Life of Steve Jobs - Essay Example

Life of Steve Jobs A Reed College drop-out, Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer Inc. afterjust six months with Steve Wozniak during 1976. The story of Steven Paul Jobs and Apple Computers started from a garage and, as they say, there was no looking back. In the last three decades, Apple has become far more than personal computers, transformed the world, the way it consumes media and the way they connect with each other. Popularity of iPhone, iPad, iPod, mackbook and their style, simplicity, and user friendliness made Apple the biggest and one of the most admired companies in world. Jobs became known as one of the world’s greatest CEO and inventor, valued for not only his vision, but also for his creativity, entrepreneurial skills, and aesthetics (Heussner).This research paper takes a closer look at Steve Jobs personal and professional life. While acknowledging Jobs’ achievements, President Barak Obama said, “Steve was among the greatest of American innovators-brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it” (Heussner).Though the man known as modern-day Thomas Edison is a household name, but personal story of this complex man remained private until his death. Most of his personal life in media revolved around his wife, Laurene Powell who he married in 1991, and their three children: Eve, Reed Paul, and Erin Sienna. But before his marriage, Jobs had his share of affairs and scandals (Curry). Jobs’ classmate and friend, Elizabeth Holmes tells that he dated singer Joan Baez during college days. Interestingly, Elizabeth confirmed to biographer Alan Deutschman that Jobs broke up with his serious girlfriend to initiate an affair with this singer-activist (qtd. in Curry). In his books, Alan Deutschman says that Jobs dated Diane Keaton, and Lisa Birnbach, and personally delivered computers to celebrities he admired (qtd. in Curry). Born to an unmarried graduate student on 24 February, 1955, Steven Paul Jobs was left for adoption. Later he was adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs. Surprisingly, he also fathered a child with his high school girlfriend, Chris Ann Brennan, at age 23, but refused to own his child for several years. This unknown family member named Lisa Brennan Jobs was born in 1978 and remained deprived of his father’s name for several years. At one point, Jobs even swear in court documents that he was infertile and unable to have children. Later, Jobs acknowledged Lisa as his daughter, but Ann Brennan has to depend on welfare for some time in order to support the child (Curry). Jobs reluctance to accept his daughter seems ironic considering the fact that he refused to talk to his biological father because he left him for adoption. Job’s biological father, Abdulfattah Jandali was a Syrian, he emailed Jobs many times, but Jobs never responded. Jandali stopped trying because he feared that Jobs will doubt his intentions if he keeps trying (Curry). When asked about his son’s death, Jandali, vice president at Boomtown Hotel Casino in Reno said, “I really don’t have anything to say” (qtd. in Curry). After dropping-out from college, Jobs joined Atari and connected with his friend, Steven Wozniak, an engineering genius, who also dropped out from University of California at Berkley. Their partnership merged Wozniak’s engineering wisdom and Jobs’ vision and entrepreneurial skills to give us first personal computer (Heussner). However, in 1985, John Sculley and Apple board pushed Jobs out of his own company. Though Jobs himself convinced former Pepsi executive John Scully to join Apple, he lost control over the company and differences between the two increased (Heussner). It was certainly the deepest wound of Steve Jobs life. He was forced out of company before the sales for Mac were even materialized. Apple could have made a living off Mac technology for years, but it stayed still. On the other hand, Microsoft Corporation started its journey towards domination by following Mac’s point-and-click system in its Windows OS (Lohr). During a Forbes conference in Bali, Sculley opened up about this for the first time. He blamed Apple’s board who created an environment of confrontation between the two. Sculley recalled that the main reason for that confrontation was introduction of the Macintosh Office in 1985. The second-gen Mac’s launch was highly criticized as they called the new computer a “toy” while mocking its low computing power (qtd. in Terdiaman). Sculley said, “Steve went into a deep depression” (qtd. in Terdiaman). Scully narrates that Jobs wanted to drop Macintosh price and move advertising from Apple 2 to Mac. I told him it won’t make any difference since I believed that Macintosh issue wasn’t associated with price or advertising. I feared that it will only throw the company into loss. Jobs rejected my suggestion and therefore, I told him that I’ll take it to the board. The board on the other hand, authorized me to dismiss Jobs as head of Mac division, and then from the company. Scully openly accepted his inability to understand the vision of Jobs and his lack of appreciation for Jobs’ unique leadership style. In 2011, Sculley regarded Jobs as the greatest CEO ever (qtd. in Terdiaman). At 30 years of age, Jobs was forced to start again, and not to surprise, he founded NeXT Computer and Pixar. Though NeXT couldn’t meet Jobs expectations to become a rival to Apple, and Microsoft but after eight years, it led him to Apple again (Heussner). Call him a hustling opportunist or a visionary leader, Jobs got back into Apple and pitched them his ambitious venture, NeXT .Though NeXT got admiration in sophisticated user, but it wasn’t profitable. Jobs decided to sale it and focus on Pixar instead. At the same time, Apple was also looking for new engine, and NeXT operating system turned out to be their best bet (Lohr). Apple acquired NeXT during 1996, and within less than a year, Jobs resumed his role as Apple’s CEO.s It is called his “second coming” by his followers that restored their faith on Apple again and it became evident by three profitable quarters in a row during 1998 (Heussner). Steve Jobs’ adventure has become one of the most celebrated in business history. When he came back to Apple, he was facing a near-death experience due to pancreatic cancer. At the point he arrived with a tarnished legend, but of course, he was a wunderkind who co-founded Apple at age 21 in his parent’s garage in 1976.By the age 25, he was worth $200 million, published in Time magazine’s cover at 26, and was forced out of his own company at age 30(Elkind). In a 1997 interview, when Jobs was asked about his coming back to Apple, he said ambitiously, “I think we have an opportunity to take the next big technological step, and leapfrog Microsoft and everybody else” (qtd. in Lohr). His accomplishment in a decade made him reemerge in Silicon Valley, not only as a pantheon but elevated him as a superstar that he was. At the time of his “second coming” Apple was at the brink of bankruptcy, and now holds $108 billion market value, which is more than McDonald’s or Goldman Sachs. Every $1,000 invested in Apple at the time when Jobs rejoined, is about $36,000 today. Jobs’ expertise and leadership not benefitted Apple or its investors alone; he served at Pixar as a CEO at the same time. They brought to us megahits including “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles” that encouraged Disney to buy Pixar for $7.5 billion in 2006. After that Jobs own 7.3% of Disney, worth $4.6 billion and Apple’s worth $682 million. Right from the beginning of Apple computers, media groups and fans didn’t miss any tiny hint of the personal life of the man in black turtleneck, but Jobs was so successful in keeping the details of his personal life hidden that a Pew poll in June 2010 found that only 41 percent of Americans know him as CEO of Apple (qtd. in Curry). In Another poll, CBS revealed that about 69 percent of Americans didn’t even know Jobs enough to hold an opinion about him (qtd. in Curry). For the most part, Jobs success originated from his knowledge of his audience and the type of technology that resonate with them, and his mastery in the art of selling what he believed (Heussner).Authority figures, such as, Jack Welch called him “the most successful CEO today”. In his later time, he became more of a global cultural guru reshaping the way we consume entertainment, and the entire industry. He was one of the most controversial figures of our time. He has been most feared and loved CEO, people who worked with him admit that he was difficult, but they gave their best under his leadership (Elkind). Take a look at his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University, after his battle and victory against pancreatic cancer, Jobs seemed hopeful, determined, and charismatic. His clarity about the ideas of life and death became evident when he acknowledged that remembering death is the most important tool that he ever encountered. With a fearless face, he said, remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose”(qtd. in Heussner).Not only his work, but his words will remain inspiration for generation to come. Works Cited Curry, Colleen. “Steve Jobs Kept Private Life Closely Guarded Secret.” ABC News. Yahoo-ABC News Network., 6 Oct,2011. Web. 2 December 2014. Elkind, Peter. “The Trouble with Steve Jobs.” Fortune: America’s Most Admired Companies. Time Inc., 5 March. 2008. Web. 2 December 2014. Heussner,M.Ki. “The Complex Life of Steve Jobs: Tech leaders remember their rival and Friend.” Adweek Technology. Adweek., 5 Oct.2011. Web. 2 December 2014. Lohr, Steve. “Creating Jobs.”The New York Time: Archives. The New York Times., 12 January.1997.Web. 2 December 2014. Terdiman, Daniel. “John Sculley Spills the beans on Firing Steve Jobs.” Cnet Tech Industry., CBS Interactive Inc.,9 Sept.2013. Web. 2 December 2014. Read More