The Man Who Changed the World

I bought an iPad exactly 1 year ago and from the second day I had it, I understood that it is a sophisticated money-making making machine. In addition, it changed my life and many of the ways that I pass the time. All that is due to Steve Jobs, the modern day visionary, who changed the world. People like him come very rarely and they leave a huge footprint on out planet 

 

A college drop-out and the son of adoptive parents, Jobs changed the technology world in the late 1970s, when the Apple II became the first personal computer to gain a wide following. He did it again in 1984 with the Macintosh, which he built on the breakthrough technologies developed at Xerox Parc and elsewhere to create the personal computing experience as we know it today. The rebel streak that’s central to his persona got him tossed out of the company in 1985, but he returned in 1997 and after a few years began the rollout of a troika of products: the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad, that again upended the established order in major industries. Steve Jobs changed the daily habits of millions around the globe.

 

His death after a years-long battle with pancreatic cancer sparked an immediate outpouring of tributes as world leaders, business rivals and fans alike lamented the tragedy of his premature passing and celebrated his monumental achievements. President Barack Obama said: "The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented." Fans paid homage to Jobs outside Apple stores around the world, from Los Angeles to Sydney. Outside one store in New York City, mourners laid candles, bouquets of flowers, an apple and an iPod Touch in a makeshift memorial. In San Francisco, they held up black-and-white portraits of Jobs on their iPads. Many websites, including Apple’s own, were transformed into online memorials, a testament to the digital creativity that Jobs inspired.

 

Jobs in his trademark uniform of black mock-turtleneck and blue jeans, was deemed the heart and soul of a company that rivals Exxon Mobil as the most valuable in America. Forbes estimates Jobs’ net worth at $7 billion. It was not immediately known how his estate would be handled.

 

Born in San Francisco, son of adoptive parents, Jobs started Apple Computer with friend Steve Wozniak in his parent’s garage 1976. Six years ago, Jobs had talked about how a sense of his mortality was a major driver behind that vision.

 

Following high school graduation in 1972, Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Although he dropped out after only one semester he continued auditing classes at Reed, while sleeping on the floor in friends’ rooms, returning Coke bottles for food money, and getting weekly free meals at the local Hare Krishna temple. Jobs later said, "If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts."