~ The Biography Of Steve Jobs ~

[MysteRy]

Short Biography Of Steve Jobs


Steve Jobs and Michael Eisner, 1995

When Pixar met Disney

iPod also played an indirect role in shaping the future of Steve's 'other' company, Pixar. After having released hit after hit (A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters Inc. (2001) and Finding Nemo (2003)), the animation studio had decided to let go of its distribution deal with Disney, mainly because of increasing tensions between Steve Jobs and Disney CEO Michael Eisner. Steve Jobs openly said he would not make another deal with the Magic Kingdom company until Eisner was out. Turns out his opinion was shared by many an executive at Disney — including Walt's own nephew, Roy Disney, who started a public campaign to oust the company's CEO in late 2003. Th led to the nomination of Bob Iger as new CEO in September 2005.



Ed Catmull, Steve Jobs, Disney CEO Bob Iger and John Lasseter on Jan 24, 2006

Rumor has it that one of the first phone calls Iger made after he became CEO was to Pixar CEO Steve Jobs. He was willing to show his good will in ending the Pixar-Disney dispute. Steve Jobs took the opportunity to pitch him his new Apple plan. He was going to introduced an iPod with video capabilities soon, and he wanted a movie store to go along with it. Iger accepted, and both men appeared on stage in October to announce that Disney would sell music videos and TV shows on iTunes. The audience of journalists was pleasantly surprised to see the CEO of Disney appear so friendly with Steve Jobs, and suspected there would soon be news on the Pixar side.

Indeed, on January 24, 2006, Disney announced its friendly acquisition of Pixar, putting $7.4 billion in stock on the table. Jobs became a Disney board member and its largest individual shareholder (owning 7% of the company's stock), while Pixar executives Ed Catmull and John Lasseter were both given critical roles in the new studio.

[MysteRy]

Short Biography Of Steve Jobs


Steve Jobs and Intel CEO Paul Otellini at Macworld 2006

Momentum

Meanwhile, Apple was seeing unprecedented success in all its businesses, not only iPod and iTunes. The retail stores were hugely popular, and a milestone was reached when Steve Jobs inaugurated the impressive 5th Avenue store in New York CIty, a glass cube facing Central Park. As for the Mac, it was gaining momentum on the market, benefiting from both the aura of the iPod, and the switch to Intel.

Indeed, in June 2005, at WWDC, Jobs made a surprise announcement that after over a decade using the PowerPC microprocessor architecture in Macs, Apple would start using the more power-efficient Intel platform. In the late 1990s, Apple had run several ads to make fun of Intel's Pentium processors, which were commonplace in the Windows world. As a matter of fact, the expression 'Wintel machines' (Windows + Intel) was often used to describe PCs. That move to Intel was thus pretty bold, but in the long run turned out to be another wise decision. Not only did it make Macs more efficient, and pave the way for the super slim MacBook Air notebooks, but it also opened up a whole new set of customers of Apple. Intel Macs could run both Mac OS X (and its UNIX terminal) and Windows, and became the platform of choice for the majority of developers. All Macs were running Intel less than a year after the announcement.

[MysteRy]

Short Biography Of Steve Jobs



Apple Inc.

iPod made Steve Jobs realize that Apple could become the greatest consumer electronics company on the planet. Around 2003, he started a secret project to develop a tablet. But in 2004-2005, he realized that the technology that this group had developed, including a revolutionary touch-screen technology, could be used in a phone rather than a tablet. After two more years of development, including a harsh internal competition to prove that it was possible to make Mac OS X run on the phone, iPhone was introduced at Macworld on January 9, 2007. This keynote is often considered the best and most memorable of all of Steve Jobs's career.

iPhone was not only a breakthrough digital convergence device ("an iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator" all in one), it was also a force of disruption of the traditional phone business. Just like for the iTunes Store, Steve Jobs had negotiated landmark deals with wireless carrier AT&T before he introduced iPhone — without ever showing it to them! In exchange for exclusivity, the carrier would pay Apple a share of all their iPhone subscription revenues. And of course, AT&T could not put any software on the iPhone, and no logo either. This was an inversion of the traditional master-slave relationship that carriers entertained with phone manufacturers. In the long run, it really put the phone industry upside down.

Unlike iPod, all of Apple understood that iPhone would be a successful and rules-changing device, starting with their own company. That's why Steve Jobs announced that its name would change from Apple Computer Inc. to Apple Inc. Macs still mattered, but accounted for a minority of Apple's revenues already, and this decline would not stop any time soon. Apple had become the most prominent digital device company.

The original iPhone was successful already: despite its $399 price tag, Apple sold 6 million of them during its existence. But sales really started to skyrocket in 2008, after Apple introduced the cheaper iPhone 3G (at a subsidized $199 price) and the App Store. Just like the Windows-compatible iPod, Steve Jobs was originally opposed to letting third-party software on the iPhone. But the demand was so high that he eventually relented, and introduced the iPhone SDK and the App Store in March 2008.

It is impossible to overestimate the impact of the iPhone App Store, which ushered in a new era in mobile software. Thousands of developers started writing apps for the iPhone platform, which became a competitive advantage for Apple that no other company has been able to catch up with to this day. Apple proudly showed off this rich choice of software in its TV ad campaign 'There's an app for that' that ran for over two years.

[MysteRy]

Short Biography Of Steve Jobs

Health concerns

Unfortunately, while he had never been so successful professionally, Steve Jobs had to start fighting cancer with renewed intensity.

In late 2003, he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer of a rare kind, that could potentially be cured by surgery. However, against everyone's advice, he refused to have the surgery for nine long months. Instead, true to the ideals of his youth, he tried alternative diets and treatments, including acupuncture and seeing a psychic. Only in July 2004 did he agree to have the surgery. He looked healthy for the next five years, and spoke publicly of being 'cured' of cancer at his famous Stanford speech in 2005.

Yet at the WWDC keynote in June 2008, few observers failed to notice how thin he appeared on stage, and concerns about his health started popping up again. They became increasingly frequent until December 2008, when Apple made a shocking announcement that Jobs would not be the keynote speaker at Macworld 2009, and that he was taking a medical leave of absence for six months. Although he publicly denied it, the truth was of course that his cancer had come back. He was actually weeks away from death when he received a liver transplant in April 2009. But he came back to Apple, as planned, in late summer 2009, healthier though still very frail in appearance. He was eager to bring the finishing touches to a new project very dear to his heart.

[MysteRy]

Short Biography Of Steve Jobs


WWDC 2011

Ushering in the Post-PC era

The iPhone had spun off the idea for a tablet device back in 2005, and it was time to restart that project, which of course led to the introduction of iPad. Although some speculated it would run Mac OS X, it was decided that iPad would in fact run the same operating system as iPhone, now called iOS. It would therefore benefit from the rich variety of apps already present in the iPhone App Store.

Although iPad was welcomed by mixed reviews when it was introduced in January 2010 (some dubbed it a "larger iPod touch"), it was always clear to Steve Jobs that it was 'the biggest thing [he'd] ever done' — the ultimate post-PC device, an eventual replacement of PCs for the average user. He laid out his vision clearly at the D8 conference in May 2010, where he compared PCs to trucks, which still existed after cars were invented but were only for professional, niche use. This perspective on iPad was reiterated in a series of TV commercials where the narrator, the 'Apple voice', explained how revolutionary iPad was and how the revolution had 'only just begun'.

Unfortunately, Steve Jobs' health, which had seem to recover throughout 2010, started declining again. In January 2011, he announced he was taking a new medical leave of absence, this time without saying when it would end. Everybody started talking about his upcoming departure. However, he deemed iPad and iOS so important that he still made two major public presentations at Apple event. The first one was the introduction of iPad 2 in March 2011, and the second one was WWDC, in June 2011, where he introduced iCloud.

In many ways, the iCloud announcement was of similar importance as the Digital Hub Strategy introduction ten years before. It was not only a product, but a master plan to get consumers to adopt iOS devices and lock them into the Apple ecosystem. The iCloud introduced in 2011, which allowed users to sync email, documents, and media across their Macs, iPhones, iPod touches, iPads and Apple TVs, was only the first step in that direction. It was crucial to Steve Jobs who clearly put iOS as the most important part of Apple and the key to its future.

[MysteRy]

Short Biography Of Steve Jobs


The future Apple spaceship campus

Building his legacy

The resurgence of Steve's cancer was a painful reminder that it was time to 'put his affairs in order' before his passing — and he did.

He made sure that Apple was ready to operate without him: in late 2008, he hired the dean of the Yale School of Management to create 'Apple University', a sort of internal business track to groom future Apple executives by exposing them to the Apple ways of doing business, through actual case studies in the history of the company. He also consolidated his executive team and agreed with the board that his natural successor would be his second in command, COO Tim Cook. Finally, at his last public appearance in June 2011, he unveiled his plans for the future Apple campus in Cupertino, a huge spaceship-sized building in the shape of a perfect circle. All of this was in place when, because of his increasingly deteriorating health, he resigned as Apple CEO on August 24, 2011.

Jobs also prepared his personal legacy. In 2009, he finally started giving interviews to journalist Walter Isaacson to prepare for his first and only authorized biography, giving him his perspective on his life and career. He also spent his last days designing a boat for his family on which he hoped to travel the world. Unfortunately, death took him too soon, and he died peacefully at home on October 5, 2011, surrounded by his family — the day following the introduction of the iPhone 4S, an Apple event that he watched from his deathbed.

[MysteRy]

Timeline

1955-1985 Youth & Apple's early years


1955 - 1979

24 Feb 1955 
Steven Paul was born in San Francisco, the son of Abdulfattah Jandali and Joanne Schieble.
He is quickly adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs

1960
The Jobs family moves from San Francisco to Mountain View, a suburban town in Santa Clara county, more famous under the name Silicon Valley

Summer 1968
13-year-old Steve Jobs calls up Bill Hewlett and gets a summer job at the HP factory

1969
Steve Jobs meets Steve Wozniak, 5 years older, through a mutual friend. Woz and Steve share a love of electronics, Bob Dylan, and pranks

1972
Steve and Woz build and illegally sell 'blue boxes' that allow to make phone calls for free

1973
Steve spends the fall semester at Reed College, Oregon, then drops out.
He will stay on campus and attend the classes that interest him for a while, then move to a hippie commune

1974
Steve gets his first job at video game maker Atari, and later makes a trip to India to 'seek enlightenment' with his college friend Dan Kottke

Mar 1976
Woz and Steve show the early Apple I board at the Homebrew Computer Club

1 Apr 1976
Apple Computer Inc. is incorporated by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ron Wayne

Spring 1976

The Jobses' garage where Apple was started
Steve and Woz start assembling Apple I computers in the Jobses' garage, and sell them to computer hobbyists, including 50 for the Byte Shop

28 Aug 1976

Wozniak, Jobs and Kottke at the Personal Computing Festival
Steve Jobs and Woz show off the Apple I at the Personal Computing Festival in Atlantic City, with help from Dan Kottke

Jan 1977
Former Intel executive turned business angel Mike Markkula invests in Apple and hires former colleague Mike Scott as CEO. Woz is forced to leave HP to join Apple full time

17 Apr 1977
Apple makes a huge sensation at the West Coast Computer Faire with a prototype Apple II

1978

Steve and the Apple ][
The Apple II becomes the first mass-market personal computer, with impressive sales around the US. Apple becomes a symbol of the personal computing revolution

1978
Steve's ex-girlfriend Chris-Ann Brennan gives birth to their daugher Lisa. Steve refuses to acknowledge he is the father

1978
At Apple, work starts on the Apple III and the Lisa, while Jef Raskin begins The Book of Macintosh

Dec 1979
Steve Jobs is shown the first working graphical user interface at Xerox PARC1979Sales of Apple II skyrocket after pioneer spreadsheet software Visicalc is introduced

[MysteRy]

Timeline

1955-1985 Youth & Apple's early years


1980 - 1989

1980
Jef Raskin’s Macintosh project is green-lighted. Lisa evolves into a GUI-computer, in part because of Steve Jobs' demands

May 1980
Apple launches the Apple III, which will prove a disastrous flop

12 Dec 1980

Steve Jobs, 1981
Apple goes public, increasing Steve Jobs' net worth from dozens of millions of dollars to over $200 million

Early 1981
Jef Raskin is forced out of his Macintosh project as Steve Jobs takes over

25 Feb 1981
Black Wednesday: 50 Apple employees laid off by CEO Mike Scott without notice. The board asks him to leave shortly afterwards. Mike Markkula becomes interim CEO

12 Aug 1981
IBM launches the IBM PC, the biggest threat to Apple's future yet

Feb 1982

Steve on his first cover of Time Magazine
A portrait of Steve Jobs ends up on the cover of Time Magazine, under the title 'Striking it Rich'. Steve trusts Time correspondent Michael Moritz to follow him on the Mac team for months, hoping to become Man of the Year

3 Jan 1983
Time instead makes The Computer 'machine of the year' and publishes a hatchet job on Steve Jobs, who becomes furious and suspicious of journalists for the rest of his life

Jan 1983
Launch of the Lisa computer. The Lisa team later merges with the Mac team under Steve Jobs's leadership

8 Apr 1983

Steve Jobs and John Sculley (1984)
PepsiCo CEO John Sculley becomes Apple's CEO after having been wooed by Steve Jobs for several months

24 Jan 1984
Macintosh is launched in great fanfare at Apple’s annual shareholder meeting

24 Feb 1985

Ella Fitzgerald and Steve Jobs on his 30th birthday
Steve Jobs celebrates his 30th birthday in great fanfare, with Ella Fitzgerald as guest singer for the night

May 1985
Palace coup: Apple's board sides with John Sculley and strips Steve off all executive duties

Summer 1985
Alan Kay first introduces the Pixar team to Steve Jobs

17 Sep 1985

Steve Jobs and the NeXT cofounders outside his Woodside mansion, late 1985
Steve Jobs resigns from Apple and starts NeXT with five other refugees from Apple. Apple announces it will sue NeXT

[MysteRy]

Timeline

1986-1996 NeXT Pixar and wilderness


30 Jan 1986
Jobs buys the computer division of George Lucas' ILM for $10 million and incorporates it as Pixar

Aug 1986

Luxo Jr.
Pixar unveils John Lasseter’s short film Luxo Jr. at SIGGRAPH. It is praised by the expert audience as one of the first computer-animated work of art

1986

Steve's biological sister, Mona Simpson
Steve's mother Clara dies. A couple months later, Steve discovers his biological mother Joanne and his sister, novelist Mona Simpson. They will become close friends

Feb 1987

Steve Jobs and Ross Perot, 1986
Ross Perot invests $20 million in NeXT, based on a $125 million valuation. The startup has still to release a product

Sep 1988
NeXT and IBM form a partnership to have NeXT’s system run on IBM machines

12 Oct 1988

Introducing the NeXT Cube to the press
Steve Jobs introduces the NeXT Cube in San Francisco to great critical acclaim, pitching it as a workstation for higher education

Winter 1988
Pixar launches its new computer graphics workstation, the Pixar Image Computer II, and starts working on the RenderMan computer animation software

Dec 1988

Pixar's first Academy Award, Tin Toy
At SIGGRAPH, Pixar releases its new short Tin Toy. It will win 1988's Academy Award for Best Animated Short FilmMar 1989NeXT partners with retailer Businessland to sell to corporate America in addition to higher ed

Apr 1989

Steve Jobs Entrepreneur of the 1980s by Inc.
 Steve Jobs is named 'Entrepreneur of the decade' by Inc. magazine

Jun 1989
Canon invests $100 million in NeXT, now valued at $600 million

30 Apr 1989
Steve shuts down all of Pixar’s hardware operations

13 Sep 1989

Steve Jobs unveils the NeXT Station
Steve introduces the cheaper NeXT Station in San Francisco, to boost the modest sales of NeXT hardware

Mar 1991
Steve Jobs fires almost half of Pixar’s staff and takes back all of the employees' stock in an effort to cut costs, as the company is still in the red 5 years after its launch

18 Mar 1991

Kobun Chino laughs with Laurene Powell and Steve Jobs at their wedding
Steve Jobs marries Laurene Powell in Yosemite under the blessing of Steve's old zen guru Kobin Chino. Laurene is already pregnant

May 1991
Pixar signs a deal with Disney to make a computer-animated feature film

Fall 1991
Laurene gives birth to Steve’s first son, Reed Paul JobsLate 1991Ross Perot leaves NeXT as his investment is still not paying off

Jan 1992
NeXT licenses its operating system, NeXTSTEP, to run on x86 machines

1992
NeXT COO Peter Van Cuylenburg betrays Steve Jobs by trying to have the company bought by its giant competitor Sun. Sun CEO Scott McNealy warns Steve Jobs instead

11 Feb 1993
NeXT fires 300 employees as it discontinues all its hardware operations and becomes NeXT Software Inc. This is the nadir of Steve's career

Mar 1993
Steve's father, Paul Jobs, diesNov 1993Jeffrey Katzenberg puts a halt to the development of Toy Story because of creative disagreements

Nov 1994
Pixar resumes work on Toy StoryFeb 1995Steve starts focusing less on NeXT and more on Pixar before Toy Story is released. He becomes President & CEO of Pixar Animation Studios

29 Nov 1995
One week after Toy Story is out, Pixar goes public. Steve Jobs's worth rises to $1.5 billion, more than it ever was during his first tenure at Apple

Late 1995
Laurene gives birth to Erin Siena Jobs, her second child with Steve

Early 1996

Steve Jobs with Disney CEO Michael Eisner, 1995
Steve Jobs negotiaties a breakthrough deal between Pixar and Disney with its CEO Michael Eisner. The deal includes landmark rights for a studio, such as equal billing

1996
Steve's biological sister Mona Simpson publishes her third novel, A Regular Guy, whose main character Tom Owens is largely based on her brother

Dec 1996

Apple CEO Gil Amelio and Steve Jobs
Apple, which was desperately looking for a modern operating system to buy, eventually buys NeXT for $400 million. Steve Jobs is named "informal adviser" to Apple CEO Gil Amelio

[MysteRy]

Timeline

1997-2004 Rebuilding Apple


Jul 1997
Gil Amelio is ousted by the Apple Board of directors after a disastrous quarter. Steve Jobs is named interim CEO in his place and installs his NeXT executive team at the top of Apple

6 Aug 1997
Steve Jobs introduces Apple's new board of directors and a truce with Microsoft at Macworld Boston

Fall 1997
Apple starts its 'Think Different' campaign to restore its damaged brand image. The new slogan will quickly enter popular culture and define the company for the next five years

8 Jan 1998

Macworld 1998: Steve Jobs announces Apple is profitable again
At Macworld San Francisco, Steve Jobs announces that Apple is profitable again, thanks to sales of the new Power Macintosh computers

6 May 1998

Steve Jobs unveils the iMac
Steve Jobs introduces Apple's revolutionary iMac at the Flint Center auditorium in Cupertino, 14 years after he had introduced the Macintosh at that same place

May 1998
Eve Jobs, Laurene and Steve's youngest daughter, is born

5 Jan 1999
Steve Jobs introduces the new Power Mac G3 and the color iMacs at Macworld San Francisco

April 1999
Pirates of Silicon Valley, a TV movie starring Noah Wyle as young Steve Jobs, airs

21 Jul 1999

Steve Jobs with an iBook after Macworld NY 1999
The original iBook is unveiled at Macworld New York with the tagline iMac to go. Steve Jobs invites Noah Wyle on stage to impersonate him again

5 Oct 1999
Introduction of the iMac DVs and of iMovie, the first of Apple's first Digital Hub app

5 Jan 2000
At Macworld San Francisco, Steve Jobs drops the 'interim' in his title and officially becomes Apple’s CEO. He also demoes Mac OS X's revolutionary Aqua interface to a bewildered audience

19 Jul 2000

Steve Jobs and the Power Mac G4 Cube
The Power Mac G4 Cube is unveiled at Macworld NY. It will be discontinued one year later because of disappointing sales

9 Jan 2001
Steve Jobs unveils Apple’s Digital Hub Strategy at Macworld: the Mac is to become the center of consumers' emerging digital lifestyles

24 Mar 2001
After four years of hard work, Mac OS X 10.0, the new incarnation of NeXTSTEP, ships

19 May 2001

Unveiling the first Apple retail store in Virginia
Apple opens its first Retail Stores in Tysons Corner, Virginia and Glendale, California

23 Oct 2001

 Steve Jobs and the original iPod
After an 8-month crash development program, Steve Jobs unveils iPod at a small media event on the company's campus. He has no idea how it will tranform Apple

7 Jan 2002
Steve unveils the iMac G4 and the fourth iApp, iPhoto, at Macworld San Francisco

Mid 2002
Apple starts its popular 'Switch' campaign with ads picturing PC users that switched to the
Mac

17 Jul 2002
Steve Jobs introduces the first Windows-compatible iPods at Macworld NY

28 Apr 2003

Introducing the iTunes Music Store
Apple opens the revolutionary online iTunes Music Store in the US, after negotiating landmark deals with all major music labels

30 May 2003
Opening day of Finding Nemo, Pixar’s first Best Animated Feature Academy Award winner

Spring 2003
Following increasing tension with Michael Eisner, Steve Jobs announces that Pixar is seeking a new distributor to replace Disney after its contract expires

23 Jun 2003

Steve Jobs announces the Windows version of iTunes
Steve Jobs unveils the Power Mac G5, the world’s fastest computer, at WWDC16 Oct 2003 "The day hell froze over": Steve Jobs introduces iTunes for Windows and further demonstrates Apple's growing lead over its competitors in the digital music business

Fall 2003
Steve Jobs is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but stubbornly refuses any modern medical treatment for months. He tries alternative diets instead

6 Jan 2004
Steve unveils the iPod mini and the iLife suite at Macworld. The iPod mini will soon become the world's best-selling MP3 player and truly establish Apple as a consumer electronics powerhouse

Aug 2004
Steve Jobs finally has his pancreatic tumor removed by surgery

[MysteRy]

Timeline

2005-2011 The Big Apple


11 Jan 2005

Steve Jobs poses with the new iPod shuffle and Mac mini at Macworld 2005
At Macworld San Francisco, Steve Jobs unveils Apple's productivity suite iWork, the new Mac mini, and the iPod shuffle, the cheapest iPod ever at $49

29 Apr 2005
Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger is released. A stable, fast release, it is immensely popular and marks the end of the four-year transition from the old Mac OS to UNIX-based Mac OS X

6 Jun 2005
At WWDC 2005, Steve Jobs announces that Apple is going to switch away from Motorola's and IBM's PowerPC architectures, and use Intel processors in its future Macs instead. This move will further help the growing adoption of the Mac

12 Jun 2005

Stanford commencement address
Steve Jobs makes a memorable commencement speech at Stanford University. History will remember its closing remarks, Steve's advice to the young students: 'Stay hungry, stay foolish', a quote from the last page of the Whole Earth Catalogue from his youth

7 Sep 2005
Steve introduces the Motorola ROCKR, an iTunes-compatible cell phone, and the iPod nano

12 Oct 2005
Steve Jobs invites Disney’s new CEO Bob Iger on stage at an Apple Music Event where he also introduces the new iPod videos and the iTunes movie store

10 Jan 2006
Steve Jobs unveils the first two Intel Macs at Macworld, the iMac and the new MacBook Pro

24 Jan 2006

Steve Jobs and Disney CEO Bob Iger announce the Pixar-Disney merger
The Walt Disney Company acquires Pixar for $7.4 billion. Pixar's largest shareholder Steve Jobs joins the Disney board while Ed Catmull becomes president of the Walt Disney Animation Studios, and John Lasseter its chief creative officer

28 Feb 2006
Apple releases its first living-room product, the iPod hi-fi, discontinued a year and a half later

18 Apr 2006
Steve Jobs announces Apple’s intention to erect a second campus in Cupertino

Mid 2006
Apple starts its famous 'Mac vs PC' campaign, a series of TV commercials featuring Justin Long as Mac and John Hodgman as PC. The campaign will last for three years and mark popular culture

7 Aug 2006
Apple completes the transition of its entire product line to the Intel platform with the new Mac Pro

9 Jan 2007

Macworld 2007
 In his most memorable keynote presentation ever, at Macworld 2007, Steve Jobs introduces iPhone and its revolutionary touch-screen interface. He also introduces Apple TV and announces the company's name change from Apple Computer Inc. to Apple Inc. to better reflect its new nature

Apr 2007
The SEC files charges against Apple’s Nancy Heinen and Fred Anderson for options backdating

29 Jun 2007
iPhone is released in the US, the same day as Pixar’s 8th feature film, Ratatouille

5 Dec 2007
Steve Jobs is inducted in the California Hall of Fame by Gov. Schwartzenegger

15 Jan 2008

Steve Jobs and the new MacBook Air, Macworld 2008
At Macworld 2008, Steve Jobs introduces MacBook Air, with the tagline 'the world's thinnest notebook'. Three years later, it will come to redefine all of Apple's notebook product line

6 Mar 2008
Apple announces it will open the iPhone platform to outside developers with the App Store. VC fund KPCB starts iFund to invest in the new mobile app economy that they (rightly) believe will sprout from it

9 May 2008
The press starts speculating about Steve Jobs's health as he appears very thin to unveil the iPhone 3G with an entry price of $199 on stage at WWDC

Aug 2008
The SEC clears Steve Jobs of any responsibilities in the options backdating scandal

Late 2008
Apple starts its popular 'There's an app for that' campaign to illustrate the growing popularity of the App Store and the thousands of iPhone apps it offers

5 Jan 2009
Steve Jobs announces he will not speak at Macworld 2009 because of his health, and takes a six-month medical leave of absenceApr 2009Steve receives a liver transplant at the Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He was weeks away from dying when he got the surgery

3 Aug 2009
Google CEO Eric Schmidt leaves Apple's board because of conflicting interests due to Android

28 Aug 2009
Apple releases Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, stripped off any code from the original Mac OS9

Sep 2009

Steve Jobs enjoy the crowd's ovation from the stage
Back at Apple, Steve Jobs makes the first public appearance after his transplant to introduce new iPods at the 'It's Only Rock'N'Roll' event

27 Jan 2010

Steve Jobs unveils iPad
After months of wild rumors, Steve Jobs unveils iPad, 'the biggest thing Apple's ever done'. The tablet runs the same operating system as iPhone

16 July 2010

Facing the press for the Antennagate conference
 One month after the release of the new iPhone 4, Steve Jobs holds a press conference to address the smartphone's supposed reception issues, the so-called 'Antennagate'

17 Jan 2011
Jobs surprises the world by announcing his new medical leave of absence, without any end date

2 Mar 2011
Despite his medical leave, Steve Jobs takes the stage to unveil the new iPad

26 Jun 2011

Steve Jobs at WWDC 2011
At his last keynote at WWDC 2011, a freil Steve Jobs unveils Apple's cloud offering, iCloud, the foundation for the next decade of Apple products

7 Jun 2011
Steve Jobs appears at the Cupertino City Council to unveil Apple's plans for its new 'Spaceship' campus. This is his last public appearance

24 Aug 2011
Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple, with the words 'I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.' Tim Cook becomes Apple CEO

5 Oct 2011
Steve Jobs dies at home, surrounded by his family

24 Oct 2011
After two years of work, and forty interviews with Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson publishes his authorized biography of the Apple and Pixar co-founder, simply named Steve Jobs

[MysteRy]

Key People

Idols



Henry Ford 1863-1947
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, who is often credited for democratizing the car in the early 20th century. Steve Jobs often spoke of him as a personal hero of his. He was known for his peculiar views on management and taste: Steve often made Ford's famous quote "they can have it any color they want as long as it's black" his.

[MysteRy]

Key People

Idols



Thomas Edison 1884-1931
In the early days of Apple, Steve would often talk about Thomas Edison, and how this great American inventor/entrepreneur changed the world with his brilliant devices. Edison is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory, in Menlo Park, NJ. After his death, Jobs was often compared to Edison for creating a great American corporation and using it to change the world, though the comparison with Walt Disney is perhaps more relevant.

[MysteRy]

Key People

Idols



Ansel Adams 1902-1984
Ansel Adams was an American photographer known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, and primarily Yosemite National Park. Steve Jobs, like many Californians, had a fondness for Yosemite, where he actually got married; and he also loved black and white photography, hence his interest in Ansel Adams. For a while, prints of Adams photographs were the only decoration in his home, and he also used them at the NeXT offices.

[MysteRy]

Key People

Idols



Edwin Land 1909-1991
Edwin Land was an American inventor and entrepreneur, the father of the polaroid photograph, and co-founder of the Polaroid corporation. Steve heard about him and he quickly became a role model for him in the early 1980s. He eventually met with Land and that visit made a great impression on him — especially Land's talk of being at "the intersection of art and science". The similarities are troubling, as Land dropped out of Harvard to start Polaroid, from which he was fired later on, just like Steve with Apple.