobs had come to: "The device that can eat our lunch is the cell phone. Everyone carries a phone, so that could render the iPod unnecessary."

    • Levinson was among those pushing for Jobs to open the iPhone up to outside developers. "I called him a half dozen times to lobby for the potential of the apps." If Apple didn't encourage them, he argued, another smartphone maker would.

    • On the compromise Jobs hit upon: Allow outsiders to write apps, but require that they first be tested and approved by Apple. "It was an absolutely magical solution that hit the sweet spot," Levinson says. "It gave us the benefits of openness while retaining end-to-end control."

    • On Jobs' decision to go after Gizmodo for buying the stolen iPhone 4: "He can react viscerally... There is an arrogance. It ties into Steve's personality." Such arrogance was fine when Apple was the feisty underdog, he argued, but not when Apple was dominant in the mobile market. "We need to make the transition to being a big company and dealing with the hubris issue."

    • On Jobs' reluctance to respond to complaints about the iPhone 4's antenna. Jobs was in Hawaii at the time, but in "constant contact" by phone with Levinson, who urged a little humility. "Let's try to figure out if there's something wrong."

    • At Jobs' final board meeting, Levinson was one of those who spoke, according to Isaacson, praising Jobs' diligence "in assuring that there was a smooth transition."