The APPLE OF OUR EYES: STEVE JOBS(1955-2011)

Ms Jyotika Pruthi

Assistant Professor

Dept of CSE/IT 

The NorthCap University, Gurgaon

Many years ago an apple dropped from a tree and landed on a man resting in the shade of the tree.That man was Sir Isaac Newton and THAT apple created history,it led to the ‘discovery’ of Gravity.Several years later, in 1976 to be precise, another Apple,this time a half–eaten one, set out to create history.The man behind this Apple was a simple guy from San Francisco,Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs,born on 24 February 1955,lost his battle to cancer on October 5, 2011, after putting up a brave fight for seven years.He was 56.

This charismatic leader, entrepreneur,innovator co-founded Apple with friends Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne.Together,the team came out with Apple II which crushed all competition and became the symbol of the personal computing revolution worldwide. Surprisingly, Jobs was fired from Apple in 1985for being an “erratic” and “temperamental” manager.

In a speech Jobs gave at Stanford University in 2005,he said that being fired from Apple was the best thing that could have happened to him, “The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It fired me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life”.And surely it was a boon in disguise for him.The same year he founded NeXT Inc., a computer company.NeXT Inc. proved to be very successful and in 1996 Apple bought the company for $429 million,making Steve Jobs the CEO of the company he co-founded.He added “I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple.It was awful-tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.”

Not much is known about Steve Job’s visit to India.This cult figure came to India in the early 70’s in search of ‘enlightenment’ and ‘nirvana’ and went back unsatisfied.The hot, uncomfortable summer made Jobs question many of the illusions he had nursed about India.He found India far poorer than he had imagined and was struck by the incongruity between the country’s condition and its airs of holiness.[1]

The iREVOLUTION

The announcement that Apple, a computer company, would be making a portable music player met with a lot of skepticism.But Job’s true genius lay in integrating great ideas in ways not envisioned before.He simply said, “We at Apple love music, andit’s always nice to do things we love”. As predicted by him,iPod was an amazingsuccess. Its beautiful design, brilliant user interface, smart click wheel and most importantly, its ability to sync with iTunes made it sell like hot cakes.

After this there was no stopping for Apple.It pushed itself to innovate more and more and came up with the iPod Mini in 2004 and the iPod Nano in 2005.It expanded its Music store internationally and became the undisputed leader of the new digital music trend.A noticeable milestone was passed in 2006 when Apple’s revenues from iPod equaled those made on computers.

The biggest and the most popular launch from their stable was undeniably iPad, Apple’s iOS –based tablet phone.This multi –touch display cell phone, that included the features of an iPod and, with its own mobile browser, revolutionized the mobilebrowsing scene.

What distinguishes Apple from other companies, and perhaps the best asset they have is the user friendly nature of their products leading to hassle-less computing experience.None of their products come with complicated long serial codes,and do not require repeated authentication.

iMISS

Yes,Steve Jobs has changed the way the world lives.He has touched millions of lives in his short lifetime. He was a technologist and an innovator who defined consumer culture.The vision of this college dropout gave birth to one of the most influential corporations in the world, made massive contribution to the computer,mobile and music industry and made him a multimillionaire. His passion towards life made him survive all turbulences in his life.

Today Steve Jobs is not amongst us, but his legacy lives on in the technology which we all love using. We hope he hears the love and wishes of millions of fans from somewhere above in his patented black turtleneck and jeans   

[1] The Little Kingdom – The Private Story of Apple, Author Michael Moritz