Steve Jobs he was one of the greatest innovators of our time, a visionary who redefined the concept of personal technology and how we interact with the digital world. Born in San Francisco In the 1955 and grew up in what we now call Silicon ValleyJobs co-founded Appleone of the most influential and profitable companies in the world. Its legacy includes iconic products such as the MacintoshtheiPodtheiPhone el’iPadwhich have revolutionized personal computing, listening to music, telephony and the consumption of digital content respectively. But who was Steve Jobs really? And how did he turn his vision into reality, influencing entire generations? His biography can help us answer these questions.
Early life, education and birth of Apple
Steven Paul Jobs was born in San FranciscoCalifornia, the February 24, 1955from Abdulfattah Jandali And Joanne Carole Schieble. The couple gave Steve up for adoption Paul and Clara Jobsa middle-class couple living in Los Altos, Silicon Valley, an area that would soon transform into the beating heart of the global tech industry. From a young age, Steve demonstrated a varied interest, oscillating between engineering, calligraphy, design and countless other passions that led him to abandon Reed College in Portlandand to work as a video game designer at Atari. This allowed him to raise the money necessary to listen to his hunger for spiritual research which led him on a pilgrimage to Indiawhere he embraced Buddhism. These apparently distant interests shaped his philosophy of life and his approach to work, characterized by the union of technology and aesthetics, simplicity and depth.
In the autumn of 1974back in Silicon Valley, got back in touch with his friend Steve Wozniaka former high school classmate, who in the meantime had become a brilliant engineer, who worked for the Hewlett Packard. When Wozniak told Jobs about his progress on his computer logic board, Jobs had the idea of going into business together, which they did after Hewlett-Packard rejected Wozniak’s design in 1976.
THE’Apple Ias the two Steves called the logic board, was built in the Jobs family garage with money they had gotten from selling Jobs’ Volkswagen minibus and Wozniak’s programmable calculator. In April of the same year, Jobs, Wozniak and the administrative supervisor Ronald Wayne (who remained on board the company for a very short time) founded the Apple Computer Company (now known as Apple Inc.). It was the April 1, 1976.
Their first product, the Apple I, was essentially a hand-assembled logic board. Thanks to Jobs’ ability to attract investors and promote the product, the duo launched shortly afterApple IIa computer with a keyboard and an attractive design. This model not only decreed Apple’s commercial success, but transformed the personal computer from a tool for “geeks” to an object of everyday use.
In the late 1970s, Jobs demonstrated aunique ability to recognize the potential of emerging technologies. A visit to the research center Xerox PARCfor example, exposed him to the concept of the graphical interface, which revolutionized the way we interacted with computers using a pointer and mouse. Jobs implemented this idea in the development of the Macintoshlaunched in 1984considered the first mass-produced computer with a GUI (Graphical User Interface) or graphical user interface. While not initially a commercial success due to its high cost and lack of software, the Macintosh it set new standards in the industry thanks to its ease of use and innovative design.
Goodbye Apple: NeXT is born
Jobs’s intransigent and perfectionist character, combined with the commercial failure of the Macintosh, led him to clash with Apple’s board of directors and, in particular, with John Sculley (former CEO of Pepsi, hired by Jobs himself in 1983 to lead his growing company). The epilogue? In the 1985 he was forced to leave the company he had co-founded. Away from Apple, Jobs founded NeXTa company specializing in advanced workstations for the academic and corporate sectors, and acquired Pixaran animation studio that would revolutionize cinema with films like Toy Story.
The return to Apple and the mobile revolution with iPhone
In the 1996with Apple in serious financial difficulties due to terrible administrative management and the development of questionable products, to say the least, such as theApple Newtons (one of the worst tech flops in history), Jobs returned to the company he had co-founded 20 years earlier after it acquired NeXT. From that point, Jobs led Apple into a major renaissance. Among his first successes was theiMaca computer that combined power and design, helping to relaunch the brand’s image. Jobs had an innate talent for marketing and creating a sense of exclusivity around his products, as demonstrated by the famous campaign Think Different.
At the beginning of 2000sJobs led Apple towards new horizons, never explored before, transforming it from an “ordinary” computer company to a consumer electronics giant. In the 2001theiPod revolutionized the way we listen to music andiTunes Store (launched in 2003), made purchasing digital songs accessible. But it was the launch of theiPhone In the 2007 to score one epochal turning point. This device combined a mobile phonea media player and a laptop in a single product, redefining the standards of the entire technology industry. At the same time, Jobs continued to work on innovative products such as theiPadwhich in 2010 ushered in the tablet era, and to expand the Apple ecosystem with theApp Store (opened in 2008), transforming the way developers and users interact with applications and creating a new market segment.
Illness and death
Despite his success, Jobs’ life was marked by illness. In the 2003 he was diagnosed with a rare type of pancreatic cancersurgically removed in 2004. Despite declining health, Jobs continued to work until shortly before his deathwhich occurred on October 5, 2011.
Its impact on technology, design and marketing is still palpable today, by all of us, whether you’re reading this from an Apple device or not. Thanks to his vision, Apple has become not only one of the most important technology companies in history, but a global pop phenomenon.