Steve Jobs was an American-Arab inventor and entrepreneur who changed the way computers interact with human beings. Born in 1955, Jobs co-founded Apple together with Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Up to his death in 2011, he is termed as the charismatic pioneer of personal computer revolution. Job’s computer revolution began in 1985 when after realizing the potentials of Xerox PARCs mouse driven GUI went ahead and created Apple Lisa. Later on after one year Macintosh was created. He played an instrumental role in the introduction of the LaserWriter printer in the market.
The personal computer revolution of 1980s leads Apple to pioneer well-engineered home computers and innovative interfaces with its Apple II PC for home use. Macintosh was made for students and knowledgeable users. This innovation made Apple a major player in the PC industry with 20 percent share at one point (Brashares).
HARDSHIPS
In 1985, Apple lost business and Steve Jobs -Apples Chief innovator lost a battle with the Apple board and was subsequently kicked out. He went ahead and founded another PC company known as NeXT. The company developed groundbreaking PC products that were the first of its kind in that era. In the time being Apple employed a couple of CEOs such as John Sculley. The company then plunged so fast into losses that CNBC named Sculley has the 14th American worst CEO.
According to (Isaacson, Steve Jobs) NeXT computers first released its first workstations in 1990 at a price $9,999. NeXT workstations followed the footsteps of Apple Lisa with advanced technological innovations meant for educational institutions. The workstation had huge technical strengths such as object-oriented software development systems among others which made it superior. However, although NeXT products had innovative and new technologies including Mach kernel, digital signal processor chip and built in Ethernet ports, it was termed as cost prohibitive and, as a result, did not make a lot of sales in the market.
BREAKTHROUGH
It is believed that Tim Berners-Lee invented the WWW using a NeXT computer. This is the most important breakthrough in Steve Jobs work. The next innovation of NeXT was the second-generation NeXTcube which had the innovative NeXTMail multimedia email system that allowed the sharing of voice, image, graphic and video components for the first time. NeXT achieved about 50,000 computer sales by 1993 and transitioned fully to a software development company with the release of NeXTSTEP/Intel. NeXT Software Inc. released WebObjects in 1996 which transitioned to the present AppleStore, MobileMe and iTunes when NeXT was acquired by Apple in 1997.
Steve Jobs is the pioneer finder of The Graphics Group later renamed Pixar. Pixar partnered with Disney to distribute films till 2003 when the contract ended. Later on Jobs oversee the purchase of the company by costing Disney $7.4 billion. The Pixar-Disney partnership produced films which won Academy Award prizes for best animation. Steve Jobs venture into the fields of computer graphics was highly successful as other fields.
When NeXT was acquired by Apple at a price of $427 million, Steve Jobs became the de facto and interim chief executive by July 1997. Job introduced, altered and terminated a number of projects. Projects such as Newton and Cyberdog were terminated while licensing programs for Macintosh clones were changed, and NeXTSTEP were introduced in Apple and rebranded to Mac OS X. The company increased sales under Jobs guidance with the introduction of products such as iMac and others that continued to become the market drivers.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Apart from the numerous medals and awards, Steve Jobs contributed a great deal of innovative ideas in computers and technology. Through his stewardship, the company branched out subsequently introducing new products while improving its digital appliances. Through ventures into consumer electronics and music distribution, the company introduced iPod, portable music player, and iTunes music store and music software. It was until 2009 that the company entered in the cellular phone business with the iPhone as the first device integrating the features of iPod, mobile browser and a multi touch display. His expressions such as “real artist’s ship” and his consummate persuasive skills and salesmanship guaranteed him instant success at the helm of Apple (Hunter).
Steve Jobs had a way of listening to the consumer needs and providing instant solutions. For instance when Apple was criticized for its poor recycling programs, he lashed out on the critics and initiated a free take back campaign of iPods a few weeks later at its stores. Likewise, the Computer TakeBack Campaign prompted him to announce an expanded recycling program for US clients who buy a new Mac.
Under his guidance, Apple broke away from the PC market and diverged into new markets of iPods, iPad and iPhones. iPods, iPad, and iPhones are a marvel of creativity and engineering that not only find ease in its usage but also create a feeling of satisfaction among the users. The establishment of a dynamic connection with a larger segment of the market that is willing to spend lots of money on bright and shiny gadgets and applications is on strategic feature that is credited to Steve Jobs. The innovative ability of the iPhone to be tilted to rotate images is the probable feature that sold iPhones more than any other device and put Apple at an unreachable 44 percent grasp of the market share. This is the kind of innovation that Jobs envisaged when he co-founded Apple. At one conference, Steve Jobs told reporters that interpersonal computing is going to change human communications and group work. The magnitude of success increased Apple’s presence in retail stores up to the point of grossing $4000 per square foot.
His management skills according to (Gillam) were those of a demanding perfectionist who worked tirelessly to integrate business and information technology at the forefront. His aggressive and demanding personality is what motivated Fortune and other commentators to term him as the Silicon Valley’s leading egomaniac and Americas Toughest boss respectively. Apples CEO commented on Steve Job that he had the ability and courage to change his mind more often than anyone else he had ever met to imply his increased will of deviating from the norm and attempting on new things. Some of his employees described him as a temperamental and erratic manager who had his way.
Customer experience and service improved drastically when Steve Jobs took over as the chief executive of the company. Earlier, Apple had lost the respect of the retail channel that had come to view Apples products with disdain. As at 2001, Apples market PC share was far much down at less than 13% as compared to the 20 percent of the 1980s. The company needed a personalized customer experience to regain the trust of its customers and built more solid relationships. Apple opened up retail stores with Genius bars manned by disciplined, well-trained and incredible workforce that would rather use the word “as it turn out” than “unfortunately” while referring to a unsolvable customer problem (Isaacson, Steve Jobs:The Exclusive Biography).
The shift to the e-commerce platform is also an essential contributor of good business introduced during Job’s tenure. Apple managed to sale 15 billion songs via iTunes online stores, 14 billion applications via its App store and over 130 million books through its iBooksore. In realizing the dynamic and enormous opportunities brought by its iPhones, iPads and iMac’s, it created and exploited a fresh market not utilized by many.
In conclusion, Steve Jobs ultimately proved to be a genius of his time who contributed considerable efforts to the world of computing and communication. His legacy will remain for a long time considering the numerous iPods, iPad and iPhones that have become household vocabulary across the globe. Apple has become the most admired brand in the world as the company’s impacts are undisputable. MacBooks, iMacs, and iPhones have transformed the society and businesses. Communication is becoming one of the essential tools of production in the corporate world and the ability to choose and organize these tools as needed in an organization while on the go is a game changer in the competitive world. Devices such as iPads, iPhones, and MacBooks are easily portable and functions as much the same way and even better as computers (Isaacson, Steve Jobs).
Steve Jobs is credited for all this innovations while at the helm of Apple. He revolutionarized the way we listen to music and access different media. Through the refinement of existing devices and technology such as the computer mouse and multitouch gestures, Jobs created a highly integrated system for its highly usable devices which are fun and entertaining to use.
Works Cited
Brashares, Ann. Steve Jobs:Thinks Different. Twenty-First Century Books, 2001.
Gillam, Scott. Steve Jobs:Apple iCon. ABDO, 2012.
Hunter, Nick. Steve Jobs. Raintree, 2012.
Isaacson, Walter. Steve Jobs. Simon & Schuster, 2011.
—. Steve Jobs:The Exclusive Biography. Liitle Brown Book Group, n.d.
