Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Steve Jobs – The Man, The Icon

Steve JobsSteve Jobs personified American exceptionalism. A college drop out that trusted his own instinct, Jobs went from obscurity to technological super star. He understood giving customers what they want is a way to build a successful company rather that trying to sell consumers a one-size-fits-all product. While Apple remains small in market share for personal computers, it profited the company more per unit than any other brand of PC.


Steven Paul Jobs was born in San Francisco, California on February 24, 1955. During his fifty six years, he became an icon among both the technology and business sectors.


After finishing high school, Steve Jobs went to Portland, Oregon to attend college at Reed College in 1972. He became bored with the curriculum quickly and dropped out after attending just one semester. He survived by getting free meals from a local Hare Krishna temple and returning soda bottles for the deposit money.


Jobs slept on the floor of a friends home and began attending meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club with Steve Wozniak, who would later become a co-founder of Apple. Jobs eventually landed a job at Atari, a video games and video game console manufacturer. He worked as a technician. Jobs left his position at Atari to travel to India. When he returned to the United States, he likewise returned to his job at Atari.


It was in 1976 that Steve Jobs co-founded Apple along with Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak. Apple went through several turbulent years. Then, in 1983, Jobs convinced Pepsi-Cola CEO John Sculley to join Apple. Jobs reportedly taunted John Sculley by asking him if he wanted to sell “sugar water” or come over to Apple to “change the world”.


In 1984, Apple aired its first Super Bowl ad and released its famed Macintosh computer. The Macintosh was an instant hit but began to fade from the technological scene by the early 1990s. In a twist of fate, John Sculley fired Jobs from his position at Apple. Jobs went on to found NeXT Computer. Though billionaire Ross Perot invested in the new company, it was a commercial flop.


Later, Jobs went on to buy The Graphics Group, which became Pixar in 1986. Jobs rejoined Apple in 1996 went his former company bought NeXT Computer. Jobs then replaced Gil Amelio, Apple’s CEO at the time.


Jobs worked on the next big offering from Apple. On October 23, 2001, Apple released the iPod. The portable media device was a hardware outlet for iTunes. The iPhone made its debut in 2007. In April 2010, the iPad was released. The tablet was a leap from traditional computing. Like the other Apple, the iPad was built to satisfy the customers.


Steve Jobs was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004. He assured his employees his illness was less aggressive than normal pancreatic cancer and would fight to overcome the disease. Though Jobs would take a leave of absence from Apple, he eventually returned. In August of 2011, he announced his departure and Tim Cook would take over as CEO.


About the guest author: Amber Tate is a freelance writer with an addictive personality. She likes to help others save money on their life insurance quote from Kanetix.


This is a unique article published on SEO Desk with exclusivity.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Subscribe to the post comments feeds or Leave a trackback


Auto Ping Blog

0 comments: