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Washington: Steve Jobs,
the visionary co-founder of Apple who led a mobile-computing
revolution with wildly popular devices such as the iPhone, is no
more. He was 56.
The end came Wednesday just a day after Tim Cook, the new CEO of
world's leading tech company unveiled the iPhone 4S, a faster
version of its best-selling smartphone that includes a virtual
"personal assistant" you can talk to.
The hard-driving Jobs, who resigned in August as CEO amid health
concerns, pioneered the concept of the personal computer and of
navigating them by clicking onscreen images with a mouse to lead a
cultural transformation in the digital age.
In more recent years, he introduced the iPod portable music
player, the iPhone and the iPad tablet-all of which changed how we
consume content in the digital age.
"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of
countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives,"
Apple said in a statement. "The world is immeasurably better
because of Steve."
Jobs who had battled cancer for years, had a secret liver
transplant in 2009 in Tennessee during a six-month medical leave
of absence from Apple.
Born Feb 24, 1955, and then adopted, Jobs grew up in Cupertino,
California, which would become home to Apple's headquarters.
When he was 21, Jobs teamed with Steve Wozniak and two other men
to launch Apple Computer Inc., building their first commercial
product, the Apple 1, in Jobs' parents' garage in 1976.
Jobs sold his Volkswagen van to help finance the venture. The
primitive computer, priced at $666.66, had no keyboard or display,
and customers had to assemble it themselves.
The following year, Apple unveiled the Apple II computer at the
inaugural West Coast Computer Faire. The machine was a hit, and
the personal computing revolution was under way.
Apple's pioneering Macintosh computer launched in early 1984 with
a now-iconic, Orwellian-themed Super Bowl ad. The boxy beige
Macintosh sold well, but the demanding Jobs clashed frequently
with colleagues, and in 1986, he was ousted from Apple after a
power struggle.
Then came a 10-year hiatus during which he founded NeXT Computer,
whose pricey, cube-shaped computer workstations never caught on
with consumers.
In 1996, Apple bought NeXT, returning Jobs to the then-struggling
company he had co-founded. Within a year, he was running Apple
again.
And in 2001, he took the stage to introduce the original iPod, the
little white device that transformed portable music and
kick-started Apple's furious comeback. Thus began what the CNN
called one of the most remarkable second acts in the history of
business.
Over the next decade, Jobs wowed launch-event audiences, and
consumers, with one game-changing hit after another: iTunes
(2003), the iPhone (2007), the App Store (2008), and the iPad
(2010).
(Arun Kumar can
be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
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