Steve Jobs - Apple Co-Founder Dead

[The Observer]

Steve Jobs, the demanding visionary who understood before anyone else how deeply we would live our lives through our devices, has died at the age of 56, only weeks after resigning as chief executive of computer giant Apple Inc. for health reasons.

 

Jobs revitalized Apple by transforming smartphones, computers, and media players into objects of desire. He insisted the company put the human experience first, focusing on design as well as technological prowess. Fifteen years ago,Apple flirted with bankruptcy; today, it is one of the most successful companies on earth. Only oil titan Exxon Mobil Corp. is worth more.

 

He taught all of us how to transform technology into magic, said John Sculley, Apples chief executive in the mid-1980s, and the man who once had Jobs kicked out of the company hed co-founded.

 

After he was ousted, Jobs endured a decade of exile. But the experience taught him lessons that would, once he returned, help him lead Apple to unimaginable heights of achievement.

 

Steves big contribution to the computer industry was to take it away from the nerds and give it to the people, said Bob Metcalfe, co-inventor of Ethernet networking technology and a professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

 

Jobs was born in San Francisco on February 24, 1955 to Syrian immigrant Abdulfattah John Jandali and Joanne Schieble, both graduate students at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

 

In an interview with the New York Post in August, Jandali, now 80 and vice president of a casino in Reno, Nev., said Schieble gave Jobs up for adoption because her father would not allow her to marry him.

 

But only a few months after the baby was adopted by Paul Jobs, a machinist, and Clara Jobs, an accountant, Schiebles father died, and she married Jandali. The couple had another child. Jobs didnt meet his biological sister for more than 30 years.

 

Jobs attended high school in Cupertino, Calif, the town where Apple would later be headquartered. Graduating in 1972, he went to Reed College in Oregon, but dropped out after one semester. He remained at the a campus hanger-0n for another year, taking the occasional philosophy course. Jobs returned to California in 1974, and took a job at videogame company Atari Inc. After a few months, he resigned and traveled to India in search of spiritual enlightenment.

 

By 1975, Jobs was back in California, where he was active in a local computer club. The most prominent member was a young man named Steve Wozniak, who had a knack for building homemade computers. Jobs and Wozniak b uilt a prototype machine in the garage of Jobs parents, and in 1976, they co-founded Apple Computer. to sell their machines. T

 

They sold hundreds of the original Apples, but their next machine, the much more capable Apple II, remained in production for 16 years and launched the personal computer industry.

 

But for a time, it seemed that Apple could do nothing else right. The companys second computer, the Apple III, was a disaster, plagued by faulty construction. In 1983 came the Lisa, the first personal computer controlled by on-screen icons activated at the click of a mouse, and also a bust.

 

But in 1984, when Jobss company produced a smaller, cheaper, but elegant computer called Macintosh, it earned Apple a cult following and a reputation for daring, innovative technology.

 

But sales of the Mac were disappointing, and Apple struggled. The result was a stunning boardroom coup led by Sculley, whom Jobs had personally recruited as the companys chief executive.

 

Jobs was stripped of virtually all power over the company hed created. By 1985, he resigned altogether. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, Jobs said 20 years later in a commencement address at Stanford University, and it was devastating.

 

During his exile, Jobs founded NeXT Computer. Never a financial success--it only sold 50,000 computers--NeXT is remembered for for its terrific technology . But it would be his success in Hollywood that would launch his extraordinary comeback.

 

In 1986, Jobs bought the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm Ltd., the company owned by Star Wars director George Lucas, and founded what would be Pixar Animation Studios. With Jobs as its CEO,Pixar released Toy Story, the first full-length movie generated entirely by computers, in 1995. The funny, heart-tugging tale made a deep emotional connection with viewers -- and $361 million in worldwide ticket sales.

 

http://www.boston.com/Boston/businessupdates/2011/10/steve-jobs-apple-founder-dead/yW26KhPSReaquwjvRwFWiO/index.html

[K4ylan]

Just found out a second before you posted this topic.

[ghjkl]

cya apple stock

first the disappointment of the 4s and now this

[H2PM]

Just found out a second before you posted this topic.

Psh, I found out 2 WHOLE MINUTES before this topic.

[tripsis]

Wow I didn't think he'd die so soon :ohnoes: RIP

[Zaaps1]

RIP Steve, may you bring the joys of the app store wherever you go

[Utopia]

Sad news. I wonder how Apple's stock will do.

[MrGreens]

guess it was his time

rip

[RussetAlpha]

I just found this out (on fb, of course). :(

 

Apple will never be the same.

[obfuscator]

RIP.

 

Kind of figured this would happen sooner rather than later given his resignation from apple.

[Mirror]

RIP. My condolences to the family and those who knew him personally. Great innovator indeed.

[Ellac]

R.I.P.

[Kaida23]

I may not be a fan of his products, but there was no denying his genius and vision. He will be missed.

[ForsakenMage]

RIP. He definitely made a huge impact on how technology can be so engaging for people.

[Tim]

...I just went in for an interview yesterday for a job with Apple...

 

Has my awesomeness killed him?!? :ohnoes:

 

but seriously, although a tad arrogant, the man was a genius and helped connect millions of people and create a generation thanks to his abilities. RIP.

[Orpheus]

Oh damn. I had a suspicion this is why he resigned, but yeah that kinda sucks. I certainly don't agree with Apple's policies, especially in regards to open source stuff, but I won't ignore the innovation put forth by him. RIP.

[Zimberfizz]

[magekillr]

There may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.

~Barack Obama

 

I'm guessing not many CEO's get an actual statement from the POTUS upon their passing? I've always been a fan of Apple products, mostly because of how solid the OS was. It's not just the products, but the style of marketing. That in itself was revolutionary. There's a reason why everyone was psyched up over the possibility of an I-phone5.

 

Any time I think of Jobs' genius, I come back to this interview:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF-tKLISfPE

 

What a smart answer, in the face of an insulting question.

 

edit, I found this interesting, too:

 

His was a company I always wanted to work for.

Back in the 1970s, pre-Reagan, it was common for founders of companies, especially in silicon valley, to compete with each other to see who could treat their employees the best. Keep in mind this was the birthplace of Hewlett-Packard, which for a long time was a great place to work until the board decided to hire an outsider as CEO. So they had to do a lot to top H-P.

 

And they did. Tandem, Silicon Graphics, Apple - just to name a few. All REALLY special places to work (I spent half my career at one of those).

 

Poor Apple did have some rough times during the years that Jobs wasn't there. I lived 3 blocks from their main HQ could see the old Apple Day Care outside my back window looking onto Portal Park -- that is, until they sold it off in one of an endless stream of cost-cutting moves. You could slowly see the place turning into, as one of my friends called my own employer, "just another [cabbage] company". The management was definitely herd mentality - as shown by the idiotic joint venture that they started with IBM called Taligent.

 

But Jobs came back and low and behold, the magic returned. Yeah, they made great product. And Jobs was the leader who made that happen. But it wasn't because he thought of every innovation himself - it's because he created a culture that thrived on innovation, and that started with treating employees like people. When we sold our house in 2005 it was to an Apple employee who absolutely loved working there. Sigh -- I was jealous -- I remember loving the company I worked for a long time ago, and it's a great feeling.

 

Those of you who don't like Apple products, try this. First, get yourself into the most open mind you possibly can, then go to the nearest Apple Store. Best to avoid nights and weekends as these places are extremely popular. You'll see why Apple is the tops in the world in customer satisfaction. And that, too, was a huge part of Jobs' vision - treat people well and, well, magic happens.

[Maleficus1055]

Never liked the man's company and their price gouging, but you can't deny he helped advance the computer world. Sad death.

[Kriegsmier]

The world has lost a great visionary.

[The_Gabe]

Everyone dies, but the legacies are not forgotten. R.I.P Steve Jobs.

[stevepole]

I was watching the news earlier and they randomly said it and was shocked cause absolutely no other news source or anyone one twitter had said anything at that point. I was actually called a lier when I tweeted it ha. Sad day though, if someone could post Jobs speech at Harvard for me? I'm on my phone so it's a bit hard for me..

 

I just hope there is no correlation between my MacBook Pro dying this this morning and Jobs death because that's [cabbage]s costing me.

[All_Is_Great]

Damnit cancer! Lost Dio a couple years ago, then Jack Layton a couple months, now this man.

 

I'm not really an apple fanboy, but I can definately respect what Jobs did. It's revolutionary.

 

R.I.P.

[Wizz]

I found it ironic that they are tweeting it from a Mac.

Oh Westboro, you lunatics you.

[Bows]

R.I.P. The world will not be the same, he will be missed dearly.