«If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college,
the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts»
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs, the visionary in the black turtleneck who co-founded Apple in a Silicon Valley garage, built it into the world's leading tech company and led a mobile-computing revolution with wildly popular devices such as the iPhone, died Wednesday. He was 56.
It's well known that the secret to Apple's meteoric success in the world of consumer technology was the vision, leadership and creativity of Steve Jobs, the company's celebrity founder.
"Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that — it is in our DNA," Tim Cook, Jobs' successor, wrote in a staff memo after Jobs resigned from his post as Apple's CEO in August.
"We do things where we feel we can make a significant contribution," Jobs told Businessweek in 2004. "And our primary goal here is ... not to be the biggest or the richest."
To achieve that goal, Jobs was an obsessive micromanager. Part of the reason Jobs' DNA is so ingrained in Apple is because he forced his hand onto so many parts of it. He personally fielded some customer-service requests sent to him via e-mail; he was active in product design, co-authoring more than 300 patents; and he had a hand in the marketing efforts, including the famous Think Different and Mac vs. PC campaigns.
Jobs believed people never stop learning and should voraciously open their minds to new ideas.
Put another way, like in his closing statement to Stanford's graduating class in 2005, "Stay hungry. Stay foolish."
Steve’s outfit being Apple’s CEO
Steve Jobs’ timeline
February 24, 1955 Birth
Steven Paul Jobs is born in California. He grows up in the area that is to become known as Silicon Valley.
1976 A computer genius
In 1976 Steve Jobs together with his friends founded Apple Inc. – a pioneering company in the field of personal computers. He was the first to foresee a gigantic commercial potential of a graphic interface, mouse and clicks which now is an essential core of any computer.
1976 – 1979 Young allies
Working in Hewlett-Packard Jobs meets Steve Wozniak, an Apple’s co-founder. Steve Jobs enrolls in Reed College but soon quitted and came back to Silicon Valley. There he and Steve Wozniak attend meetings at the Homebrew computer club.
1976 - 1979 Revolution in a box
Jobs and Steve Wozniak found Apple Computer after working on the design of their first computer in the garage of Jobs' home. They introduce the Apple I. It was available around the Bay Area for $666,66. Apple I was just a set of a circuit plate, some details and a manual on 16 pages. To use the computer a user had to assemble it itself, find a monitor, keyboard, and power source
1983 Intrigues
In 1983 Jobs invited John Sculley, PepsiCo President, (centre) to the board of directors in Apple. But after a long market recession that caused production suspension Jobs resigns from Apple following a long-running dispute with other top executives.
1986 What next?
Jobs founds the NeXT Computer company on the base of researches and ideas worked out at Apple. He produces an elegant looking computer made of magnesium with an advanced interface, built-in Ethernet and many other high-tech solutions. But the whole set was too expensive for masses, so it never became popular, but it powered development of next generation computers.
1997 Back to Apple
Without Steve Jobs Apple was close to bankruptcy. In 1996 NeXT struggles and is bought by Apple for $429 million, Jobs returns to Apple and eventually to his role as chief executive.
1998 At work
Many NeXT innovations are used by Apple to a great success. Under Jobs' leadership, Apple introduces its newest personal computer, the iMac, and returns to profitability.
2000-s Animated films
Steve Jobs shares his work in Apple with the Pixar company he bought when out of Apple. The studio, Pixar, makes some of the most popular computer-animated films, including Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc., and Finding Nemo. In 2006 the Disney company buys Pixar for $7,4 billion and Jobs became a shareholder of s large part of Disney company.
2001 Rock-an-Roll
Apple introduces the iPod, promoting the personal digital music player as "1,000 songs in your pocket." Apple launches the iTunes Music Store, an online store selling 200,000 songs for 99 cents apiece. The company also introduces an upgraded iPod that is thinner and lighter, and capable of holding up to 7,500 songs. The U2 frontman, Bono, and his band participate in iPod presentation in 2004.
2007 iPhone
In 2007 Steve Jobs got interested in cell communications. And in 2007 already Apple introduces the iPhone. Just after it was released 6 million iPhones were bought in several months, beating positions of some old trademarks like Blackberry.
2010… New beginnings
In January 2010 Jobs announced first touch screen tablet computer, the iPad. The devices was also a fantastic success as iPhone. His management style was always driven by the words once said by an ice hockey legend Wayne Grertzky: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” He wanted to do so many things more…
Steve’s outfit being Apple’s CEO
