Steve Jobs- a legendary icon
Three apples changed the world; Adams Apple, Newtons apple and Steves Apple
A legendary figure of software industry, Steve Jobs needs no introduction. His life from rags
to riches can be written with golden words in the history. His name became synonymous with
Apple. Steve Paul Jobs was born on 24th February, 1955 in San Francisco to John Jandali and
Joanne Carole Schieble. As Jandali was a Syrian Muslim, Joannes father did not allow her to
marry Jandali. This was the reason Steve was given for adoption to Paul Jobs and Clara Jobs.
Though Steve knew that they were not his biological parents, he revered them and considered
them to be his real parents.
When he was five years old, Steves family moved to California. Steves father Paul Jobs
worked for a laser company as a machinist. He taught Steve, basic details about electronics.
Steve studied in Cupertino junior High and Homestead High School, Cupertino, California.
He used to attend lectures at Hewlett Packard Company after school hours. Later he joined
this company as a summer job employee. Steve graduated from high school in 1972 and got
admission into Reed College, Portland. But he dropped out of the college after a semester
only. But he chose to attend auditing classes. He worked on small errands to earn few bucks
and shared room with his friends. During 1970s Steve toured India in quest of a spiritual
guru. But he was not fortunate enough to encounter a true guru. He returned to US
disappointed.
Steve along with Wozniak and Ronald Wayne was instrumental in setting up Apple, in 1976.
In early 1980s Apple Lisa, the first personal computer was released by Apple. And a year
later in 1984, Macintosh was introduced and it became the first commercial small computer
that was a huge success. Steve remained the director for Apple till 1985 but due to
differences, had to come out of Apple. In 1985, Steve started NeXT Computer
In 1986, Steve acquired Pixar, a computer graphics division, but as it incurred losses, Steve
undertook partnership with Disney, and produced a number of hit animation movies like A
Bugs life, Finding Nemo. Cars, Wall-E, Toy Story, Incredibles etc.
In 1997, NeXT was bought by Apple and thus Steve rejoined the Apple group and he became
the CEO. Steve took few bold decisions, to bring Apple into profit loop. Steves innovative
and tough decisions yielded rich profits to the company and in 2000; Steve was named the
permanent CEO of Apple. Steve introduced several products like iPod, iPhone, iTunes store.
Steve received criticism from various sources in matters relating to environment recycling. To
curb all the critical reviews, Steve started various recycling programs that gained huge
popularity within a short period of time.
Steve and Apple became synonymous, as the company gained popularity worldwide. Due to
health reasons, Steve resigned from the post of CEO, but he continued to remain as the
chairman of the board till his last day.
Steve was diagnosed of pancreatic cancer in 2003. Though doctors advised him to undergo an
operation, Steve resisted for almost nine months as he wanted to try with alternative
medicine. But finally in 2004, he underwent a surgery and the tumor was removed. Steve
showed remarkable recovery with his undeterred spirit and willpower. He did not receive any
radiation or chemotherapy Steve did not publicly reveal his health conditions till 2009. In
January 2009, Steve declared that he had a hormonal imbalance problem. Steve underwent a
liver transplantation in April 2009. After a year and half, in 2011 January, Steve took medical
leave to focus more on his health. But Steve was involved in all strategic decisions that Apple
had to take during the launch of iPad2, iCloud etc. But owing to the deterioration in his health
condition, Steve had to resign as the CEO of Apple.
Though Steve Jobs could beat many odds and difficulties in life, he had to bow before his
destiny and breathed his last on October 5, 2011.
His life and the messages he left all through his journey remain as an inspiration to all ages.
His undaunted spirit and courage to face challenges is unique. With his loss, Apple may never
get a CEO and a chairman like Steve Jobs. He left a mark of his own in the realms of
software industry.
He won many awards and rewards for his exemplary contribution in various fields and there
are more than 200 patents in his name in America. He is seen as a visionary, pioneer, genius
and is compared to Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. A number of books and articles are
written on Steve Jobs and his dynamic management skills. His place is irreplaceable in
history.
