--- description: Tim Cook wasn’t kidding when he said that selling into the enterprise wasn’t in Apple’s DNA. title: Here's Why Steve Jobs Called IBM's Best Customers an 'Orifice' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d7b73befcba3364/69869be6f983e761d104ed64/steve-jobs-apple-ibm-orifice.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # That Time Steve Jobs Called Apple's New BFF a Very Bad Name by [Philip Elmer-DeWitt](/author/fortune/) ## Philip Elmer-DeWitt Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 16, 2014 6:41 PM CUT  Steve Jobs, former chief executive officer of Apple Inc., unveils the iCloud storage system at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2011. Steve Jobs, former chief executive officer of Apple Inc., unveils the iCloud storage system at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2011.Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Philip Elmer-DeWitt](/author/fortune/) ## Philip Elmer-DeWitt Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 16, 2014 6:41 PM CUT  This post is in partnership with Fortune, which offers the latest business and finance news. Read the article below originally published at [Fortune.com](http://fortune.com/2014/07/16/the-day-apples-steve-jobs-called-ibms-best-customers-an-orifice/ "undefined"). Pat Gelsinger, then a senior vice president at Intel, now CEO of VMWare, tells the story: --- > “” --- The anecdote, relayed by Jeff Jedras in [Computer Dealer News](http://www.computerdealernews.com/news/byod-and-the-time-steve-jobs-compared-cios-to-an-orifice/32856 "undefined"), says a lot about why Apple needs IBM to crack the so-called “enterprise market” — those corporate and government IT departments rich and powerful enough to require a chief information officer. Under Jobs, Apple stayed focused on the far larger consumer market. Unlike the enterprise, where CIOs decide what equipment to buy, purchase decisions in the consumer market are made by the people who actually use the devices — a dynamic that plays into Apple’s strengths in design and ease of use. In Gelsinger’s anecdote, Jobs goes on to say: “I’m going to build devices that are irresistible for consumers, and CIOs will just have to deal with it.” [For the rest of the story, go to Fortune.com](http://fortune.com/2014/07/16/the-day-apples-steve-jobs-called-ibms-best-customers-an-orifice/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2991863/apple-ibm/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2991863/apple-ibm/"},"headline":"That Time Steve Jobs Called Apple's New BFF a Very Bad Name","datePublished":"2014-07-16T18:41:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:08:06.733Z","description":"Tim Cook wasn’t kidding when he said that selling into the enterprise wasn’t in Apple’s DNA","url":"https://time.com/2991863/apple-ibm/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d7b73befcba3364/69869be6f983e761d104ed64/steve-jobs-apple-ibm-orifice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Elmer-DeWitt"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d7b73befcba3364/69869be6f983e761d104ed64/steve-jobs-apple-ibm-orifice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Steve Jobs IBM Orifice","caption":"Steve Jobs IBM Orifice","creditText":"Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2991863/apple-ibm/","name":"That Time Steve Jobs Called Apple's New BFF a Very Bad Name"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Steve Jobs Lost Interview Exclusive Clip","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/j20YmQrI/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2011-11-15T19:35:48.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/j20YmQrI.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/2991863/apple-ibm/","duration":"PT30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/2991863/apple-ibm/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```