Steve Jobs: The Apple Man

“Steve Jobs helped to make personal computers and computer technology available to everyone. He was a technological genius, an innovator and a tough and demanding CEO, but he was also one of the most dynamic and effective public speakers. Much has been written about Steve Jobs. He was, without question, one of the greatest and most inspirational businessmen of his generation. He made Apple into one of the most recognisable and iconic brands in the world. His death at the age of 56 came far too early and he is missed.” — John Zimmer

Steven Paul Jobs was born in Los Altos, California, on February 24, 1955. He was adopted when he was a baby and grew up in Northern California. After high school, Jobs attended college in Portland, Oregon, but left after his first semester to travel in India. When he returned to California, he learned that his high-school friend Steve Wozniak was building computers as a hobby. Wozniak had just invented the Apple I computer. In 1976 Jobs and Wozniak started Apple Computers. They worked out of Jobs’ garage. The Apple II personal computer that they built next appealed to both businesses and the public. The computer sold well and the company prospered until about 1981. That year, IBM began to take business away from Apple.

By then, Jobs and his development team had invented the Macintosh computer. Unlike the Apple II, the Macintosh was not very popular at first and Jobs left the company in 1985 after being fired from the board. After Jobs left Apple, he started his own company, called NeXT Software. Then, in 1986, he bought Pixar Animation Studios from Star Wars creator George Lucas for $10 million. In 1995, Pixar produced the first entirely computer-generated-movie – Toy Story. It was a big hit, and Pixar went on to produce A Bug’s Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters Inc. (2001), and Finding Nemo (2003). These movies made a great deal of money.

Jobs was asked to return to Apple to help it become a leader in the computer field once again. In 1998, Apple introduced its iMac and iBook personal computers. Jobs became CEO in the year 2000. Apple introduced the iPod shortly after Steve Jobs became CEO. The iTunes store was launched in 2003. One year later, Steve Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Jobs beat his cancer and helped Apple release several important devices, including the iPhone and the iPad. He also sold Pixar to Disney. In 2011, Apple was declared the wealthiest company in America. Jobs resigned as CEO that same year. Steve Jobs died on October 5, 2011. He was 56 years old.