Remembering the ‘iMan’

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards, so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well known path, and that  will make all the difference”                                                      Steve Jobs  

He might have been just like any other ordinary man but his deeds were no doubt, extraordinary. Steve Paul Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc passed away on October 5, 2011 after fighting against cancer for nearly a decade, leaving behind a rich legacy of technical innovations. I proudly remembers this great technology tycoon whose name will forever go down in the book of legends.

A man with a vision

Steve Jobs is often credited for making the personal computers what they are today. Thanks to him, today we are able to operate simple yet sophisticated looking computers at the touch of a button and a twist of the mouse without having to memorise and input thousands of complicated commands into the computer. His numerous dreamlike inventions such as Apple I, Apple II, Macintosh and the ever popular i series, comprising of iPod, ipad, iphone, have changed the landscape of technology across the globe forever.

Humble beginnings

Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco but his biological parents, Abdulfattah John Jandali and Joanne Schieble gave him up for adoption. He was later adopted by the family of Paul Jobs and Clara Jobs from California. The youngster exhibited an early interest in electronics and while in high school attended lectures at the nearby Hewlett-Packard plant in Palo Alto, California. He attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, for one semester, then dropped out of school, and immersed himself in philosophy.

In 1974, Jobs took a job with Atari, Inc., where he worked on the early computer game breakout just long enough to finance a trip to India. After shaving his head and backpacking through India, he returned California where he “capped off his spiritual journey with a sojourn at a farm commune.”  Jobs joined a local group of computer enthusiasts, who called themselves The Homebrew Computer Club, in 1975.

The acknowledged genius of this Palo Alto group was a Hewlett-Packard employee named Stephen Wozniak, whom Jobs convinced to join him in a business venture. With a total of $1, 300, which they acquired by selling Job’s Volkswagen microbus and Wozniak’s Hewlett-Packard calculator, the pair set out to design and build what would become the Apple 1computer- named for a summer Jobs had spent working in an apple orchard.

Steve and Wozniak launched the first Apple I computer from his parent’s garage. Success came to him at a very young age. Apple was an instant success in 1976 and Steve became a billionaire at the age of 25.

The giant called ‘Apple’

But luck did not favour him for too long. He was ousted from his own company by his partner and board of members after nearly a decade of hard work. He went through a period of uncertainty. But Jobs never gave up. He went on to found yet another company called the Next. Also he bought George Lucas’ The Graphics Group and converted it into Pixar studio which was an astounding success. Pixar is credited with the production of a series of computer animated feature films such as Toy story and Finding Nemo. Meanwhile things got ugly at the Apple computer. That is when Steve was called back for rescue of Apple. Steve took over the reins of the company as the CEO in 1996 and took it to the zenith of success this time. His magic formula was none other than the ‘I’ series, the first one; ipod was every music lovers dream. Who could have thought of the possibility of a technology that can store upto a thousand of your favourite songs? Ipod, a tiny compact device that can make you listen to your favourite song at the push of a single button was a big hit. Just when the world was reviving from the awe of ipod, Steve struck again but this time with an iphone. The sleek touch screen phone with thousand of interesting applications created huge waves among apple enthusiasts and the sale peaked. He continued to churn out some more technological wonders such as the ipad and itunes.

Even as he made hay in business, he was suffering from a rare kind of a pancreatic cancer. He was only 56 years old when he passed away recently. His dream and persona was very infectious and his success larger than life. That is why the name of Steve Jobs will go into the history of the world’s greatest men. He was a man who shaped the technology across the world and will be remembered for years to come.