Facts about Steve Jobs

Steven Paul Jobs, the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Apple Inc, was an aggressive and demanding manager and an excellent team player, who strove to get better with each passing day by looking ahead of time and made a valuable contribution to the technological advancement in society.

Born on February 24, 1955, in San Francisco, Steve was adopted by Justin and Clara Jobs of California. His adoptive parents named him Steve Paul. He was a student of the Cupertino Junior High School and Homestead High School in California.

During his schooling years, he used to attend after-school lectures at the Hewlett-Packard Company, which fetched him a summer job in the company. Here he got the opportunity to work with Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple Inc, later to be.

After graduating from high school, Jobs was admitted to the Reed College in Portland, from which he dropped out and took up a course in calligraphy. Calligraphy, which seemed to be of no use in a career in computers, later turned out to be the most important factor that led to the development of fonts.

One interesting aspect of Jobs' life is the philosophical side of his personality. He had toured to India with intent of philosophical enlightenment and had returned to his country with head shaved and clad in traditional Indian clothing.

In 1984, Jobs purchased a 14-bedroom Spanish Colonial mansion, which he inhabited for around ten years. Reports say that he had kept an old BMW in the living room of this magnificent apartment he owned. In 1991, Steve Jobs married Laurene Powell and they later had three children.

In 2004, Jobs was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in the pancreas. He had to undergo a surgery, which could have had several aftereffects on his health. His declining health was widely talked about. Mistakenly, the word 'obituary' was published in the Apple news service, thus intensifying the rumors about Jobs' health.

In 2009, Marketing Vice President of Apple, Mr. Phil Schiller came in place of Jobs to deliver the keynote address at the Macworld Conference and Expo, on account of Jobs' ill health. This, for another time, brought Steve Jobs' health issues in the news.

In 2009, he underwent a liver transplant and resumed working in June that year. In January 2011, Jobs went on a medical leave and operations were handed over to Tim Cook, making him the acting CEO for the duration of the leave.

In 1976, Steve Jobs in collaboration with Stephen Wozniak, a former electronics hacker, founded Apple and a success story had begun! They were funded by A.C. "Mike" Markkula.

With the effective words, which said, "Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water to children, or do you want a chance to change the world?" Jobs managed to attract John Sculley, to be the CEO of Apple. Previously, Sculley was working with Pepsi-Cola.

Macintosh was introduced on January 24, 1984. It went on to become the first commercially used small computer with a GUI.

Later, during the same year, Jobs' relations with Sculley worsened and Jobs had to receive one of the greatest blows of his life, a lay-off from Apple! But he was not someone who would lose hope so easily. He went on to found NeXt Computer, a computer company that was experimental and technologically advanced.

The NeXt workstation had a built-in Ethernet port; it supported embedded graphics and proved to be a step towards the era of personal computing.

In 1996, Apple came forward to buy NeXt, and Jobs returned to Apple. At the 2000 MacWorld Expo, Jobs became the permanent CEO of Apple. From then on, there was no looking back. His ambition, foresight and innovation coupled with effective management skills, led Apple to the pinnacle of success.

Jobs was the man behind many of Apple's most successful products. 338 US patents or patent applications in technology are in his name, where he was either the inventor or co-inventor. He won many awards, the most prominent one was the National Medal of Technology from the President. He was also inducted to the California Hall of Fame.

In August 2011, Jobs resigned from the position of CEO, Apple and took up his new role the Chairman of the Board. Tim Cook became the new CEO of Apple.

On October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs died. A message on Apple's website said.

"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple..."