The tech world mourns as the news hits the airwaves that Apple founder and former CEO, Steve Jobs has died. Jobs transformed the personal computer, brought out the iPod, nano and the iPhone. He was 56.
Battling cancer since 2004, Jobs underwent a liver transplant in 2009 after taking a leave of absence for unspecified health problems. Another absence in January led to his resignation as CEO six weeks ago. Tim Cook was his hand-picked successor. Now we know why the iPhone 5 didn’t make its debut.
Jobs started Apple with high school friend Steve Wozniak, in a Silicon Valley garage in 1976. Together they built the Apple II, in 1977, and by age 25 Jobs had made $100 million.
Forced out, he returned in 1997 to rescue the company. Under Jobs, the company was valued at $351 billion. Computers under Jobs became hip and cool not a geek’s toy. He transformed the phone and music industries. In 2001, the iPod, offered “1,000 songs in your pocket.” 2007, the touch-screen iPhone. 2008 the App Store, but 2010, saw the tablet-sized iPad.
It was due to Jobs that Walt Disney’s computer animation studio Pixar exists. Jobs bought Pixar from George Lucas for $10 million. “Toy Story,” the first computer-animated full-length feature made the company and in 2006, Jobs sold Pixar to The Walt Disney Co. for $7.4 billion in stock.
Jobs was a natural food lover, a Buddhist who followed a New Age philosophy.
In 2005, at Stanford University, Job’s made the following speech:
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life,” he said. “Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”
Steve Jobs, touched all our lives in one way or another and his memory will live on as Apple continues, for that is his legacy.
Posted by Suzanna Bowling
on October 6, 2011. Filed under FAMILY,Technology.
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