Apple CEO Steve Jobs Dies
On Wednesday night, October 5th 2011, Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs passed away in his home surrounded by his family. At the age of 56 and more than a month after his resignation from Apple, Jobs awaited his end in a very peaceful and un-Jobs-like manner. Known for his aggressive genius in both the technologically advanced world as well as the business savvy community, Jobs left behind big shoes to fill, or more appropriately in this case, quite the tight black turtleneck sweater to fill.
After starting the company with Steve Wozniak and Ron Wayne (who left the company just two weeks later) in 1976, Jobs went on to create some of the most profound discoveries in the world. Many more would even say history.
Though Wozniak and Jobs both left in 1984 due to problems within the top tier, Jobs eventually came back in 1996 after Apple bought out NeXT, a company Jobs had later created. Upon re-entering the company, Jobs made dramatic yet necessary changes to the company’s technological perspective, halting the production and advancement of several projects. This was another showcase to Jobs’ visionary talent by forgoing ultimately unnecessary projects and committing to worthier ideas. To name just a few, Jobs developed the Apple II, the Macintosh, Pixar Studios, the iPod, iPhone and of course, the iPad in his career at Apple.
He announced his pancreatic cancer diagnosis to his team at Apple in 2004 and underwent treatment later that year. During his leave, Tim Cook oversaw his ventures and now, after Jobs’ death, Cook has replaced him as CEO. Due to his rare type of cancer, Jobs never had to go through chemotherapy nor radiation but rather took a year off to recover. At a “Stevenote” speech at the Macworld Expo at his return, however, Jobs was said to look gaunt and tired, often referring, if not relying, on others on stage to assist him in his speech.
The rise in Apple products was not solely due to the efforts of Jobs alone, however much is due to his abilities. It is an underwhelming, anti-climactic and completely boring statement to just say that the world has changed due to Jobs’ genius. Rather, Jobs’ presence in technology, business and marketing have provided a newer, higher and much more difficult precipice upon which incoming entrepreneurs will have to seek to simply be noticed the new market.
In a statement released by President Barack Obama on Steve Jobs, the President said, “Steve was among the greatest of American innovators — brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it ... he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity.”
The President had it right. As a college drop-out, just after a semester at Reed College in Oregon, Jobs made a significant dent in American culture and human civilization as a whole.
Kings’ student Avery Briggs (MCA ’12) said of the company, “It made a new standard for customer service and interface use…It makes my life a lot easier”.
As a tribute to Jobs’ legacy at the company, the Apple site has memorialized a gray scale photo of Jobs on the site’s homepage with his name and the years he spent on earth.