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Apple cofounder and tech visionary Steve Jobs has passed away at the age of 56. The news has been confirmed by Apple itself and follows just over a month after Jobs stepped down as the company's CEO, due to ongoing health complications. Jobs revealed in 2004 that he had a rare form of pancreatic cancer and he underwent a liver transplant in April 2009. He was on medical leave for approximately eight months before his resignation.
"I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come," Jobs wrote in a public letter at the time. He handed the reigns over to Apple veteran Tim Cook and although the move caused the company's stock to drop initially, it has performed well during Jobs' absence. It remains to be seen if that success will continue without his insight.
Jobs wasn't always hailed as Apple's iconic leader. In 1985, the company ousted its cofounder following a dip in sales that caused internal friction between Jobs and then CEO John Sculley. Jobs went on to launch a new computer company, NeXT Computer, and he purchased The Graphics Group (now called Pixar) from Lucasfilm in 1986. Despite being fired from his own company, Jobs later claimed that it was the best thing that could have happened to him.
After his lengthy hiatus, Jobs sold NeXT Computer to Apple in 1996 and rejoined Cupertino's ranks. He technically served as "interim" CEO until 2000 when his status as chief executive became official. Today, Jobs is regarded as Apple's savior, guiding the ailing company back to profitability with innovative mass-market products, not least of which were the iPod and iPhone. In May 2010, Apple surpassed Microsoft to become second most valuable US company.
Along with his vast contributions to Apple, Jobs became a board member and the largest shareholder of The Walt Disney Company in 2006 after selling Pixar animation studios. In March, he was featured on Forbes' list of the world's billionaires with a net worth of approximately $8.3 billion. He leaves behind Laurene Powell, his wife of 20 years, their three children and a fourth child from a previous relationship, as well as countless friends and followers.
Thank you Steve. Rest in peace.
User Comments: 66
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Leeky said:
I have to say he was one of the greatest innovators of his generation. A total design genius, and proof if ever you need one that a person without College or University qualifications can succeed in life with vision, determination, and the drive for perfection.
Whether you like the products he helped create or not, there is no way a person can deny that the technology industry as a whole will miss his presence.
Apple wouldn't be anywhere near the USA's second biggest computer technology company they are today were it not for his visions.
Rest in peace good Sir.
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Steve, Thanks for all you have done for so many people. Have fun on the other side.
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isamuelson said:
As much as I'm a droid user and not an iPhone user, Steve Jobs was still an innovator. Without people like him, we wouldn't have so many different choices on technology.
Because of Jobs and Woz, I would never have learned how to program an Apple ][+ and //e, which probably means I would never have found my love in programming.
Thanks Steve!
RIP
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I'm not a big Apple fan nor do I like how totalitarian Apple has always felt to me, especially under Steve Jobs. but Jobs did introduce and push many innovations into the market. Jobs direction made Apple what it is today. I feel Apple really changed how people look at portable devices in general.
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aj_the_kidd said:SNGX1275 said:
You know, I've been pleasantly surprised at the posts here, I expected a lot more disrespectful posts
Really? Whilst most people (on this forum) don't like Apple and Steve Jobs, we still had respect for the guy, even when he was alive
I agree! We probably wouldn't have Android phones if it wasn't for the IPhone... Wish Palm caught on more though.. I remember when they were huge and it was simmilar... IPhone just made it popular... (apps I mean). I remember having the Palm 3 color and downloading apps that made it a remote for my tv and games ect... some of the games I think were better than some of the android games.. (good times) Anyway getting back.. Steve will be missed and wish more companies would push inovation more. Like say the PS4/xbox 720 should come out... This way we can have game developers make more detailed games...
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I became enamored with his creations.
(Starting with the ][+ even going so far as to solder hundreds of tiny circuit board dots for a huge16kb)
I became ensnared within his insidious cult of personality.
(Many of my artistic hires would "only work with Macs"
I became enraged with his devious methodology of proprietary products.
(iTunes, 'nuff said)
Is the final chapter on Steve finally in?
The fanbois can still hold their collective breath and wait for the announcement that it's all just a clumsy, awful hoax to generate publicity for the delayed iPhone 5 disaster.
In 30 years as much as I've come to despise Apple The Infernal Company and Steve The Jobsian Monster, they collectively were, beyond a shadow of a doubt, pure masters of the marketing game and know all too well the methods of manipulating the masses.
I'm half-expecting a product rollout, concurrent with the funeral, replete with the as-yet-unannounced 64GB iCoffin (with unprecedented 16MB cameras so that we can all be safe & sure the dead is dead; via the Limited Jobsian-Edition iZombie app, of course). Soon everyone will be tenting outside funeral homes ready to pay (brains through their noses) for a two-year, premium iDied 4G contract. Everyone will eventually forget about the enormous iSick fail (with blame squarely placed on a counterfeit iLiver).
As long as our iPhone can direct us to the next hot restaurant and iPod can play our favourite music in blissful isolation, we all can live easier with false-flag terror, erosion of basic liberties, extra-judicial killings, illegal wars, drug-dealing gov't and the slow death of the republic, ad nauseum.
No matter what I or anyone thinks of this contemporary Willy Wonka, he and his dastardly evil machine called Apple were, in the end analysis, certainly exceptionally good for the industry as a whole.
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming including apoplectic concern about the future of our little consumer entertainment devices...
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Steve's life and vision has certainly impacted my life and many others I know. He will be missed.
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mattfrompa said:
I may not have embraced his work (honestly I never preferred Apple products) but that doesn't stop me from recognizing his intelligence, undying passion, nor his unmatched salesmanship.
I'm a PC, but today I stop and remember a truly great man who has left behind a legacy none can ever match. Farewell Steve, may you rest in the peace.
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Death never takes the wise man by surprise; He is always ready to go. R.I.P JOBS
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A risk taker.
A devoted man in all his undertakings.
An inventor.
A visionary.
And alas, a human being...
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Watch Apple change.
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learninmypc said:
Unravelling the tale behind the Apple logo
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wizardB said:
tonylukac said:What killed Steve Jobs? Donald Duck, the quack, since he was the main shareholder in Disney.
No it was a virus that killed him even though he denied its existence!
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Steve Jobs was the reason innovation happened @ Apple, not it's main inventor. As long as they adhere to his principals and hew to its inovative streak and not get "focus group itus", they will be fine for years to come. Thank you Steve for giving bright people the push they needed to excell.
Apple's slogen for the near future and message to the world in thier advertising to the world should go something like this, "Innovation in the Jobs tradition".
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Steve Jobs was not a "Genius". He was just a marketing wonk with a cocaine-fueled ego. Steve Wozniak was the real intelligence behind Apple. Wozniak built the first Apple PC's and created the computer's operating system. Steve Jobs cheated Wozniak out of the cash for the first sales. Steve Jobs's only proven ability was in barking out orders for smarter people to follow and pretending to be "smart". It is pathetic that so many nitwits choose the illusion that Steve Jobs had anything in his head behind ego, cruel manipulation, thievery, and bluster.
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Right, cause it was Woz that brought Apple back from the dead in the late 90s/2000s.
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