Steven Paul Jobs, 1955 - 2011
Presenting at MacWorld 2008, photo by Matthew Yohe
Born: 24 February 1955, San Francisco, California
Died: 5 October 2011, Palo Alto, California
After his parents gave him up for adoption, Paul and Clara Jobs of Mountain View renamed him. He attended school at Cupertino, while at Homestead High he frequented lectures at Hewlett Packard where he got a summer job. He graduated in 1972 and attended Reed College at Portland, Oregon for one semester before dropping out, although he audited classes including a calligraphy class he later credited with the multiple fonts available on the Macintosh. He returned to California in 1974, working at Atari and joining the Homebrew Computer Club. He traveled to India seeking "spiritual enlightenment", returning as a Buddhist with a shaved head and a taste for psychedelics. He returned to Atari, and with "Woz" developed the original Apple computer on the side. They incorporated in 1976 and made the Apple ][ one of the most successful early personal computers. In 1983 Jobs persuaded John Sculley to leave Pepsi to become CEO of Apple, and in 1984 the company released the first Macintosh. In May of the next year, Jobs was forced out of Apple and started NeXT. The NeXTcube was widely regarded as a technical masterpiece, but it was expensive to build and didn't sell well, by 1993 they had dropped the hardware business. Under CEO Gil Amelio, Apple bought NeXT in 1996, bringing Jobs back to the company, who soon forced Amelio out. Jobs killed most of the new products Apple had been working on, and NeXTstep became the basis for the OS X operating system in 2001. Since then the company has also created the iPod and the iPhone to great success. Outside of Apple, Jobs bought the graphic animation department of Lucasfilms in for $10 millions in 1986 and renamed it Pixar Animation. Pixar films were distributed by Disney under a ten-year contract, at the end of which Jobs and Disney were unable to agree to a new deal and Disney bought the company for $7.4 billions, making Jobs the largest Disney stockholder. Jobs is known as an inspiring and autocratic manager, and his ability to inspire developers and customers has been referred to as a "reality distortion field". In 2004 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which was successfully removed. In 2006 he appeared gaunt in public and in late 2008 the company announced that Jobs was suffering from a "hormone imbalance" and would take a six-month leave of absence. Amid discussion about a company's obligation to communicate serious health issues of key executives to investors, it was revealed only late in Job's leave that he had a liver transplant. Jobs returned full time in July 2009 and resigned as CEO in August 2011. According to a family friend quoted by The New York Times, death was due to complications from the pancreatic cancer.
Biography from Wikipedia and Encarta
Additional quotes from Wikiquote. Wikiquote entries are often "sourced" and may include items longer than those included here, particularly for poets, lyricists, and dramatists.
Steve Jobs quotes:
Quotes found : 134 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 9) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
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- A computer is the most incredible tool we've ever seen. It can be a writing tool, a communications center, a supercalculator, a planner, a filer and an artistic instrument all in one, just by being given new instructions, or software, to work from. There are no other tools that have the power and versatility of a computer. permalink
Steve Jobs - Playboy interview (February 1985) - A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets. permalink
Steve Jobs - A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them. permalink
Steve Jobs - BusinessWeek magazine interview - Almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. permalink
Steve Jobs - And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. permalink
Steve Jobs - Apple's goal isn't to make money. Our goal is to design and develop and bring to market good products.... We trust as a consequence of that, people will like them, and as another consequence, we'll make some money. But we're really clear about what our goals are. permalink
Steve Jobs - Apple's market share is bigger than BMW's or Mercedes's or Porsche's in the automotive market. What's wrong with being BMW or Mercedes? permalink
Steve Jobs - Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected. permalink
Steve Jobs - 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. permalink
Steve Jobs - Death is very likely the best invention of life. All pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure, these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. permalink
Steve Jobs - Stanford University commencement address (2005) - Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. permalink
Steve Jobs - Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world? permalink
Steve Jobs - to John Sculley (1983) - Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. permalink
Steve Jobs - Stanford University commencement address (2005) - Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. permalink
Steve Jobs - Stanford University commencement address (2005) - Electronics was something I could always fall back on when I needed food on the table. permalink
Steve Jobs - conversation with Steven Levy of Wired
Quotes found : 134 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 9) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
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