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2011-10-07 12:12:26
5 October 2011 Last updated at 23:58 GMT
The BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones looks back on the life and achievements of Steve
Jobs
Despite his wealth and corporate success, Steve Jobs always managed to retain
the air of a Silicon Valley buccaneer.
His abrasive style meant he was often difficult to work with but his eye for a
desirable product made Apple one of the planet's most recognised brands.
Steven Paul Jobs was born in San Francisco on 24 Feb 1955, the son of two
unmarried university students, Joanne Schieble and Syrian born Abdulfattah
Jandali.
His parents gave him up for adoption and he was taken in by a working class
Californian couple Paul & Clara Jobs.
Months after his adoption, his biological parents married and had a daughter,
Mona, who did not learn of her brother's existence until she was an adult.
He was brought up in his adoptive parent's home in Silicon Valley, the hub of
the US electronics industry.
Buddhism
While attending a local high school the young Jobs was offered a summer job at
the Hewlett Packard plant in Palo Alto where he found himself working alongside
a fellow student named Steve Wozniak.
He dropped out of college after one term and went to work for the video game
manufacturer Atari with the idea of raising enough money to travel to India.
Apple 1 computer The Apple 1 kick started the PC revolution
Jobs returned from his trek around the sub continent with a shaven head,
wearing Indian robes and having experienced the effects of LSD; he was to
remain a Buddhist and vegetarian throughout his life.
He went back to work at Atari and joined a local computer club with his friend
Steve Wozniak who was designing and building his own computer.
In 1976 Jobs pre-sold 50 of Wozniak's machines to a local computer store and,
armed with a copy of the order, successfully persuaded an electronics
distributor to let him have the components on credit.
He managed to launch the machine, called the Apple 1, without having borrowed
any money or given up a share of the business to anyone else.
Ousted from Apple
He named the company after his favourite fruit which, either by chance or
design ensured it appeared in phone book listings ahead of rival Atari.
The profit from the first Apple was ploughed back into an improved version, the
Apple II, which appeared at a Californian computer fair in 1977.
Development of the new machine was expensive and Jobs persuaded Mike Markkula,
a local investor, to guarantee a $250,000 loan and, together with Wozniak, the
three formed the company Apple Computer.
The Apple II, unlike many other computers of the time, came complete and worked
straight out of the box rather than the purchaser having to assemble the
various parts.
The new model became an instant success, kick starting the personal computer
boom, achieving sales in excess of six million before production ended in 1993.
Wozniak & Jobs Budding entrepreneurs Steve Wozniak (l) and Steve Jobs
But there were concerns at Apple about Jobs' lack of management experience and
professional executives were hired to run the company.
One Apple board member claimed Jobs was "uncontrollable." "He got ideas in his
head, and being a founder of the company, he went off and did them regardless
of whether it ended up being good for the company."
Jobs introduced the Macintosh in 1984 to wild acclaim, but behind the hyped up
launch there were financial problems at Apple.
A downturn in sales, and a growing resentment at what many employees saw as
Jobs' autocratic style, resulted in an internal power struggle and he was
ousted from the company.
Toy Story
By this time he had other irons in the fire. He founded NeXT Computer in 1985
and a year later bought Graphics Group from the Star Wars director, George
Lucas.
The company, which Jobs renamed Pixar, produced extremely expensive computer
animation hardware which was used by a number of film makers, including Disney.
Jobs switched the emphasis away from computer manufacturing and began producing
computer animated feature films.
The breakthrough came in 1995 with the film Toy Story, which went on to gross
more than $350 million worldwide, and was followed by other successes including
A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc.
Steve Jobs Ever the showman at new product launches
A year later, Apple paid more than $400 million for NeXT computer and Jobs was
back with the company he founded, wasting no time in removing Apple's then,
Chief Executive Officer.
Jobs tackled Apple's poor profitability by dropping some fringe projects and
moving the company into the burgeoning consumer electronics market.
The iPod, launched in 2001 satisfied the demand for music on the move and
immediately became a style icon with its sleek design and distinctive white ear
phones.
To drive his new machine Jobs also launched iTunes, allowing customers to
download music from the internet and create their own play lists.
iPhone
In 2003 Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and, rejecting the idea of
surgery, set about finding alternative therapy, including a special diet.
He finally underwent surgery in 2004 having kept his illness secret from all
but a small handful of Apple insiders.
Steve Jobs The launch of the iPhone
In 2005 Disney paid $7 billion worth of stock to buy Pixar from Jobs who, as a
result, became the Walt Disney Company's biggest shareholder.
Two years later, at yet another much hyped launch, Jobs introduced the iPhone
to a legion of customers, many of whom had queued for hours at their local
Apple store.
In 2008 the ultra thin Macbook Air was launched with Jobs doing his usual stage
presentation dressed in his habitual black turtle neck jumper and faded jeans.
His thin and somewhat gaunt appearance fuelled speculation that his illness had
returned and it was announced, in early 2009, that he was taking a six month
break to cope with what was described as a "hormonal imbalance."
In April of that year he underwent a liver transplant, with his doctors
announcing that the prognosis was "excellent."
However, in Jan 2011, Apple announced that Jobs would taking a leave of absence
for health reasons.
Unlike his contemporary, Microsoft's Bill Gates, Steve Jobs showed little
inclination to use his personal wealth for philanthropic purposes.
And, strangely for a self-professed Buddhist, he did not embrace environmental
concerns, with Apple coming under fire from Greenpeace for its reluctance to
produce easily recyclable products.
Steve Jobs was a one off; a man who had total belief in his own abilities and a
shortage of patience for anyone who failed to agree with him.
His great gifts were an ability to second guess the market and an eye for well
designed and innovative products that everyone would buy.
"You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to
them," he once said. "By the time you get it built, they'll want something
new."
Jobs introduced the iPod and the iPhone to the world
Steve Jobs, co-founder and former chief executive of US technology giant Apple,
has died at the age of 56.
Apple said his "brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless
innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably
better because of Steve".
Jobs announced he was suffering from pancreatic cancer in 2004.
US President Barack Obama said that with his death, the world had "lost a
visionary".
"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," said Mr Obama.
Continue reading the main story
Start Quote
He made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun
Barack Obama US President
World pays tribute to Steve Jobs
A statement from Mr Jobs's family said they were with him when he he died
peacefully on Wednesday.
"In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he
cherished his family," they said, requesting privacy and thanking those who had
"shared their wishes and prayers" during his final year.
Apple said the company had "lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world
has lost an amazing human being".
Flags are being flown at half mast outside the Apple headquarters in Cupertino,
California, while fans of company have held vigils and left tributes outside
Apple shops around the world.
"What he's done for us as a culture, it resonates uniquely in every person,"
said Cory Moll, an employee at an Apple shop in San Francisco.
"Even if they never use an Apple product, the impact they have had is so
far-reaching."
At the company's Shanghai shop, customer Jin Yi said Mr Jobs had created
gadgets which had "changed people's perceptions of machines".
Rivals' tributes
Continue reading the main story
An iPhone displays an image of Steve Jobs at a makeshift memorial outside an
Apple Store in New York on 5 October 2011
In pictures: Apple fans mourn Jobs
The bosses of other leading technology companies have also paid tribute,
including Microsoft boss Bill Gates, who said Jobs's "profound impact" on the
world of technology would "be felt for many generations to come".
"For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely
great honour. I will miss Steve immensely."
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg thanks Mr Jobs for "showing that what you
build can change the world" while Sony Corp president and CEO said: "The
digital age has lost its leading light."
South Korea's Samsung, which is involved in an ongoing legal battle with Apple
over patents, praised Jobs for his "numerous revolutionary changes to the
information technology industry".
Continue reading the main story
At the scene
Tom Burridge BBC News, Apple HQ, Cupertino, California
On the pavements outside the main Apple offices is a small, simple but very
effective memorial to Steve Jobs - just like many of the products he designed.
"Jobs" - spelt out in small tea light candles alongside the Chinese symbol for
Steve - and then the Apple logo. And inside the candlelit design, an iPad with
Steve Jobs's photo on the screen.
Late into the night in America's Silicon Valley they are still arriving to take
photos, lay candles and messages. One former employee described Steve Jobs as
the John Lennon of technology. Another Taiwanese-born resident of Cupertino who
has never bought an Apple product said he came down to pay respects to a man
who changed the world.
"His innovative spirit and remarkable accomplishments will forever be
remembered by people around the world," chief executive officer Choi Gee-Sung.
And New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that "America lost a genius who will
be remembered with Edison and Einstein, and whose ideas will shape the world
for generations to come".
Mr Jobs had built a reputation as a forthright and demanding leader who could
take niche technologies - such as the mouse and graphical user interface, using
onscreen icons rather than text - and make them popular with the general
public.
He introduced the colourful iMac computer, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad to
the world. His death came just a day after Apple unveiled its latest iPhone 4S
model.
With a market value estimated at $351bn ( 227bn), Apple is the world's most
valuable technology company.
'Face of Apple'
More than almost any other business leader, Mr Jobs was indistinguishable from
his company, which he co-founded in the 1970s.
Continue reading the main story
Life of Steve Jobs
Born in San Francisco in Feb 1955 to students Joanne Schieble and Syrian-born
Abdulfattah Jandali - adopted by a Californian working class couple
Had a summer job at Hewlett-Packard while at school - later worked at Atari
Dropped out of college after six months and went travelling in India, where he
became a Buddhist
Launched Apple with school friend Steve Wozniak in 1976 - first Apple computer
sold the same year
Left Apple amid disputes in 1985 but returned in 1996 and became CEO in 1997
Bought Pixar animation company in 1986 for $10m
Married in a Buddhist ceremony in 1991 - has three children with his wife and a
daughter from a previous relationship
Had a personal wealth estimated at $8.3bn ( 5.4bn) in 2010
Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003, and after three periods of sickness
leave, resigns as Apple CEO in August 2011
Obituary: Steve Jobs
As the face of Apple, he represented its dedication to high-end technology and
fashionable design.
And inside the company he exerted a level of influence unheard of in most
businesses.
In 2004, Mr Jobs announced that he was suffering from pancreatic cancer. and he
had a liver transplant five years later.
In January, he took medical leave, before resigning as CEO in August and
handing over his duties to Tim Cook.
In his resignation letter, Mr Jobs said: "I believe Apple's brightest and most
innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and
contributing to its success in a new role."
However, Mr Jobs stayed on as Apple's chairman.
Despite a high profile, however, he remained fiercely protective of his private
life.
He married his wife Laurene in 1991, and the couple had three children.
Mr Jobs also leaves a daughter from a previous relationship, and as an adult he
discovered that he had a biological sister, US novelist Mona Simpson.
Steve Jobs Dies: Apple Chief Created Personal Computer, iPad, iPod, iPhone
By NED POTTER, COLLEEN CURRY and MICHAEL S. JAMES | ABC News
Steve Jobs, the mastermind behind Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac and iTunes,
has died, Apple said. Jobs was 56.
Jobs died "peacefully" surrounded by family members, his family said in a
statement.
Neither Jobs' family nor Apple revealed where Jobs died or from what cause,
though in recent years he had fought a form of pancreatic cancer and had a
liver transplant.
"We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," read a
statement by Apple's board of directors. "Steve's brilliance, passion and
energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of
our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love
was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all
who were touched by his extraordinary gifts."
The homepage of Apple's website switched to a full-page image of Jobs with the
text, "Steve Jobs 1955-2011."
Clicking on the image revealed additional text, credited in a separate memo to
Apple employees to current Apple CEO Tim Cook.
"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an
amazing human being," the text read. "Those of us who have been fortunate
enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring
mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his
spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."
Reaction to Jobs' death came far and wide -- even from the White House.
"Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs," President
Obama said in a written statement. "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."
Jobs co-founded Apple Computer in 1976 and, with his childhood friend Steve
Wozniak, marketed what was considered the world's first personal computer, the
Apple II.
Shortly after learning of Jobs' death, Wozniak told ABC News, "I'm shocked and
disturbed."
Industry watchers called Jobs a master innovator -- perhaps on a par with
Thomas Edison -- changing the worlds of computing, recorded music and
communications.
Click Here for Pictures: Steve Jobs Through the Years
Jobs' rivals in the development of personal computers, Microsoft co-founders
Bill Gates and Paul Allen, immediately reacted to his death and highlighted his
importance to their industry.
Allen called him "a unique tech pioneer and auteur who knew how to make
amazingly great products."
Gates extended his condolences and noted in a written statement that he and
Jobs "have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more
than half our lives."
"The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had,
the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come," Gates added.
"For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely
great honor. I will miss Steve immensely."
A more recent rival, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, also weighed in with a
statement on Jobs.
"Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend," it read. "Thanks for
showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you."
Click here for more reaction to Jobs' death.
Jobs continued to innovate in recent years even as he battled severe health
problems that prompted leaves of absence from Apple.
In 2004, he beat back an unusual form of pancreatic cancer, and in 2009 he was
forced to get a liver transplant. After several years of failing health, Jobs
announced on Aug. 24, 2011 that he was stepping down as Apple's chief
executive.
"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,"
Jobs wrote in his letter of resignation. "Unfortunately, that day has come."
Nevertheless, he remained as chairman of the corporation, a new position
created just for him.
Remembering a Tech Innovator
Upon his death today, Jobs' family released a statement thanking everyone who
had expressed concern about the health of the tech innovator in the final year
of his life, and noted, "a website will be provided for those who wish to offer
tributes and memories."
"In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he
cherished his family," the statement said. "We are grateful for the support and
kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know many of you will
mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of
grief."
One of the world's most famous CEOs, Jobs remained stubbornly private about his
personal life, refusing interviews and shielding his wife and their children
from public view.
"He's never been a media person," said industry analyst Tim Bajarin, president
of Creative Strategies, after Jobs resigned. "He's granted interviews in the
context of product launches, when it benefits Apple, but you never see him talk
about himself."
Upon Jobs' death, Apple said it was not planning any public events, though
Cook's memo to Apple employees said the company was "planning a celebration of
Steve's extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon."
At Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., tonight, people were hugging and
crying. Candles were being lit around an iPad with a picture of Jobs on the
screen, and people very quietly stood and looked at the memorial.
The highlights of Jobs's career trajectory are well-known: a prodigy who
dropped out of Reed College in Oregon and, at 21, started Apple with Wozniak in
his parents' garage. He was a multimillionaire by 25, appeared on the cover of
Time magazine at 26, and was ousted at Apple at age 30, in 1984.
In the years that followed, he went into other businesses, founding NeXT
computers and, in 1986, buying the computer graphics arm of Lucasfilm, Ltd.,
which became Pixar Animation Studios.
He was described as an exacting and sometimes fearsome leader, ordering up and
rejecting multiple versions of new products until the final version was just
right. He said the design and aesthetics of a device were as important as the
hardware and software inside.
Click Here for Pictures: Apple's Iconic Products
In 1996, Apple, which had struggled without Jobs, brought him back by buying
NeXT. He became CEO in 1997 and put the company on a remarkable upward path.
By 2001, the commercial music industry was on its knees because digital
recordings, copied and shared online for free, made it unnecessary for millions
of people to buy compact discs.
Jobs took advantage with the iPod -- essentially a pocket-sized computer hard
drive with elegantly simple controls and a set of white earbuds so that one
could listen to the hours of music one saved on it. He set up the iTunes online
music store, and persuaded major recording labels to sell songs for 99 cents
each. No longer did people have to go out and buy a CD if they liked one song
from it. They bought a digital file and stored it in their iPod.
"Other companies sold digital music before Apple," said Bill Werde, editorial
director of Billboard magazine. "Other companies made digital music available
on computers and digital phones and used it in commercials. Apple's brilliance
-- and I don't think anyone doubts that this was Steve Jobs' brilliance -- was
that Apple made it exciting and simple and effortless and fun. Before Steve
Jobs, digital music was math class. After, it was recess.
"Without a doubt," he added, "when you think of the Mount Rush more of the
music business -- pioneers like Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, Clive Davis and
Jimmy Iovine -- Steve Jobs has earned his prominent place."
In 2007, Jobs transformed the cell phone. Apple's iPhone, with its iconic touch
screen, was a handheld computer, music player, messaging device, digital wallet
and -- almost incidentally -- cell phone. Major competitors, such as
BlackBerry, Nokia and Motorola, struggled after it appeared.
By 2010, Apple's new iPad began to cannibalize its original business, the
personal computer. The iPad was a sleek tablet computer with a touch screen and
almost no physical buttons. It could be used for almost anything software
designers could conceive, from watching movies to taking pictures to leafing
through a virtual book.
Steve Jobs' Personal Life
Jobs kept a close cadre of friends, Bajarin said, including John Lasseter of
Pixar and Larry Ellison of Oracle, but beyond that, shared very little of his
personal life with anyone.
But that personal life -- he was given up at birth for adoption, had an
illegitimate child, was romantically linked with movie stars -- was full of
intrigue for his fan base and Apple consumers.
Jobs and his wife, Laurene Powell, were married in a small ceremony in Yosemite
National Park in 1991, lived in Woodside, Calif., and had three children: Reed
Paul, Erin Sienna and Eve.
He admitted that when he was 23, he had a child out of wedlock with his high
school girlfriend, Chris Ann Brennan. Their daughter, Lisa Brennan Jobs, was
born in 1978.
He had a biological sister, Mona Simpson, the author of such well-known books
as "Anywhere But Here." But he did not meet Simpson until they were adults and
he was seeking out his birth parents. Simpson later wrote a book based on their
relationship. She called it "A Regular Guy."
Fortune magazine reported that Jobs denied paternity of Lisa for years, at one
point swearing in a court document that he was infertile and could not have
children. According to the report, Chris Ann Brennan collected welfare for a
time to support the child until Jobs later acknowledged Lisa as his daughter.
There were other personal details that emerged over the years, as well.
At Reed, Jobs became romantically involved with the singer Joan Baez, according
to Elizabeth Holmes, a friend and classmate. In "The Second Coming of Steve
Jobs," Holmes tells biographer Alan Deutschman that Jobs broke up with his
serious girlfriend to "begin an affair with the charismatic singer-activist."
Holmes confirmed the details to ABC News.
Jobs' Health and Apple's Health
Enigmatic and charismatic, Jobs said little about himself. But then his body
began to fail him.
In 2004, he was forced to say publicly he had a rare form of pancreatic cancer.
In 2009, it was revealed that he had quietly gone to a Memphis hospital for a
liver transplant.
He took three medical leaves from Apple. He did not share details.
In 2009, sources said, members of Apple's board of directors had to persuade
him to disclose more about his health as "a fiduciary issue," interwoven with
the health of the company.
He was listed in March as 109th on the Forbes list of the world's billionaires,
with a net worth of about $8.3 billion. After selling Pixar animation studios
to The Walt Disney Company in 2006, he became a Disney board member and the
company's largest shareholder. Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
Analysts said Apple performed well during Jobs' absence, partly because he was
available for big decisions and partly because his chief lieutenant, Tim Cook,
was the hands-on manager even when Jobs was there.
The company has a history of bouncing back. In January 2009, after he announced
his second medical leave, Apple stock dropped to $78.20 per share. But it
quickly recovered and became one of the most successful stocks on Wall Street.
On one day in the summer of 2011, with the stock hitting the $400 level, Apple
briefly passed ExxonMobil as the world's most valuable company.
ABC News' Alex Stone and Catherine McKenzie contributed to this report.
Obituary
Steve Jobs
Oct 6th 2011, 1:25 by T.S.
NOBODY else in the computer industry, or any other industry for that matter,
could put on a show like Steve Jobs. His product launches, at which he would
stand alone on a black stage and conjure up a magical or incredible new
electronic gadget in front of an awed crowd, were the performances of a master
showman. All computers do is fetch and shuffle numbers, he once explained, but
do it fast enough and the results appear to be magic . He spent his life
packaging that magic into elegantly designed, easy to use products.
He had been among the first, back in the 1970s, to see the potential that lay
in the idea of selling computers to ordinary people. In those days of
green-on-black displays, when floppy discs were still floppy, the notion that
computers might soon become ubiquitous seemed fanciful. But Mr Jobs was one of
a handful of pioneers who saw what was coming. Crucially, he also had an
unusual knack for looking at computers from the outside, as a user, not just
from the inside, as an engineer something he attributed to the experiences of
his wayward youth.
Mr Jobs caught the computing bug while growing up in Silicon Valley. As a
teenager in the late 1960s he cold-called his idol, Bill Hewlett, and talked
his way into a summer job at Hewlett-Packard. But it was only after dropping
out of college, travelling to India, becoming a Buddhist and experimenting with
psychedelic drugs that Mr Jobs returned to California to co-found Apple, in his
parents garage, on April Fools Day 1976. A lot of people in our industry
haven t had very diverse experiences, he once said. So they don t have enough
dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions. Bill Gates, he
suggested, would be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to
an ashram when he was younger .
Dropping out of his college course and attending calligraphy classes instead
had, for example, given Mr Jobs an apparently useless love of typography. But
support for a variety of fonts was to prove a key feature of the Macintosh, the
pioneering mouse-driven, graphical computer that Apple launched in 1984. With
its windows, icons and menus, it was sold as the computer for the rest of us .
Having made a fortune from Apple s initial success, Mr Jobs expected to sell
zillions of his new machines. But the Mac was not the mass-market success Mr
Jobs had hoped for, and he was ousted from Apple by its board.
Yet this apparently disastrous turn of events turned out to be a blessing: the
best thing that could have ever happened to me , Mr Jobs later called it. He
co-founded a new firm, Pixar, which specialised in computer graphics, and NeXT,
another computer-maker. His remarkable second act began in 1996 when Apple,
having lost its way, acquired NeXT, and Mr Jobs returned to put its technology
at the heart of a new range of Apple products. And the rest is history: Apple
launched the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad, and (briefly) became the
world s most valuable listed company. I m pretty sure none of this would have
happened if I hadn t been fired from Apple, Mr Jobs said in 2005. When his
failing health forced him to step down as Apple s boss in 2011, he was hailed
as the greatest chief executive in history. Oh, and Pixar, his side project,
produced a string of hugely successful animated movies.
In retrospect, Mr Jobs was a man ahead of his time during his first stint at
Apple. Computing s early years were dominated by technical types. But his
emphasis on design and ease of use gave him the edge later on. Elegance,
simplicity and an understanding of other fields came to matter in a world in
which computers are fashion items, carried by everyone, that can do almost
anything. Technology alone is not enough, said Mr Jobs at the end of his
speech introducing the iPad, in January 2010. It s technology married with
liberal arts, married with humanities, that yields the results that make our
hearts sing. It was an unusual statement for the head of a technology firm,
but it was vintage Steve Jobs.
His interdisciplinary approach was backed up by an obsessive attention to
detail. A carpenter making a fine chest of drawers will not use plywood on the
back, even though nobody will see it, he said, and he applied the same approach
to his products. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality,
has to be carried all the way through. He insisted that the first Macintosh
should have no internal cooling fan, so that it would be silent putting user
needs above engineering convenience. He called an Apple engineer one weekend
with an urgent request: the colour of one letter of an on-screen logo on the
iPhone was not quite the right shade of yellow. He often wrote or rewrote the
text of Apple s advertisements himself.
His on-stage persona as a Zen-like mystic notwithstanding, Mr Jobs was an
autocratic manager with a fierce temper. But his egomania was largely
justified. He eschewed market researchers and focus groups, preferring to trust
his own instincts when evaluating potential new products. A lot of times,
people don t know what they want until you show it to them, he said. His
judgment proved uncannily accurate: by the end of his career the hits far
outweighed the misses. Mr Jobs was said by an engineer in the early years of
Apple to emit a reality distortion field , such were his powers of persuasion.
But in the end he changed reality, channelling the magic of computing into
products that reshaped music, telecoms and media. The man who said in his youth
that he wanted to put a ding in the universe did just that.
(Photo credit: AFP)
V rlden s rjer Jobs
En s rjande har skrivit p marken utanf r Jobs hus i Kalifornien.
B de politiker och f retagare fr n hela v rlden hyllade Apples medgrundare
Steve Jobs som avled p onsdagen.
USA:s president Barack Obama s rjde Jobs som en av USA:s "st rsta innovat rer".
"Han f r ndrade v ra liv, omdefinierade hela industrier och uppn dde en av de
st rsta bragderna i m nsklighetens historia: han f r ndrade det s tt var och en
av oss ser p v rlden", sade presidenten i ett uttalande.
Microsofts grundare Bill Gates, som varit v n och konkurrent till Jobs i 30 r,
sade att v rlden s llan sk dat n gon som gjort s djupt intryck som Jobs. "F r
oss som varit lyckliga nog att f samarbeta med honom har det varit en "galet
stor ra", sade Gates och l nade ett av Steve Jobs favorituttryck.
Facebooks grundare Mark Zuckerberg riktade ett tack till Jobs: "Steve, tack f r
att du har varit en mentor och v n. Tack f r att du visat att det du skapar kan
f r ndra v rlden. Jag kommer att sakna dig".
Australiens premi rminister Julia Gillard hyllade Jobs som "geni" och "en
global innovat r som f r ndrat v rlden".
G S Choi, chef f r konkurrerande Samsung i Sydkorea, beklagade Apple-grundarens
bortg ng. Jobs "introducerade otaliga revolutionerande nyheter i IT-industrin
och var en stor entrepren r", sade han.
Googles vd Larry Page sammanfattade Jobs som sl ende briljant. "Han verkade
alltid med n gra f ord kunna s ga det du i sj lva verket borde ha t nkt innan
du t nkte det".
Utanf r Apples h gkvarter i Cupertino, Kalifornien och vid Apple-butiker runt
om i USA samlades m nniskor f r att hylla den bortg ngne Steve Jobs. De lade
ner blommor, t nde ljus och l mnade meddelanden.
Utanf r en Apple-butik i San Francisco h ll flera upp bilder av Jobs p sina
Ipad. Vid en butik i New York fick bilder av Jobs bilda ett provisoriskt
minnesaltare, som s rjande f revigade med sina Iphone.
ven i Australien samlades m nniskor vid Apple-butiker.
I Kina, d r varum rket Apple r mycket popul rt, lades n stan 35 miljoner
hyllningar till Jobs ut p internet timmarna efter nyheten om hans d d.
En ung man hade k rt i ver en timme f r att verl mna en bukett vita liljor
till de anst llda i en Apple-butik i Shanghai, en av fem i Kina.
Han var en stor man. Han f rtj nar att bli ih gkommen, sade mannen, som inte
ville uppge sitt namn.
Sociala medier som Twitter sv mmar ver av inl gg om Applegrundaren Steve Jobs
bortg ng. mnet var p morgonen det mest omskrivna b de i Sverige och i v rlden
som helhet, enligt Twitters egen trendindikator.
En av alla dem som hyllar Jobs r finl ndska Nokias vd Stephen Elop. ven om
Jobs har g tt bort lever hans "passion f r enkelhet och elegans" kvar, menar
Nokiachefen.
"P Nokia r allas tankar hos hans v nner och familj", skriver Elop i ett
Twitterinl gg.
Telekomanalytikern Helena Nordman-Knutson, p Pareto hman fondkommission, s
ger att d dsbudet var v ntat men tycker att tidpunkten r h gst symbolisk,
endast dagar efter att den nya Iphone-modellen presenterats.
Han var en karismatisk ledare som skapade ett multimiljardsm rke genom att
vara envis och tro p det han gjorde. Han trodde p den revolution han skapade.
Hur kommer hans bortg ng p verka Apple?
- Apple har redan en ny vd och Apple har ju kvar sina kreativa ingenj rer och
sina kreativa m nniskor. Men nu g ller det f r dem att f karisman dit, att h
lla uppe den d r livsgnistan och mystiken. Det blir deras stora utmaning.
Jobs-eran r f rbi och nu b rjar en ny era. De m ste t nka om och fundera p
vilken v g de ska g . Det g r inte att leva p gamla meriter, s ger Helena
Nordman-Knutson.
Jag har den st rsta respekt f r det han gjort och det han har byggt upp. Det
r en sorgens dag f r mig, s ger tidningen MacWorlds chefredakt r Andreas
Leijon.
Han tror att Steve Jobs kommer att hedras ven i Sverige.
- Det tror jag absolut. Inte i samma utstr ckning som i USA, men vi m rker
redan att v r Facebook-sida sv mmas ver av kondoleanser. Det kommer bli stort.
Jag tror m nga tar det h r personligt. M nga har ett k nslom ssigt band till
Steve Jobs. Det r otroligt h ftigt och samtidigt lite l skigt, beroende p
hur man ser det.
Andreas Leijon r framf rallt imponerad av Steve Jobs integritet och hans
passion f r det han gjorde.
Han var en otrolig vision r. Sedan var han s kompromissl s och stark, vilket
gjort honom till en tydlig ikon. Gemene man har nog ingen koll p Samsungs
eller Googles vd. Men till och med min mamma vet vem Steve Jobs r och har en
Iphone och lskar den.
N r det g ller Apples produkter tror han att Steve Jobs bortg ng kommer m rkas
f rst om tv till tre r.
Apple r Steve Jobs, och Steve Jobs r Apple. Det blir intressant att se vad
som h nder nu med Apple. P kort sikt kommer det nog inte att m rkas, men om tv
r kommer man se konsekvenserna av vad som var Jobs-andan, hur mycket som var
myt och hur mycket som var verklighet, s ger Andreas Leijon.
TT
Apples grundare Steve Jobs d d
It-ikonen, tillika Apples grundare, Steve Jobs har avlidit efter en l ng tids
sjukdom. Han blev 56 r.
N sta F reg ende
6 oktober 2011 kl 11:05, uppdaterad: 6 oktober 2011 kl 11:18
Karismatisk vision r och h nsynsl s perfektionist - Apples medgrundare Steve
Jobs har gjort avtryck i historien.
Efter sin bortg ng hyllas han nu v rlden ver.
Teknikj tten Apple tillk nnagav med djup sorg att Steve Jobs avlidit. Steves
briljans, passion och energi var k llan till otaliga innovationer som berikat
och f rb ttrat allas v ra liv. V rlden r o ndligt mycket b ttre tack vare
Steve , hette det i uttalandet.
Jobs dog p onsdagen 56 r gammal. Han v xte upp i Kaliforniens Silicon Valley,
hoppade av college och grundade Apple 1976 tillsammans med v nnen Steve
Wozniak. Under hans ledning har f retaget utvecklat stors ljare som
Appledatorn, Ipod, Iphone och Ipad. I m nga hyllningsord talades om att han
revolutionerat v rt s tt att kommunicera och ta del av information och underh
llning.
Artikeln forts tter...
Han var inte bara vision r utan beskrivs ven som en stenh rd aff rsman med en
passion f r minimalistisk design och sinne f r reklam.
Men Jobs liv har inte bara varit en framg ngssaga. Han adopterades bort som nyf
dd, tvingades bort fr n Apple i mitten av 1980-talet och drabbades av cancer
efter att ha n tt toppen.
Steve Jobs diagnosticerades redan 2004 f r en ovanlig form av cancer i
bukspottk rteln. Efter flera rs sjukskrivning terkom han 2009 som vd efter en
levertransplantation. P grund av sjukdomen l mnade han vd-posten i augusti i
r men stannade som styrelseordf rande.
Apples vd Tim Cook, som tog ver i augusti, sade i ett uttalande att Apple har
f rlorat en vision r och kreativt geni, och v rlden har f rlorat en fantastisk
m nniska .
Steve l mnar efter sig ett bolag som bara han kunde ha byggt, och hans anda
kommer f r all framtid att vara Apples grund .
Telekomanalytikern Helena Nordman-Knutson, p Pareto hman fondkommission, s
ger att d dsbudet var v ntat - men tycker att tidpunkten r h gst symbolisk,
endast dagar efter att den nya Iphone-modellen presenterats.
- Apple har redan en ny vd och Apple har ju kvar sina kreativa ingenj rer och
sina kreativa m nniskor. Men nu g ller det f r dem att f karisman dit, att h
lla uppe den d r livsgnistan och mystiken. Det blir deras stora utmaning.
Utanf r Apples h gkvarter i Cupertino, Kalifornien, och vid Apple-butiker runt
om i USA och v rlden samlades m nniskor f r att hylla Steve Jobs. De lade ner
blommor, t nde ljus och l mnade meddelanden - en talande bild av Jobs
ikonstatus.
I Kina, d r varum rket Apple r mycket popul rt, lades n stan 35 miljoner
hyllningar till Jobs ut p internet timmarna efter nyheten om hans d d.
En av alla dem som hyllar Jobs r finl ndska Nokias vd Stephen Elop. ven om
Jobs har g tt bort lever hans passion f r enkelhet och elegans kvar, skriver
Elop i ett Twitterinl gg.
ven i Sverige reagerar m nga p Steve Jobs bortg ng.
- Jag har den st rsta respekt f r det han gjort och det han har byggt upp. Det
r en sorgens dag f r mig, s ger tidningen MacWorlds chefredakt r Andreas
Leijon.
Han tror att Steve Jobs kommer att hedras ven i Sverige.
- Det tror jag absolut. Inte i samma utstr ckning som i USA, men vi m rker
redan att v r Facebook-sida sv mmas ver av kondoleanser. Det kommer bli stort.
Jag tror m nga tar det h r personligt. M nga har ett k nslom ssigt band till
Steve Jobs. Det r otroligt h ftigt - och samtidigt lite l skigt, beroende p
hur man ser det.
Sedan Steve Jobs terkomst som vd i september 1997 har Apples aktie haft en
extremt positiv v rdeutveckling. Aktiekursen stod d i drygt fem dollar. G
rdagens st ngningskurs var 378:25 dollar. Bara det senaste decenniet har aktien
stigit med ver 4 000 procent.
I augusti i r tog Apple tillf lligt ver titeln som v rldens h gst v rderade b
rsbolag fr n oljej tten Exxon Mobil.
Precis som andra storf retag har Apple, i takt med att bolagets inflytande ver
musik- och mediebranscherna har vuxit, f tt kritik f r monopolistiska
tendenser.
P b rsen i Frankfurt, d r Apples aktie ocks handlas, f ll kursen under den
inledande handeln efter beskedet om Steve Jobs d d.
- --------------------------
Fler r ster om Steve Jobs:
- Det har v l n stan aldrig h nt f rut i historien, att man l ser om en persons
d d via de saker som han uppfann. (Journalisten och f rfattaren Jan Gradvall)
- Det r f rst om 10-20 r som man kommer att kunna se hur viktig han
egentligen varit. Det har funnits ett antal individer i den tekniska historien
som varit viktiga och som st tt bakom en innovation som sedan g tt vidare, som
radion eller tv:n. Det r f r tidigt att s ga om Jobs med hans id er om musik
r s stor. Men det som Apple gjort med Ipoden, Itunes och Iphone har helt klart
p verkat branscherna och d rmed v r vardag. (Daniel Johansson, n tforskare p
Blekinge tekniska h gskola)
Steve Jobs, l'ex-patron visionnaire d'Apple, est mort
Cofondateur et ex-directeur g n ral d'Apple, Steve Jobs s'est teint mercredi 5
octobre Palo Alto (Californie), victime d'un cancer du pancr as. Il tait g
de 56 ans.
Figure embl matique de la Silicon Valley, il avait t l'origine des produits
phares cr s par la c l bre firme la pomme, qui ont transform des secteurs
entiers : ordinateurs personnels Macintosh, baladeurs iPod, t l phones iPhone
et derni rement tablettes num riques iPad.
Il avait d missionn en ao t de la t te de l'entreprise qu'il avait cofond e
dans un garage en 1976, laissant la place Tim Cook. Sous sa direction, Apple
s'est hiss e au rang des premi res capitalisations boursi res am ricaines.
En annon ant la nouvelle de son retrait, Apple n'avait donn aucune
explication, mais Steve Jobs, dont l'habituelle tenue jean et col roul noir
est aussi embl matique que le logo en forme de pomme croqu e, souffrait de
nombreux ennuis de sant ces derni res ann es.
L'annonce de sa mort a d clench une s rie d'hommages de la part de
responsables politiques Barack Obama a voqu "l'un des plus grands
inventeurs am ricains" et de ses anciens homologues tels Bill Gates
(Microsoft) ou Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), qui l'a qualifi de "mentor".
Le Monde.fr (avec AFP et Reuters)
La mort de Steve Jobs, iCr ateur
Par FABRICE ROUSSELOT De notre correspondant New York
Page du site d'Apple rendant hommage Steve Jobs, le 5 octobre 2011, sur un
iPad2. ( AFP Frederic J. Brown)
D Apple, il tait le visionnaire, le g nie. Celui qui tait devenu
indissociable de la marque la pomme. Celui qui tait derri re l iPhone et l
iPad.
Chacune de ses annonces dans la Silicon Valley, dans son sous pull noir col
roul , tait attendue par tout le monde de la high tech comme une nouvelle
innovation capitale. Mais mercredi soir, Steve Jobs aura du c der face la
maladie. Dans un communiqu publi vers 20 heures, heure de New York, Apple a
annonc que son co-fondateur tait mort, 56 ans .
La nouvelle n a pas surpris ceux qui le connaissaient et tous les fans d Apple.
Jobs, qui se battait contre un cancer du pancr as depuis plusieurs ann es,
avait pris un cong maladie en janvier dernier puis avait d missionn en ao t
de son poste de directeur g n ral de la compagnie. Pour laisser la place Tim
Cook, son num ro deux. L histoire de Jobs est la hauteur de sa l gende. C est
dans un garage qu il fabrique son premier ordinateur Apple, avec son comp re
Steve Wozniak, un passionn d informatique. La marque la pomme voit le jour
le 1er avril 1976 et l ordinateur sera mis en vente quelques semaines plus
tard, au prix de 666, 66 dollars. Jobs tait un pionner, l un des premiers
avoir introduit l ordinateur personnel dans les foyers et reconnaitre l int r
t de la souris. Le premier ordinateur grand public commercialis par Apple
sera ainsi lanc en 1984 et sera baptis le Macintosh.
Personnage singulier, il avait r v l un jour qu un voyage en Inde en sac dos
et la consommation importante de drogues de toutes sortes, l avaient aid cr
er sa vision artistique . Visionnaire fort caract re, Jobs sera vinc d
Apple en 1986. Il cr era alors les fameux studios Pixar, qu il rach te George
Lucas. Pixar va devenir l un des plus grands succ s des studios d animation
Hollywood avec des films comme Toy Story , Nemo etc .
Puis Jobs revient dans la compagnie de Cupertino en 1996. Il sera alors le
principal instigateur derri re la r volution d Apple avec le lancement de l
iMac, de l iPod, de l iPhone et de l iPad. Avec la cr ation des comptes Itunes
galement qui offre une alternative payante au piratage de la musique sur
Internet, il r volutionne le monde de la musique et cr ait un nouveau mod le
conomique. Il y a quelques semaines, le New York Times avait salu Jobs comme l
un des plus grands innovateurs de l histoire moderne du capitalisme . Un
personnage d t d une intuition ph nom nale , relevait le journal. Lors de sa
derni re apparition publique, Jobs, toujours en sous pull noir et baskets,
avait paru tr s fr le et plusieurs reprises d j , de nombreuses rumeurs
avaient fait tat de son d c s.