This story is published in 3 parts. You can get part 1 and part 2
Now it’s iPod
However the greatest momentum for Apple came from an unexpected source: the iPod. iPod’s breakthrough features — it’s beautiful design, its brilliant user interface and click wheel, its fast FireWire connectivity and its ability to sync with iTunes seamlessly — made it a hot seller from the start. For the first time, people were buying Macs just so they could use this little music player the size of a cigarette box. It had become the undisputed leader of the new digital music era. A significant landmark was passed in 2006 when Apple’s revenues from iPod equaled those made on computers. For the first time in its history, the firm from Cupertino had left its niche markets to become as influential a player in consumer electronics as Microsoft was in the PC space. IPod’s market share was close to 75%!
Pixar-Disney Merger
When Steve was busy with Apple, Disney raises a great interest to have Pixar. Continuing a good business relationship with Disney and Apple in January 2006, both parties have consent to merge the two ventures. It was announced that Steve Jobs, who still owned half of Pixar’s stock, became Disney’s largest individual shareholder (owning 7% of the company’s stock).
The last years
Another innovation he brought in the market is tablet computer iPad. Steve unveiled Apple’s iOS-based tablet, on January 27, 2010. At the industry conference D8 in June 2010, Steve Jobs clearly stated that in his opinion, iPad had started the post-PC era. The introduction of the iPad also jump-started the electronic-tablet market, and it now dominates the field. The customer perception of Apple became so high and they perceive any product comes from Apple as creative. He was creating benchmark in every sector got touched by him. By 2011, Apple had become the second-largest company of any kind in the United States by market value. In August, it briefly surpassed Exxon Mobil as the most valuable company. But everything has an end. He was suffering from pancreatic cancer since late 2003. It was in August 2004 that he agreed to have the surgery. Everybody thought the troubles were over, as he claimed he was “cured”. Of course there is no such thing as being cured from cancer, and in 2008, people started commenting heavily on Steve’s being increasingly thinner. At the end he died peacefully on 3th August 2011, Wednesday at the age of 56.The life of a legend has been over but his legacy continues.
Steve Jobs is undeniably an extraordinary man by any standard. He has left his mark on no less than five industries: personal computers with Apple II and Macintosh, music with iPod and iTunes, phone with iPhone, and animation with Pixar. The middle-class hippie kid with no college education built a computer empire and became a multi-millionaire in a few years, was fired from his own company before coming back a decade later to save it and turn it into one of the world’s most influential corporations, with millions of fans around the world. He has also contributed to the creation of the new leader in animated movies for decades to come. He has been called a fluke for years, but is now widely acknowledged as one the world’s most eminent business executives and an unrivaled visionary. He has changed millions of lives by making technology easy-to-use, exciting and beautiful. Here lies his greatness.
Some motivation Quotes of Steve Jobs
| “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.” |
“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” – as quoted in The Wall Street Journal (Summer 1993).
“We’ve gone through the operating system and looked at everything and asked how can we simplify this and make it more powerful at the same time.” – ABC News, Jobs on Mac OS X Beta
“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”
“I want to put a ding in the universe.”
