Steve Jobs
Steven Jobs was born February 24, 1955, in San Francisco,
California, and was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs. He grew up with one sister,
Patty. Paul Jobs was a machinist and fixed cars as a hobby. Jobs remembers his father as being very
skilled at working with his hands.
In 1961 the family moved to Mountain View, California. This area,
just south of Palo Alto, California, was becoming a center for electronics.
Electronics form the basic elements of devices such as radios, televisions,
stereos, and computers. At that time people started to refer to the area as
"Silicon Valley." This is
because a substance called silicon is used in the manufacturing of electronic
parts.
As a child, Jobs preferred doing things by himself. He swam
competitively, but was not interested in team sports or other group activities.
He showed an early interest in electronics and gadgetry. He spent a lot of time
working in the garage workshop of a neighbor who worked at Hewlett-Packard, an
electronics manufacturer.
Jobs also enrolled in the Hewlett-Packard Explorer Club. There he
saw engineers demonstrate new products, and he saw his first computer at the
age of twelve. He was very impressed, and knew right away that he wanted to
work with computers.
While in high school Jobs attended lectures at the Hewlett-Packard
plant. On one occasion he boldly asked William Hewlett (1931–2001), the
president, for some parts he needed to complete a class project. Hewlett was so
impressed he gave Jobs the parts, and offered him a summer internship at
Hewlett-Packard.
College and travel
After graduating from high school in 1972, Jobs attended Reed
College in Portland, Oregon, for two years. He dropped out after one semester
to visit India and study eastern religions in the summer of 1974. In 1975 Jobs
joined a group known as the Homebrew Computer Club. One member, a technical
whiz named Steve Wozniak (1950–), was trying to build a small computer. Jobs
became fascinated with the marketing potential of such a computer. In 1976 he
and Wozniak formed their own company. They called it Apple Computer Company, in
memory of a happy summer Jobs had spent picking apples. They raised $1,300 in
startup money by selling Jobs'smicrobus and Wozniak's calculator. At first they sold circuit boards (the
boards that hold the internal components of a computer) while they worked on
the computer prototype (sample).
Apple and the personal computer
era
Jobs had realized there was a huge gap in the computer market. At
that time almost all computers were mainframes. They were so large that one
could fill a room, and so costly that individuals could not afford to buy them.
Advances in electronics, however, meant that computer components were getting
smaller and the power of the computer was increasing.
Jobs and Wozniak redesigned their computer, with the idea of
selling it to individual users. The Apple II went to market in 1977, with
impressive first year sales of $2.7 million. The company's sales grew to $200
million within three years. This was one of the most phenomenal cases of
corporate growth in U.S. history. Jobs and Wozniak had opened an entirely new
market—personal computers. Personal computers began an entirely new way of
processing information.
By 1980 the personal computer era was well underway. Apple was
continually forced to improve its products to remain ahead, as more competitors
entered the marketplace. Apple introduced the Apple III, but the new model
suffered technical and marketing problems. It was withdrawn from the market,
and was later reworked and reintroduced.
Jobs continued to be the marketing force behind Apple. Early in
1983 he unveiled the Lisa. It was designed for people possessing minimal
computer experience. It did not sell well, however, because it was more
expensive than personal computers sold by competitors. Apple's biggest
competitor was International BusinessMachines (IBM). By 1983 it was estimated that Apple had lost half of its
market share (part of an industry's sales that a specific company has) to IBM.
The Macintosh
In 1984 Apple introduced a revolutionary new model, the Macintosh. The on-screen display
had small pictures called icons. To use the computer, the user pointed at an
icon and clicked a button using a new device called a mouse. This process made
the Macintosh very easy to use. The Macintosh did not sell well to businesses,
however. It lacked features other personal computers had, such as a
corresponding high quality printer. The failure of the Macintosh signaled the
beginning of Jobs's downfall at Apple. Jobs resigned in 1985 from the company
he had helped found, though he retained his title as chairman of its board of
directors.
NeXT
Jobs soon hired some of his former employees to begin a new
computer company called NeXT. Late in 1988 the NeXT computer was introduced at
a large gala event in San Francisco, aimed at the educational market. Initial
reactions were generally good. The product was very user-friendly, and had a
fast processing speed, excellent graphics displays, and an outstanding sound
system. Despite the warm reception, however, the NeXT machine never caught on.
It was too costly, had a black-and-white screen, and could not be linked to
other computers or run common software.
Toy Story
NeXT was not, however, the end of Steve Jobs. In 1986 Jobs
purchased a small company called Pixar from filmmaker George
Lucas (1944–). Pixar specialized in computer animation. Nine years later Pixar
released Toy Story, a huge box office hit.
Pixar later went on to make Toy Story 2 and A Bug's Life, which Disney distributed, and Monsters, Inc. All these films have
been extremely successful. Monsters, Inc. had the largest opening weekend ticket sales of any animated film
in history.
NeXT and Apple
In December of 1996 Apple purchased NeXT Software for over $400
million. Jobs returned to Apple as a part-time consultant to the chief
executive officer (CEO). The following year, in a surprising event, Apple
entered into a partnership with its competitor Microsoft. The two companies,
according to the New York Times, "agreed to cooperate on several sales and technology
fronts." Over the next six years Apple introduced several new products and
marketing strategies.
In November 1997 Jobs announced Apple would sell computers
directly to users over the Internet and by telephone. The Apple Store became a
runaway success. Within a week it was the third-largest e-commerce site on the
Internet. In September of 1997 Jobs was named interim CEO of Apple.
In 1998 Jobs announced the release of the iMac, which featured
powerful computing at an affordable price. The iBook was unveiled in July 1999.
This is a clam-shaped laptop that is available in bright colors. It includes
Apple's AirPort, a computer version of the cordless phone that would allow the
user to surf the Internet wirelessly. In January 2000 Jobs unveiled Apple's new
Internet strategy. It included a group of Macintosh-only Internet-based
applications. Jobs also announced that he was becoming the permanent CEO of
Apple.
In a February 1996 Time magazine article, Jobs said, "The thing that drives me and my
colleagues … is that you see something very compelling to you, and you don't
quite know how to get it, but you know, sometimes intuitively, it's within your
grasp. And it's worth putting in years of your life to make it come into
existence." Jobs has worked hard to translate his ideas into exciting and
innovative products for businesses and consumers. He was instrumental in
launching the age of the personal computer. Steve Jobs is truly a computer
industry visionary.
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