With 320 Million iPods, 135 Million iPhones, 35 Million iPads and counting, Steve Jobs is a man who is least likely to be forgotten for generations. The world lost a visionary, a genius on October 5th, 2011; the founder of the greatest companies; Apple, NeXT and Pixar.
Last week has been the saddest week in the tech. world and even more for the most valuable company in the world, Apple announced Jobs' death, saying, “Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.”
Steve Jobs died at the age of 56, he had been suffering from pancreatic cancer. His death was widely grieved and his absence will be felt by people all across the globe, and even more by the fruit company. Following are Apple’s accomplishments with the greatest innovator our time has seen.
1. Apple Computers
In 1975, Steve Jobs along with co-founder and engineer Steve Wozniak started assembly of Apple I, under the supervision of industry vet Ronald Wayne. Just a year later on April 1, 1976, they laid the foundations of Apple Inc., a company that none knew then would revolutionize the tech. world.
The first computer, the Apple I was released a year later 1976 was a little more than a circuit board and was sold for $666.66. The Apple I was a major attraction to the DIY hackers of the time since it came without a keyboard, monitor and even a power supply. The first Apple computer was released at the Homebrew Computer Club. With only 200 computers produced, Apple I was showcased at the Personal Computing Festival.
Apple Inc. hit the jackpot through the production of the first mass-market personal computer, the Apple II in 1977. The computer became a huge success in the US and came as a fully dressed desktop with a handsome case. The Apple II had a slimmer version released in 1984, which was friendlier and aesthetically appealing, looking equally attractive at homes and in the office.
2. Macintosh
Launched on January 24, 1984, at the Apple’s annual shareholder meeting. The fruit company became the pioneers of modern computers by integrating two things that are now common, a graphical user interface (GUI) and a mouse with one button.
Steve Jobs was truly a visionary when he took over the Macintosh project and launched it with a massive media campaign with a minute long TV commercial that seems more amazing now than ever.
3. LaserWriter
It wasn’t the first desktop laser printer to hit the market, but the LaserWriter was created for the Macintosh in 1985. The $7,000 USD machine was bigger than your average microwave. The LaserWriter could even print out newspapers if connected to the desktop and primarily used the PostScript language giving users an edge over the page layout, text options and graphics
The LaserWriter was launched on the same day as the application that brought it down, the Aldus PageMaker.
4. iMac
Steve Jobs resigned from Apple in 1985 and created NeXT and Pixar, and came back to Apple in 1997. He marked his return with the release of the new revolutionary Mac, the iMac on May 6, 1998. The new refined desktop PC kicked the previous PC box out of the market. The colored desktop spread the technology market like a wildfire.
The iMac used the updated technology and became a laudable successor of the original Macintosh desktop computers. The iMac’s all-in-one design is still used by iMac and is still copied by other PC manufacturing companies.
5. Power Mac G4 Cube
Steve Jobs had first carried out his dream, designing this cube-shaped computer at NeXT. Although that failed at NeXT, Jobs accomplished his dream at Apple. On January 5, 1999, he introduced the new Power Mac G3 and the color iMacs at Macworld San Francisco.
