Steve Jobs has always believed in technology that could be utilized by the public to enrich their lives. Belief in a concept and making it a reality is a daunting task, but Jobs had the uncanny ability to effectively communicate his ideas to the community, his employees, and private investors by appealing to their ideologies. Perhaps, more importantly, the products created under the leadership of Steve Jobs promoted new forms of social communication. |
An amalgamation of technology and style, Apple is more than a music player, phone, and computer innovator; it is a culture, a movement combining the very best in technology, architecture, and style. Apple’s destiny was not always clear and its preeminent place as one of the best technological trendsetters in the market place today wasn’t a certainty. Owing its existence to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Apple Computers sprung into existence in 1976. Jobs, a college dropout, and a child given up for adoption had a vision that one day computers would be in every household. Carrying this vision in his heart, and embracing the philosophy of social architecture to ignite the passions of his workers to create products that they embrace and love, Jobs against all odds secured the needed funds to realize his dream. Steve Jobs claimed that his love of people especially students spurred him to produce a computer that could be used by educators for effective communication. In fact, some of his greatest achievements in his estimation were the three educational projects he launched: Kids Can't Wait, Apple Education Foundation, and the Apple University Consortium. |
Oddly, in 1985, because of Jobs’ attention to detail, failed sales of the Mac, chiding of engineers for what he deemed a lackluster effort, and his appreciation of technological sophistication over customer approval, his control over Apple operations was stripped by the very individuals he hired, so Jobs left Apple and continued his pursuit of trying to make computers available to educators by forming a new company called NeXT. In the end, the only real success of this company was its Internet software, WebObjects. It was crucial in enhancing Web communication. WebObjects is a web application framework that works on a Java web application server. During this time, big companies were attempting to create online stores, and WebObjects provided the technology to accomplish their tasks. Dell used WebObjects for their retail online stores, and Nissan and Ford created online catalogues with this technology. Since 1997 the BBC has used WebObjects for its online news site. |
In addition, after Jobs left Apple, he bought Pixar in 1986. Who could forget Toy Story in 1995, Monster, Inc in 2001, or Finding Nemo in 2003? The movies made by Pixar during the tenure of Steve Jobs always shared a central theme of camaraderie and collaboration between people. Pixar was sold to Disney in 2006 and Jobs was given a seat on Disney’s board and became their largest shareholder. During this same period, Apple started a downward spiral where its very existence was threaten, so in 1996, Jobs again became interim CEO of Apple and immediately started to make Apple profitable again. Jobs was always the heart and soul of Apple, for he brought a natural talent to focus on the right ideas that ultimately was embraced by the public. As an example, he was able to see the public sentiment turning toward PDA’s and the growth in the availability of music on the internet, so he said no to PDAs and yes to iPods. The iPod introduced in 2001 and the iTunes store in 2003 revitalized the music industry, and allowed old and new recording artists to communicate directly with consumers in a virtual environment to significantly increase their record sales. The iPhone introduced in 2007 and its applications created a new social platform where individuals actually stayed connected at all times. |
From the creation of Apple computers to the coronation of the iPhone as the most innovative cellular phone ever made, Steve Jobs has always embraced technologies that enable people to communicate with and relate to each other. Without a doubt, Steve Jobs has cemented himself as one of the most technological visionaries in the world. |
Angelelli, Lee. (20070). Steve Paul Jobs. Retrieved on August 13, 2009 from http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/Jobs.html.
Elmer-DeWitt , Philip. (2009). Top 10 moments in Steve Job’s career. Retrieved on August 13, 2009 from http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fortune/0906/gallery.steve jobs career timeline.fortune/index.html.
1 comment:
Well I don't know that I agree with the above comment. Although the article is not the most invigoratting it does make some interesting points. I am not a fan of Apple at all, especially with the prices. However, I do recognize the obvious advantage they are starting to build with the iTouch and iPhone.
Ryan
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