Steve Jobs: The Man Who Made Us "Think Different"

 CAREER BEGINNINGS (1972-1978)

When Steve Jobs and his colleague friend Steve Wozniak founded Apple in 1972, they were making computers in Jobs’s garage in Cupertino, California.  Day by day the Steves would make a few thousand dollars per computer they made and sold.  When Apple became a household name, Jobs and Wozniak started competition with the names like Microsoft, IBM, and Commodore.  When Apple released the Apple II Computer in 1978, it made Apple millions.  The Apple II has been described as the machine that revolutionized and started the computer industry.  With this, Apple became the company Jobs had dreamed about.

TROUBLES (1983-1985)

Jobs legacy unfortunately, had its fair share of obstacles over the years that would put him into conflicts.  The problem at times was his attitude.  Despite his comedic personality, Jobs attitude was harsh if some things never went his way, and throughout his whole career, he was in a love/hate relationship with the likes of Bill Gates at Microsoft, and Google.  One of Jobs’s biggest blunders was in 1983, when he hired John Sculley, the CEO of PepsiCo to be the new Apple CEO.  Sculley got persuaded to come to Apple when Jobs told him, “You want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life?  Or do you want to come with me and change the world?”  However, as CEO, Sculley disliked Jobs work ethic and attitude; this tainted their relationship and led to damaging Apple as a company.  In 1985, Sculley had enough and demoted Jobs, and knowing Sculley and betrayed him, Jobs made the shocking decision to leave Apple that year.  His decision would lead Apple to a sudden downfall, as during the company’s years without Steve Jobs, Apple had become irrelevant and struggling against their competitors.  Sculley left the company a few years after Jobs resigned.

NEW BUSINESS VENTURES (1985-2006)

While not at Apple, Jobs made two companies a lot of people never knew he started;  shortly after leaving Apple, Jobs founded and started NeXT Computer, which only had moderate success.  Believe it or not, he also started Pixar, the same Pixar that makes classic Disney movies such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Wall-e.  During his time there, Pixar was nominated for, and won, many awards. With Toy Story and the many other films Jobs would help create with Pixar, Jobs again achieved a new milestone, his accomplishment this time wasn’t in hardware, but in software, as Jobs and Pixar revolutionized the movie industry with its animation.  In 2006 the sale of Pixar to Disney made Jobs one of the highest paid shareholders in the entire company of Disney.

RETURN TO APPLE AND HEALTH (1997-2011)

In 1997 Jobs returned to Apple after NeXT Computer was purchased by Apple.  During the time of his return, Apple was on the brink of bankruptcy, and Jobs returning to Apple would mark the beginning of what Apple is as a company today.  As years went on, Apple was rescued by Jobs, and he was named CEO in 2000.  As for Jobs himself, it was a struggle. In 2003 he was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, for which the prognosis is very poor.  Jobs’s personal life and activities outside of Apple affected his health. After being diagnosed with the Cancer, Jobs refused Chemotherapy, until the disease spread.  He ended up getting treatment, and he also had a liver transplant due to the virus spreading to his liver.  Jobs also was a vegan his entire life, and vegan diets lack the proteins and enzymes the liver and pancreas need to break down nutrients, his diet made his health deteriorate over time, but that didn’t stop him from doing his job.

START OF APPLE’S TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION (2001-2010)

Jobs, despite his health, continued to do his magic every day at Apple, while still having the same personality and competitive attitude that made him such a funny character.  Jobs over the span of ten years, achieved more goals than he ever had.  In 2001, when the music industry was on a decline, Jobs introduced the iPod, followed by iTunes in 2002. These products not only revolutionized the music industry, but changed the way we see it forever.  Everywhere you go you see many listening to music on an iPod, and downloading the hottest songs on iTunes.  In 2007 Jobs revolutionized the mobile phone market with the iPhone. The iPhone changed the way everyone thought about mobile phones, as before the iPhone you would walk around and see everyone either had the Motorola Razr or a Blackberry Smartphone. As the iPhone drastically improved the technology in mobile phones, this made smartphones the standard for cellular devices. The iPhone had success in the mobile phone market, in business, and even in video gaming, giving competition to gaming powerhouse Nintendo.  Year by year, the iPhone, with its iOS operating systems and graphics chips proved Apple had truly put the meaning of “Smart” in the smartphone.  In 2010, Jobs revived and popularized the tablet computer by introducing the iPad, using similar technology as the iPods and iPhones, the tablet crazed started thanks to this little invention by Jobs.  His little inventions led Google to make Android smartphones, and Microsoft to make Windows Phones, thus giving Jobs new rivals and competition.  Despite the stiff competition, he realized if it weren’t for his revolutionary products, the industry wouldn’t be like it is today, as Apple’s iPhone and iPad caused the industry to quickly adopt its technology, and thus led to a fast improvement in technology, which still improves year after year.  Thanks to Jobs, the popularity of touch screen smartphones and tablets like we see today, started at Apple.

DECLINE IN HEALTH AND DEATH (2011)

As the start of the new decade had just begun, Jobs’s illness came back; he suffered from a hormone imbalance from his previous surgeries and cancer treatments, and as the year 2011 began, Jobs was slowly dying, and in August of that year Jobs resigned as Apple CEO and gave the reigns to the current CEO of Apple, Tim Cook.  Despite his resignation, Jobs worked with Apple until the day he died, which sadly happened on October 6th, 2011, at the age of 56.  Many of his former colleagues, and rivals, like Microsoft and Google showed their gratitude to him and recognized his accomplishments at Apple. The movie industry was affected by his loss as well, as Jobs was given a moment of silence at the 2012 Academy Awards for his accomplishments at Pixar.

LEGACY

Jobs’s legacy continues today, and despite not being in his office anymore, Apple is still Steve Jobs’s company by heart. Without him Apple was just the name of a fruit.  Jobs was truly a genius, whether it was making computers and gadgets at Apple or helping make an Oscar winning film at Pixar.  He was also famous for having a humorous personality, as during most of his Apple Keynote Conferences, he did many humorous methods and phrases during his demonstrations, making the audience in the crowd and those watching on TV laugh every minute, until his Keynote Conference was over. Steve Jobs may be gone, but having accomplished many of his lifelong goals, there are still many goals he had not reached, but with Jobs former apprentice Tim Cook now running Apple, Jobs’s goals can still be achieved. Steve Jobs will never be forgotten.  He inspired millions to live by his well-known Apple slogan:  “Think Different.”