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Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs
Steve Jobes 1955-2011
The world's most valuable technology company, Apple Inc co-founder Steve Jobs no more.
He died from cancer on Wednesday, the 5th October, 2011 at the age
56. Apple and Steve Jobs are almost household names in the world. Never has the
death of a global CEO generated such excitement, and seldom has a death been mourned as much.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday, in his condolence message,
said he was saddened by the demise of Jobs, adding that he
"...was truly an innovative man and taught us new ways to connect and
communicate". India Inc chiefs, too, mourned the loss of the visionary and paid rich
tribute to the man who changed the daily habits of millions of users by
reinventing computing, music and cellphones. Tata Sons Chairman Ratan
Tata acknowledged: "Steve Jobs has been one of the greatest icons of the
modern era. His untimely death is a huge loss to us all."
"For me, Steve Jobs was an idea, and not just a person, that will live
on and on and on," tweeted HCL Technologies CEO Vineet Nayar. "No one has shaped the technology revolution like Steve
Jobs," acknowledged Tata Consultancy Services CEO & MD,N Chandrasekaran.
Apple's success story
Apple's success story is linked with Steve Jobs charisma and deep involvement
with the company's product designs. Jobs has 313 Apple patents (much
more than those granted to other technology chiefs) to his credit, which
demonstrates his eye for details. He is also considered an icon by many
business leaders, a "designer of designers" and powerful speaker.
Apple products "Macbooks, iPods, iPhones and iPads" continue to cast a
spell on users who are willing to wait for hours in queues to be the first to buy these products.
Steve Jobs scored his first hit in 1976 with the Apple-II computer, a device that
resonated with schools and some consumers and small businesses, and made
Apple an alluring alternative to IBM, then the world's largest computer
maker. Apple had its initial public offer in 1980 and the graphical Macintosh was born just over three years later.
In 1985, he was fired after a power struggle with the Apple board. He started another computer
company, NeXT Computer Inc, and bought a digital animation studio from
filmmaker George Lucas. The company later assumed the name Pixar.
Apple's purchase of NeXT in 1997 brought Jobs back to the computer maker
he helped found and commenced his career's third phase. The company was
foundering. He ignited a flurry of innovations and growth and achieved
what may be the greatest comeback in business history. Whether he was
working on the Mac or the iPhone or backing the computer animation that
yielded an unbroken string of Pixar hits, Jobs proved that complex technologies could be designed into simple, beautiful products that
people would find irresistible. |
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