When he visited a store as it was being constructed, he invariably suggested changes to the staircase. 他每去一个正在兴建的店铺时，都会对楼梯的设计提出改进建议。

His name is listed as the lead inventor on two patent applications on the staircases, 为他设计的楼梯递交的两项专利申请书上都把他作为主要发明者：

one for the see-through look that features all-glass treads and glass supports melded together with titanium, 一个专利是采用了透明玻璃踏板和玻璃混合金属钛的支架；

the other for the engineering system that uses a monolithic unit of glass containing multiple glass sheets laminated together for supporting loads. 一个专利是采用含有多层玻璃压制而成的整块承重玻璃系统。

In 1985, as he was being ousted from his first tour at Apple, 1985年，在被苹果驱逐之后，

he had visited Italy and been impressed by the gray stone of Florence's sidewalks. 乔布斯去了意大利，佛罗伦萨人行道上的灰蓝色石头给他留下了深刻印象。

In 2002, when he came to the conclusion that the light wood floors in the stores were beginning to look somewhat pedestrian 2002年乔布斯得出一个结论：浅色的木地板有些平庸

a concern that it' s hard to imagine bedeviling someone like Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer 你很难想象这种担忧会困扰微软CEO史蒂夫·鲍尔默这样的人

Jobs wanted to use that stone instead. 就决定改用那种石头做地面。

Some of his colleagues pushed to replicate the color and texture using concrete, which would have been ten times cheaper, 一些同事建议他用混凝土，成本是石头的1/10，而且也可以模仿出石头的颜色和纹路，

but Jobs insisted that it had to be authentic. 但是乔布斯坚持必须用真正的石头。

The gray-blue Pietra Serena sandstone, which has a fine-grained texture, 灰蓝色的锡耶纳沙石有着清晰的纹理感，

comes from a family-owned quarry, Il Casone, in Firenzuola outside of Florence. 来自佛罗伦萨外围费伦佐拉的一个家庭自营采石场--IICasone。

"We select only 3% of what comes out of the mountain, “我们只从山上采集的石头中挑选3%，

because it has to have the right shading and veining and purity," said Johnson. 因为它们必须要有合适的颜色、纹路和纯度。”约翰逊说。

"Steve felt very strongly that we had to get the color right and it had to be a material with high integrity." “史蒂夫对石头的颜色和完整性非常挑剔。”

So designers in Florence picked out just the right quarried stone, oversaw cutting it into the proper tiles, 所以佛罗伦萨的设计师千挑万选，再叫人把它们切成尺寸适当的石块，

and made sure each tile was marked with a sticker to ensure that it was laid out next to its companion tiles. 并在每一个石块上面做好标记，以确定哪一块石头和哪一块相邻。

"Knowing that it's the same stone that Florence uses for its sidewalks assures you that it can stand the test of time," said Johnson. 约翰逊说：“铺在佛罗伦萨人行道上的石头，一定能经受住时间的考验。”