Steve Jobs, doesn’t need an introduction. Perhaps the most creative and inspiring entrepreneur, whose life has been documented so many times and at so many places.
Who would have thought that a college dropout would go on to become the founder and CEO of the biggest tech firms in the world?
Apple Inc. has been the most valued technology firm and Pixar Animation Studios has undoubtedly been the biggest mass-scale animation studio in the world.
So, we here try to summarise his entire life into one article, which would leave you wondering about the story behind the man who practically redefined the entire computer technology.
1. Warm Up
Every good journey begins with a wake-up call. Steve Jobs’ journey began much before Apple 1. Right from his birth- Steve was born to a self-made millionaire only to remain dejected until adopted by an IT employee. He then was raised by that nuclear family. Steve joined Reed College and once got caught while taking marijuana and LSD
Taking LSD was one of the two or three most important things he did in life.
– Steve Jobs.
As days passed, Steve grew tired of his academics and dropped out of college, to learn Calligraphy and Creative Arts. Then, due to some personal disturbances, Steve traveled across India to learn Zen Buddhism. It was then when he understood the way of loving and the reason behind his instability in life: he did not have a purpose yet.
Dropping out was the second best decision I took. Because, it is important to know what to do. But, more important to know that what not to.
-Steve jobs
2. Inception
Without a formal industry oriented degree, Steve could not get a job. To earn a living he started designing gaming interfaces. Then one day the idea of personal computer came across his mind. And then after he and his friend Wozniak built the first personal computer- The Apple 1, Apple Inc was formed.
3. Success
After their inception, they fetched immense popularity with their innovative products and market breaking technologies. Steve was often highly conservative about the core philosophy of Apple Inc. which was innovation and progress. He fired numerous employees because they weren’t fitting into Apple’s way of doing things. Steve also failed to bring Lisa Computer to success. However, its successor Macintosh was a breakthrough. But, when Steve took a direct call on IBM, the investors protested against his aggressive approach to leadership.
Steve was then fired from the company, at the age of thirty, with absolutely no job or business at hands.
4. Failure
Apple was stolen from me. But, that was the third best thing that happened to me. I realised how surprising can life be and how temporary things really are. You’re always RIGHT there from where you have started. Things just add up.
-Steve Jobs.
The late 1980s treated Steve harsh. Along with getting fired from Apple, he also faced severe family issues and had to set up another firm NeXT. It was a software platform development company which specialized in state-of-the-art computers for higher-education and business markets.
Later crossing through the tides, Steve laid the foundation of Pixar Animation, which later became the biggest animation studio in the world.
5. Redemption
On the other hand, Apple went into severe losses and thus got merged with NeXT in 1997. Within a few months, Steve became CEO of the former company and bought the company back to its original place.
Let’s make apple cool again!
-Steve Jobs, Apple World Conference 1998.
Steve worked closely with Jonathan Ive to bring several major lines of products like iPod, iOS, iPad, MacBook Pro, iTunes, App Store and finally, the iPhone.
All of these products changed the way we do things. They revolutionized the entire tech scenario, giving rise to a whole new segment in the market.
Later, Steve was diagnosed with the pancreatic tumor and during his last days, he worked even harder to make the last significant product that Apple has yet launched- The digital personal assistant software, Siri.
How about having a BESTIE right inside your pocket? Siri is the next step in mobile evolution.
-Steve Jobs, WDC 2010
On October 5, 2011, Jobs died of a respiratory arrest. In 2012, Apple became the world’s highest valued company with a net worth of $600 billion.
And, though things have moved forward now, Apple still misses Steve Jobs:
I know I am the CEO, but Steve was much more than that. If Apple was a body, Steve was its Soul.
-Tim Cook, CEO (2012 onwards), Apple Inc.
Steve Jobs was just the guy another door who had one clear vision in mind- to change the world. He believed in doing different and what he did really change the entire world forever. Every product he invented was the pioneer of a new generation of technology and it was all his brave and crazy head, which made an adopted drop-out world’s biggest innovator and corporate leader. Because,
People who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do!
-Steve Jobs
