Post by Hey Man on Oct 5, 2011 18:58:24 GMT -5
Very sad. Truly a visionary.
Computer pioneer Steve Jobs, co-founder and chief executive officer of Apple Inc, died following a long battle with pancreatic cancer on Wednesday. He was 56.
"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.
Jobs, who was born in San Francisco on February 24, 1955, displayed an interest in technology early, attending after-school lectures at the Hewlett Packard Company while still in high school, and landing a summer job at the company. Also working at the company that summer: Steve Wozniak, who would come to play a significant role later in Jobs' life.
In 1976, Jobs and Wozniak -- along with Ronald Wayne -- formed Apple Computers, soon after introducing Apple II, the first commercially successful line of personal computers. Jobs left Apple in 1984 following a power struggle with the company's board of directors, going on to found the NeXT computer platform development company, but returned to the company in 1996, after Apple bought out NeXT.
After being reinstated, Jobs focused on making the financially struggling Apple profitable again, canceling a number of projects and changing the licensing program for Mac clones, making it too costly for other companies to replicate the machines. After being officially names CEO in 2000, Jobs greatly expanded Apple's product line, making Mac as much a lifestyle as a brand with such items as the iPod MP3 player, the iPhone and, more recently, the iPad tablet. In his black turtleneck T-shirt, blue jeans and sneakers, Jobs struck the figure of an idiosyncratic businessman as he publicly introduced each new product with a near-messianic fervor.
Jobs announced to his employees in 2004 that he had been diagnosed with a tumor in his pancreas, eventually undergoing a pancreaticoduodenectomy that seemed to have removed the tumor. Health concerns continued to plague him, though; in 2009, Jobs underwent a liver transplant, and took a medical leave of absence in January to focus on his heath. On August 24, Jobs officially stepped down as CEO of Apple.
Jobs is survived by his wife, Laurene Powell, their three children Reed Paul, Erin Sienna and Eve, and a daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, from a previous relationship.
Computer pioneer Steve Jobs, co-founder and chief executive officer of Apple Inc, died following a long battle with pancreatic cancer on Wednesday. He was 56.
"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.
Jobs, who was born in San Francisco on February 24, 1955, displayed an interest in technology early, attending after-school lectures at the Hewlett Packard Company while still in high school, and landing a summer job at the company. Also working at the company that summer: Steve Wozniak, who would come to play a significant role later in Jobs' life.
In 1976, Jobs and Wozniak -- along with Ronald Wayne -- formed Apple Computers, soon after introducing Apple II, the first commercially successful line of personal computers. Jobs left Apple in 1984 following a power struggle with the company's board of directors, going on to found the NeXT computer platform development company, but returned to the company in 1996, after Apple bought out NeXT.
After being reinstated, Jobs focused on making the financially struggling Apple profitable again, canceling a number of projects and changing the licensing program for Mac clones, making it too costly for other companies to replicate the machines. After being officially names CEO in 2000, Jobs greatly expanded Apple's product line, making Mac as much a lifestyle as a brand with such items as the iPod MP3 player, the iPhone and, more recently, the iPad tablet. In his black turtleneck T-shirt, blue jeans and sneakers, Jobs struck the figure of an idiosyncratic businessman as he publicly introduced each new product with a near-messianic fervor.
Jobs announced to his employees in 2004 that he had been diagnosed with a tumor in his pancreas, eventually undergoing a pancreaticoduodenectomy that seemed to have removed the tumor. Health concerns continued to plague him, though; in 2009, Jobs underwent a liver transplant, and took a medical leave of absence in January to focus on his heath. On August 24, Jobs officially stepped down as CEO of Apple.
Jobs is survived by his wife, Laurene Powell, their three children Reed Paul, Erin Sienna and Eve, and a daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, from a previous relationship.