Mr. Jobs helped launch Apple in the 1970s, but was forced out of the company several years later. During his absence, Apple stumbled through product releases with luke warm receptions, and eventually reached a point where analysts and competitors were ready to write off the Mac maker as dead in the water.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs showing off the iPad
When Apple bought Steve Jobs’s followup company, NeXT, the company’s future began to change. Along with the foundation for Mac OS X, the NeXT purchase also brought Mr, Jobs back into a position where he could influence Apple’s path.
Mr. Jobs soon landed the title of iCEO, and then later CEO, introduced the iMac and iPod, transitioned the Mac to Intel processors, gave us the iPhone, and most recently the iPad, too. Along with his string of hit products, Mr. Jobs also changed the music industry with the iTunes Store and the iPod, redefined the smartphone industry, and changed the tablet computer market.
“Steve’s the last of the great builders,” commented Silicon Valley financier Roger McNamee. “What makes him different is that he’s creating jobs and economic activity out of thin air while just about every other CEO in America is working out ways to cut costs and lay people off.”
That builder mentality has set Apple, and Mr. Jobs, apart from other tech companies. The once washed up computer maker is now setting the pace for the rest of the industry, and so far the competition is hard pressed to keep up.