Look around the room without laying eyes on a product Steve Jobs didn’t have a major role in developing.
It’s impossible.
Everything from personal computers to smart phones was the brain child of the greatest technological mind in the last 40 years.
Jobs, who died Wednesday at the age of 56, was not only the CEO of Apple, Inc., but a dedicated philanthropist and creative genius. His work, within his own company and outside of it, led to the creation of devices that now drive how society operates.
Born in San Francisco in 1955, Jobs was adopted and raised in Mountain View, Calif. He was said to have an interest in technology from a young age, and after partnering with friend Steve Wozniak, began Apple in 1976. Jobs’ list of accomplishments is long, and includes technological feats, like the introduction of the Macintosh Computer in 1984, the iPod and iTunes in 2001, the iPhone in 2007 and the iPad in 2010.
Jobs died only one day after the company released its newest version of the iPhone, which has become the world’s most popular and bestselling cell phone since its introduction four years ago.
Without the technology forged in Jobs’ imagination, there is no doubt we would live in a different world. He was the first to put a mouse on a computer, he put a computer into a cell phone, and he made instant information sharing available to the masses.
Apple informed the public of Jobs’ death with a comment on its website Wednesday evening. The statement put in perspective Jobs’ impact on Apple and the world, as a CEO and outstanding person.
“Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.”
Whether the information was found on Facebook, Apple.com or read for the first time just now, the idea of losing a man like Jobs is not an easy concept to begin to understand. This was a man who seemed untouchable. He commanded every situation he was in, and earned respect from his colleagues and competitors.
Jobs, who had been battling pancreatic cancer since 2004, took three medical leaves of absence from his post at Apple before stepping down as CEO in August. During a 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University, Jobs said death is something everyone will face and treating every day like it could be your last makes even the farthest reaching goals seem attainable.
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life,” Jobs told Stanford’s graduates more than five years ago.
A quote from the movie, “The Sandlot,” sums up the life of Jobs better than anyone else can, “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.”
Jobs is, and always will be, a legend.
— MM