Very often, people who are actively searching for their calling in life are inspired by the success stories of the richest and famous residents of our planet. And while some are impressed by the amazing destinies of legendary actors and singers, others are delighted by the managerial talents and mental abilities of extraordinary businessmen.
Of course, the most striking example is Steven Paul Jobs, since he, being a simple guy from an ordinary family, managed to become an influential and successful leader of the world's largest corporation.
Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco. Fate presented him with many trials, the first of which was the abandonment of his natural parents, who were young and not ready to raise him. small child. Fortunately, the wonderful family of Clara and Paul Jobs, who later became a real family for the businessman, took him from the orphanage.
Stephen was such a bully that he was even expelled from school several times. But, despite this, he had good abilities, which were impossible not to notice. Thanks to this, the administration educational institution allowed him to skip the 5th grade of primary school and go straight to secondary school.
Jobs often helped his father fix cars, was interested in engineering, and attended an amateur radio club. This indicates that he had a craving for various techniques from early childhood. As a child, Jobs met his future partner, friend and equally talented developer, Stephen Wozniak.
First inventions
Jobs always had a passion for invention in his soul. Together with Wozniak, they developed and created a unique device, with the help of which it became possible to make phone calls around the world absolutely free. The young guys did not stop there and decided to sell their “blue boxes”, unfortunately, without thinking about the legal consequences of such experiments.
By the way, sales were going well, with Wozniak and Jobs earning more than $100 on each device.
Early life
After graduating from school, Jobs entered a good paid college, but after studying there for only one semester, he decided that he had chosen the wrong path for himself and dropped out of the students. For more than a year, he wandered around the hostels, slept wherever he could and ate in local churches, and then decided to return to his native California.
Thanks to his old friend, Steve got a job at the successful video game company Atari. For Jobs it was good opportunity earn money for such a desired pilgrimage trip to India. Having accomplished his dream, he realized that it did not bring him the enlightenment he expected, and returned to previous job. He successfully developed popular video games, for which he received good fees.
Apple Company
Initially, the office of the world's most famous corporation, Apple, was located in the garage of Jobs' parents' house. Here, together with Wozniak, they created their first personal home computer. Soon they had wholesale orders for such advanced equipment. The partners had to take out loans to purchase the necessary parts, but they still made a profit.
Within a few years, thanks to the desire to earn money and the desire to improve their computer, they developed the world's first device with color graphics support. Jobs and Wozniak quickly found investors for their project, expanded the company's staff and launched large-scale production of new equipment. It was a real success, because all copies were sold out in a short time, and the profit of the developers at that moment already amounted to more than $200 million.
After some time, Steve became interested in a new project called Macintosh. He dreamed of creating a device that would combine all the components desktop computer(system unit, monitor, keyboard). An interesting fact is that the software for this project was developed by Microsoft employees. Later, Apple successfully presented the iBook, a portable computer. This was another breakthrough for the Jobs corporation.
In addition to computer technology, Steve was involved in the development of music gadgets - the iPod. At that time, it was the most stylish, popular and convenient music player based on Apple software - iTunes.
The next stage of development of the corporation was the creation of a cult mobile phone– iPhone. To develop it, Apple employees combined all their achievements in recent years and released a fashionable gadget on its own software - Mac OS.
This was followed by presentations of improved computers and tablet PCs - iPads, which are still very popular today. All Apple products are distinguished by their original, stylish design and carefully thought-out interface.
Jobs also successfully produced popular cartoons at the Pixar animation studio, and then became a shareholder of the Walt Disney company. His general condition is more than 7 billion dollars, of which only 2 billion are shares of Apple Corporation.
Unfortunately, Steve Jobs passed away in October 2011. Cancer beat him. But the story of a man who created his own success will live forever.
Video is a documentary about Steve Jobs. A man who changed the world!
What interesting facts do you know about such a successful, outstanding person as Steve Jobs? Share interesting information in the comments to this article.
Good luck and see you in the next article.
Steve Paul Jobs can rightfully be called an icon of the American dream. His name is associated with a whole list of brands and digital devices known all over the world. Here are the most recognizable of them:
- Apple;
- Pixar;
- Next;
- Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, iPad.
Steve was born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco to a student from a Syrian teacher. Soon the parents abandoned the child and he was adopted by Clara and Paul Reingold from the town of Mountain View, California.
The childhood of the future computer creator was quite stormy. In the third grade, he was expelled from one school and transferred to another.
At the age of 12, Stephen already showed a strong interest in electronic technology. To get spare parts for assembling an electronic frequency indicator for his physics class, the teenager called the chief director of the famous electronics manufacturer Hewlett-Packard, William Hewlett. After talking a little, Hewlett agreed to deliver the necessary spare parts and offered Jobs a part-time job for the summer within the walls of his company. Here a fateful meeting took place between two IT specialists - Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
After graduating from high school, Steve goes to college in Portland, Oregon. It was 1972, and at the end of the first half of the year, Jobs dropped out of school.
Returning to his home state, he again meets Wozniak, who works for Atari (the most popular video game manufacturer). Steve also gets a job at Atari and, together with Wozniak, is engaged in the development and creation of revolutionary technology at that time - the first computer.
Start with Apple
The start of his own business was a significant event when 21-year-old Steve organized the Apple Computer enterprise. Production computer technology began in April 1976 and was located in Jobs' father's garage, where companion and electronics genius Steve Wozniak also worked. Jobs' favorite fruit, the apple, was chosen as the company's logo.
The first creation, Apple I, was put up for sale at a unique price of $666 per unit, but the commercial success of the enterprise was brought by the Apple desktop of the second modification.
The Apple II differed from its competitors in that plastic was used in the manufacture of the case, and the package included a device for reading information from floppy disks, and the monitor supported color graphics. The computer is being massively sold both in the USA and exported to other countries. The company's profits exceed hundreds of millions of dollars.
After overwhelming success, Jobs begins work on the Macintosh project. The efforts of the IT genius did not work desired results and the model was not in demand among consumers. Stephen had serious friction with the company's management. In 1985, Jobs was fired from Apple.
Pixar
Steve Jobs set his sights on buying Pixar, which in 1985 belonged to director George Lucas, famous for Star Wars. After some time, he still buys it for 10 million dollars.
In the same year, Steve creates another computer company, Next. At Next, Steve takes on the development of a fundamentally new operating system, NextStep, which will then be used everywhere. However, this enterprise did not bring success, but on the contrary worsened the financial situation of its founder.
But at Pixar things were completely different. Jobs liked the company's developments in the field of 3D animation and hired Disney artist John Lasseter. Thanks to Lasseter, the first animated film in 3D graphics, Toy Story, was released in 1995. This was Steve's first serious success after launching his native company.
"Apple" again
While Jobs was mastering 3D animation, things at Apple were rapidly deteriorating. In order not to go bankrupt, the company urgently needed to look for a way out of the situation, and in 1997 Stephen returned to the Apple company as executive director. He makes fundamental changes in the organization and in 2001 the world's first iPod player, which uses iTunes technology, goes on sale. This device brings success to Jobs and millions in sales.
In 2003, doctors diagnosed Steve with pancreatic cancer, but he began treatment only in 2004.
Apple consolidates its success with the release of the iPhone touchscreen smartphone in 2007 with Multi Touch technology.
In 2010, Jobs presented to the world community the then unique portable iPad, which embodied all the capabilities of a computer.
Birth of a legend
The last significant event in Stephen's life was the presentation of a new iPad model, when he last time appears on stage. Then the active fight against cancer begins. Jobs' resignation as Apple CEO was announced in August.
IT genius Steven Paul Jobs passed away in 2011 on October 5 at the age of 56, but at the same time, the “Self-Made Success Story of Steven Jobs,” which perfectly motivates many people, was born.
Steve Jobs.
Businessman, engineer, founder and executive director of the world famous corporation Apple Inc. This man played a key role in the development of the computer industry. Today we will talk about him. About Steven Paul Jobs. About how this outstanding man was able to achieve fantastic heights in business, despite all the difficulties and trials fate had in store for him.
Steve Jobs, the path to success
Steve was born in San Francisco, the son of an American, Joan Carol Schible, and Abdulfattah John Jandali, a Syrian by birth. Steve was born on February 24, 1955. When the boy was only seven days old, his parents decided to abandon the child.
The boy was adopted by the Jobs family from Mountain View, California. His adoptive mother Clara, an accountant and his adoptive father Paul, a mechanic at a laser manufacturing company, were the ones who raised the boy and gave him the name that will go down in business history, Steven Paul Jobs.
As a child, Jobs was such a daredevil that he was close to becoming a juvenile delinquent. He was expelled from school after third grade. The turning point in Steve's life was his transfer to another school, thanks to a talented teacher who was able to get along with him. Under the influence of the teacher, the bully came to his senses and began to study.
The method of motivation, of course, was not new; Jobs received money from the teacher for completing tasks correctly. The amounts are not large, but more than enough for a fourth grader. As a result, Steve's academic performance improved to such an extent that he skipped fifth grade and entered high school.
Steve Jobs' childhood and youth
At the age of twelve, being a rather brash teenager, Steve pulled another trick by calling the home of William Hewlett, who at the time served as president of the Hawlett-Packard Company. Jobs was building an electrical frequency indicator for his high school physics class and was missing a few parts: “My name is Steve Jobs, and I was wondering if you had spare parts that I could use to build a frequency counter.”
They chatted for almost half an hour, Hewlett promising to send the parts Jobs needed. William Hewlett also offered Steve Jobs a summer internship in his company, in the very company under whose roof the entire Silicon Valley industry was born.
During his internship at Hawlett-Packard, Jobs met a man whose friendship became a defining moment in his life. This man is Stephen Wozniak, who ended up working at Hawlett-Packard after giving up boring lectures at Berkeley, University of California.
Wozniak was passionate about radio engineering, so working in such a company was much more interesting to him than boring studies. At the age of just 13, Stephen Wozniak built a rather complex calculator.
At the time of his acquaintance with Steve Jobs, Wozniak was already thinking about the concept of a personal computer, although at that time none of them existed. The young people had very different characters, but despite this, they quickly found a common language.
A couple of years later, when Jobs was already 16, he and Voznik met the then famous hacker, Captain Crunch. Crunch shared with them the secrets of his craft, such as using the sounds made by the whistle that came with Captain Crunch cereal to outsmart the switching device and make phone calls around the world absolutely free.
Shortly thereafter, Stephen Wozniak designed the first device that imitated the sounds of Crunch's whistle and also allowed free calls to anywhere in the world. He called this device “Blue Box.” Steve Jobs took charge of selling the product.
Blue Boxes were very popular among students and sold for $150 each. Amazing, given that the cost of the “box” was about $40. Despite the popularity of the device, the guys were not able to achieve much success. It all started with problems with the police, and then some bandit threatened Jobs with a gun so that he would shut down the “blue box business.”
After graduating from high school in 1972, Jobs attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon. After the first semester, he dropped out, explaining his decision this way: “I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my parents’ savings went to pay for college.
Six months later, I didn't see the point. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with my life, and I didn't understand how college would help me figure it out. I was pretty scared at the time, but looking back, I realize it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life.”
After Jobs dropped out of college, he focused entirely on the things that really interested him. However, it was not easy for him to remain a free listener at the university.
Here's what Jobs himself says about that time: “Not everything was so romantic. I slept on the floor in my friends' room, since I didn't have my own dorm room. To get food for myself, I handed over empty soda bottles, then they paid five cents apiece. Once a week, on Sundays, I went to the Hare Krishna temple to have a normal meal, this temple is located on the other side of the city, I walked about 7 miles...”
Jobs's survival on campus continued for another eighteen months after his expulsion. Steve returned to California in the fall of 1974, where he again met an old friend, technical genius Stephen Wozniak.
On Woz's recommendation, Steve got a job at Atari as a technician. Atari was a manufacturer of popular video games. Jobs didn't make any plans at that time; all he wanted was to save enough money to go to India.
There is nothing surprising in the choice of the country, because Steve Jobs’ youth occurred during the heyday of the hippie movement, with all the ensuing consequences. Jobs had a habit of using recreational drugs such as LSD and marijuana.
It is interesting that many years later, Jobs, having already gotten rid of this habit, does not at all repent of using LSD; moreover, Steve considers this one of the most significant periods in his life, which changed his worldview.
Atari paid for Steve's trip to India, on the condition that he also visit Germany, where production problems need to be resolved. Steve did an excellent job with this task.
On his trip to India, Steve was accompanied by his friend, Dan Kottke. Arriving in India, Jobs immediately exchanged all his belongings for the tattered clothes of a beggar. Steve set himself the goal of making a pilgrimage across the country, completely relying on the help of strangers he accidentally met along the way.
The adventure was not easy, a couple of times Jobs and Kottke were on the verge of death, the reason for this was harsh climate India. Contrary to expectations, meetings with the guru did not bring enlightenment to Steve. Despite this, the trip left a deep imprint on the heart and mind of Jobs, because it was in India that he learned what real poverty was, which was fundamentally different from the one played by the hippies of Silicon Valley.
Upon returning to length, Steve Jobs continued to work at Atari. Some time later, Steve Jobs was entrusted with the work of creating a full-fledged slot machine for the BreakOut game developed by the company.
As Nolan Bushnell, who is the founder of Atari, said, Steve Jobs was asked to reduce the number of chips on boards to a minimum, and for each chip removed from the circuit he would receive $100. Due to the fact that Steve was not strong in building electronic circuit boards, he offered cooperation to his friend, Stephen Woznik, for a 50% premium.
Everyone at the company was shocked when Steve Jobs presented them with a board from which 50 chips had been removed. Stephen Wozniak developed a circuit so dense that mass production was impossible. Jobs told Steven that the company only paid $700, when in fact it was paid $5,000, and Wozniak received his $350.
Apple founded
Stephen Wozniak presented the finished model of the Personal Computer to the management of Hawlett-Packard in 1975. It’s strange, but the company’s management was not interested in the development of their engineer, perhaps due to the fact that at that time computers were imagined only in the form of huge iron cabinets filled with electronic components.
They were then used only in big business or at military installations. Home personal computers were not even dreamed of. Atari also refused to help Stephen Wozniak due to the “lack of commercial prospects in the new product.”
It was then that Steve Jobs made a fateful decision - he convinced Stephen Wozniak and another Atari employee, draftsman Ronald Wayne, to open their own business and devote it to the development and production of PCs. Jobs, Wozniak and Wayne founded Apple Computer Co. as a partnership on April 1, 1976. This date became the starting point of Apple history.
Like Hawlett-Packard, Apple began in a garage owned by Steve Jobs' adoptive father. He supported his son and his partners, even pulled in a giant wooden machine; this machine played the role of the first “assembly line” in the history of the corporation.
Of course, the young company required initial capital; the funds were raised by the sale of Steve Jobs' minibus; Wozniak, in turn, sold his favorite programmable calculator from Hawlett-Packard. The company's starting capital was $1,300.
Wayne designed the company's very first logo, which honestly looked more like a sketch than a logo. The drawing was of Sir Isaac Newton and an apple falling on his head. Subsequently, as you know, the logo was noticeably simplified.
The first large order was received from a local electronics store, an order for 50 PCs. The funds available to the start-up company were not enough to purchase the parts necessary for assembly in large quantities. The solution was found by Jobs, he persuaded suppliers to provide necessary materials on credit for a period of 30 days.
Having received the necessary components, Wozniak, Wayne and Jobs began assembling the machines in the evenings. Within 10 days the entire batch was delivered to the store. The first computer was called Apple 1, it was sold at a price of 666.66% $, since Stephen Wozniak really liked numbers consisting of identical digits.
Despite the fact that the start-up company so quickly received and successfully completed its first large order, Ronald Wayne lost faith in the company's success and decided to leave the game. Wayne left the company, selling his 10% share to his partners for $800. Wayne later commented on his decision: “Jobs is a hurricane of energy and focus. I was already too disappointed in life to rush through it on this hurricane.”
In any case, the company needed development. Already in the fall of the same year, Wozniak completed work on the Apple 2 prototype, which became the first Personal Computer in the world to be put into mass production. It had a plastic body, a floppy disk reader, and supported color graphics.
To ensure successful computer sales, Steve Jobs launched advertising campaign and developing attractive PC packaging that clearly featured the company's new logo—Apple, Jobs' favorite fruit.
The logo indicated that the Apple 2 supported color graphics. Later, the ex-president of several structural divisions and, in fact, the founder of Be, Inc., Jean-Louis-Gase, spoke about the logo: “It was impossible to dream of a more suitable logo: it embodied aspiration, hope, knowledge, and anarchy...”
At that time, no one had released anything like this; the very idea of a personal computer for private use was very skeptically accepted by big businessmen. The result of this reaction to the new product was the difficulty in finding financing for the release of Apple 2. Hewlett-Pckard and Atari again refused Apple financing, although they called the project “funny.”
Still, there were those who supported the idea of creating a computer accessible to the masses. Don Valentine, a famous financier, introduced Jobs to the equally famous venture capitalist Armas Clif "Mike" Markkula. Mike helped aspiring businessmen draw up a business plan and invested $92 thousand from his personal savings into the young company.
Markkula also helped secure a quarter-million dollar line of credit with BankofAmeica. This help allowed the two Steves to "get out of the garage." Production volumes increased significantly, the staff expanded, and finally, the fundamentally new Apple 2 was launched into mass production.
The success of Apple 2 can only be described as grandiose: the latest development was swept off the shelves and bought up in hundreds and thousands of copies. It’s amazing, because at that time, the volume of the global PC market did not exceed 10,000 units. In 1980, Apple Computer Company gained recognition as a computer manufacturer. The company's staff included several hundred people, and exports of products outside the United States were launched.
The same week in 1980 as John Lennon's murder, Apple Computer went public. The company's shares were sold out in record time, within one hour! Already by this moment, Steve Jobs has become one of the richest Americans, his popularity is growing every day, because he is a simple young guy who, without education, suddenly became a millionaire, this is the American dream...
The personal computer instantly became part of the everyday life of residents of developed countries. Over a couple of decades, PCs have become indispensable assistants in organizational, communication, production, educational and other technological and social areas of human activity.
The words spoken by Jobs in the early 80s turned out to be prophetic: “This decade marked the first date between Society and the computer. And for some crazy reason we ended up in the right place and right time, to do everything for the prosperity of this novel." Thus began the computer revolution.
Project Macintosh
In December 1979, Xerox (XRX) gave Steve Jobs and several other Apple employees access to its Palo Alto research center. There, Steve first saw Xerox's prototype Alto PC, which used a graphical interface that allowed the user to issue specific commands to the computer by hovering the cursor over one of the graphical objects shown on the monitor.
According to colleagues, the development he saw impressed Jobs, after which he began to claim that all future computers would use this technology. This reaction is understandable, because the new product contained three things through which the path to the user’s heart lies. Steve Jobs was amazed by the simplicity, ease of use and aesthetics of the new product, and set himself the goal of creating such a computer.
At that time, the company had been developing a new Lisa computer for several months, which received this name in honor of the daughter of Steve Jobs. Jobs' goal was to create a computer that cost two thousand dollars. However, now Jobs was haunted by the idea of implementing a revolutionary new product, which he saw within the walls of the Xerox research center.
This desire cast doubt on whether the originally planned price of $2,000 would remain unchanged. Soon, Apple President Michael Scott removed Jobs from the Lisa project. Steve Jobs became chairman of the board of directors, and the project was headed by another employee.
Jobs, removed from work on the Lisa project, focused his attention on a small project of the talented engineer Jef Raskin. Previously, Steve made repeated attempts to close this project. Raskin's main idea was to develop an inexpensive computer, costing about $1000. The engineer named the development Macintosh after his favorite apple variety, McInosh.
The PC was supposed to be a device that included a monitor, keyboard and system unit. That is, the consumer could buy a computer that was ready to use. An interesting fact is that Raskin did not recognize the need for a computer mouse and did not plan to use it for the Macintosh.
Steve persuaded Raskin to appoint him as head of the project. Jobs immediately intervened in the development of the Macintosh computer, he ordered Raskin to use the Motorola 68000 processor in it, the same processor that was supposed to be used in the Lisa project. This was done due to the fact that Jobs wanted to port the Lisa graphical interface to the Macintosh.
Also, Steve Jobs introduced a mouse into the Macintosh, despite all Raskin's objections. Jeff Raskin, realizing that Jobs had completely taken the project away from him, filed a complaint with company president Mike Scott. In the complaint, Raskin described Jobs as an incompetent person who would ruin all his endeavors.
Jobs and Raskin were invited to a conversation with the president of the company. Mile Scott, after listening to the opinions of both, ordered Jobs to complete the development of the Macintosh, and he sent Raskin on leave to somehow smooth out the situation. It is worth noting that President Michael Scott was fired that same year and his position was temporarily filled by Mike Markkula.
Jobs planned to complete the Macintosh project within 1 year. Unfortunately, the work was delayed, and in the end Steve decided to entrust the development software for computers to third party companies. To accomplish this task, Jobs chose the young company Microsoft, which was already known for creating the Basic computer language for the Apple2 project (and a number of others).
Jobs visited Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond. After negotiations between the parties, a decision was made to cooperate. Bill Gates and Paul Allen (founders of Microsoft) visited Cupertino to see the experimental Macintosh model with their own eyes.
Microsoft was faced with the task of creating software for the Macintosh. The most famous and popular program at that time there was Microsoft Excel.
Meanwhile, the first marketing strategy is being developed to market the Macintosh computer. Marketing was handled by Jbs himself, who understood little about it, so we can say that the plan was rather conventional.
Jobs assumed that sales of the Macintosh computer would start in 1982, he planned to sell half a million computers a year, it is worth noting that no research was carried out, and the figure of 500,000 was taken from the air. The Macintosh and Lisa computers were scheduled to be released at the same time; Jobs convinced company resident Mike Markkula that the Macintosh would not be a competitor to the Macintosh. In turn, Markkula insisted on releasing the Macintosh a month after the launch of the Lisa computer.
The Macintosh was eventually scheduled to launch on October 1, 1982. There was only one problem left - there was too little time left until October, but Jobs, being very stubborn, did not want to listen to anything about the timing.
That year, Jobs was featured on the cover of Time magazine. His development of the Apple 2 was recognized the best computer year. An article published in the same issue focused mainly on Jobs. The article stated that Steve would make an excellent king of France.
It was also said that Jobs made a fortune from the work of other people, in turn, he himself does not understand anything about engineering, programming, or design, and there can’t even be any talk about business. The article cited comments from many people who wished to remain anonymous, including comments from Stephen Wozniak (he left Apple after the accident).
Steve Jobs was very upset by this article, he even called Jeff Raskin, the engineer who originally developed the Macintosh, to express his outrage. Steve knew that from now on he was personally dependent on Mac being a success.
Jobs purchased an apartment in Manhattan overlooking New York's Central Park. There, in New York, he first met John Sculley, president of the world famous Pepsi company. They took long walks around the city and discussed Apple's prospects and talked about business.
At that time, Jobs decided for himself that it was a person like John who should hold the post of president of Apple. Sculley had a great understanding of business, but absolutely nothing of technology, which made him and Jobs a great team. There was one “but” in Jobs’ plan; John worked successfully at Pepsi. As a result, Jobs managed to lure Sculley to his company, and one phrase said by Jobs to Sculley forever went down in business history: “Do you intend to sell sugared water for the rest of your life, or do you intend to change the world?”
Meanwhile, the Macintosh software developers did not have time to complete the project on time, but Jobs, without unnecessary hysterics, managed to rally the team and motivate the programmers so that they worked the last days with virtually no sleep. The result is amazing, as everything was ready on time. An important business principle worked: “if you have a team the right people, then you will succeed." The Macintosh group had just such people.
The presentation of the Macintosh was stunning, the world saw both a revolutionary development and a brilliant speaker in the person of Steve Jobs.
John Sculley, who served as Apple's president, united the Macintosh and Lisa developers into one team and put Steve in charge. After one hundred days of phenomenal sales of the Macintosh, the first difficulties began.
The problem for many buyers was the lack of software. At that time, the Macintosh only had the standard Microsoft package and standard Apple programs. Other developers could not understand how to create software with a graphical interface. This significantly slowed down computer sales.
Soon problems appeared with the hardware. Steve Jobs was adamantly against extending the Macintosh, but users didn't like it. Apple employee Michael Murray said, "Steve did market research by looking at himself in the mirror every morning."
The situation in the company was heating up. At that point, conflicts began to arise between the Macintosh developers and the rest of the company. Steve Jobs never missed an opportunity to disparage the latest Apple 2 models, which was still the company's cash cow.
Apple was going through a rough patch, and Jobs, in his typical manner, blamed other people for the company’s failures, especially the company’s president, John Sculley. Jobs argued that Sculley was unable to reinvent himself and enter the high-tech business.
The result was the dismissal of Steve Jobs from the company that he founded. The reason for this was a series of behind-the-scenes intrigues that Jobs waged, hoping to take the post of president of the company.
After Steve was fired, he was offered an honorary position as an Apple representative, but he turned it down. Moreover, Jobs sold all the shares of the company that he owned at that time, leaving himself only one symbolic share.
After Jobs's dismissal, Apple would have a successful period, recording the highest sales in the company's history. Later for the company will come dark times, Apple will be close to collapse, but in 1997, Steve Jobs will take over the company, pull it out and even make it one of the largest in the industry.
But this is still 12 years away, and for now Jobs is young, rich and ready for new achievements. Steve had no intention of quitting his business, although he could afford it. After all, he could easily become a venture investor and forget what work is. But all this was not typical for Steve Jobs, so he decided to start a new business - to found the Next computer company.
Life afterApple
Steve Jobs envisioned Next as a company to develop computers for educational sphere. The investor in the project was Ros Perot, who invested $20 million in Next, for which he received a 16% stake in the company. It is worth noting that the investor was attracted by Jobs himself, his devilish charm, since there were no business plans in sight.
The revolutionary NextStep operating system was developed especially for Next computers; it was built according to the principles of objective-oriented programming, which later became ubiquitous. Despite the usefulness of the development, Jobs will not achieve much success; on the contrary, he will waste a lot of money.
To give Next credit, these computers have been used by some creative people in their work. This is how such gaming legends from IDSoftware as Doom and Quake were created on Next computers. In the late 1980s, Jobs made a desperate attempt to make Next a success by offering the contract to Disney. But this idea failed; Disney did not want to break off relations with Apple.
It seemed that fortune had turned away from Steve and he was about to become bankrupt, but there was one more trump card left. Jobs had a rare talent, he was able to rally a group of people, inspire them to create something significant, which he did in the company that gave PIXAR, computer animation to the world.
Steve Jobs acquired PIXAR from Star Wars director George Lucas in 1985. It is worth noting that Lucas initially asked for $30 million for the company, but Steve was in no hurry to shell out that kind of money; he waited for the moment when Lucas urgently needed money, and after bidding, he acquired the company for one-third of the original price.
There was, however, one condition: Lucas reserved the right to use any PIXAR developments in his film projects. At that time, the company had the PixarImageComputer, it cost an incredible amount and sold very poorly. Jobs began searching for a market for this device. At the same time, PIXAR continued its activities in developing animation software and began conducting some experiments in creating its own animation projects.
Jobs will soon open seven representative offices selling PixarImageComputer in different cities, but this idea will not be successful, since this computer had a very narrow focus and would only be used by a narrow circle of people.
The arrival of artist John Lasseter (who had previously worked for Disney) at PIXAR was a turning point in the life of the company; it was John who would take the studio to new heights. He was initially hired to create short animated videos demonstrating the capabilities of PIXAR software and hardware. PIXAR's hot streak began with the short films "AndreandWallyB" and "Luxo, Jr."
A key moment was Jobs' financing of the short film TinToy, which later won an Oscar. In 1988, PIXAR introduced a new software product, RenderMan, which for a long time would be Jobs’s only income.
At the end of 1989, the situation was this: Jobs had two companies producing first-class products, but due to extremely low sales, the press predicted the failure of both companies, PIXAR and NEXT.
Jobs had to actively respond to the crisis. First of all he sold computer business PIXAR, which was without a doubt unprofitable. The Vicom company bought out some of the employees for several million, and everything that had a connection with the PixarImageComputer. As a result, PIXAR acquired a single direction - animation.
Steve Jobs, like many businessmen, often spoke to students. In 1989, he gave a speech at Stanford. Being an excellent speaker, Steve felt confident and calm on stage, but suddenly something went wrong, Jobs began to stammer, and it seemed to many spectators that he had completely lost the thread of his speech.
The reason for Steve's strange behavior was the woman sitting in the hall that day. It was Laurene Powell, and Jobs really liked her. It is worth noting that this was not simple affection; Steve experienced feelings that were previously unfamiliar to him. After the lecture, Jobs exchanged phone numbers with this girl, left the building and got into his car. He had a business meeting scheduled that evening.
But as soon as he got into the car, Steve realized that a business meeting was not what he wanted that evening. Steve caught up with Lauryn and invited her to the restaurant that evening. They spent the rest of the day walking around the city. Steve and Lauryn subsequently get married.
Jobs improved his personal life, but business was still not going well. At the end of the year, PIXAR made another reduction. It is worth noting that many employees were laid off, but it bypassed the group of animators led by John Lasseter. It became obvious that Jobs was betting on him.
Steve Jobs is one of those people who trust only their intuition. He always ignored other people's opinions, even if he was wrong. Of course, Steve, like every person, still has a narrow circle of close people whose opinions he listens to. For example, this circle now includes Apple's chief designer, Jonathan Ive.
In the early '90s, a select group of people who were allowed to challenge Steve's views included PIXAR co-founder Alvy Ray Smith. Very often Alvy pointed out Steve's mistakes; to be honest, he understood animation much better than Steve.
At the next PIXAR meeting, Jobs spoke outright nonsense; it was obvious that he did not understand this topic at all. Alvy lost his patience, jumped up and began to prove to Steve that he was wrong. At this moment, Alvy acted rashly. Jobs has always been an extraordinary person with his own oddities. At meetings he would have a special white board, on which only he always wrote.
That day, Smith, in the midst of an argument, began to write something on this board, trying to prove that he was right. Everyone present froze. A moment later, Jobs was in front of Smith and hurled personal insults at him, which, in the opinion of those present, were completely irrelevant and truly vile. Shortly after this incident, Alvy Ray Smith left the company PIXAR, which he founded.
PIXAR's breakthrough came when Steve Jobs received financial support from Disney. The terms of the agreement were as follows: PIXAR creates a full-length computer animated film, and Disney, in turn, bears the costs of promoting the film.
There was such an agreement great luck, since Disney is a very powerful marketing machine. Steve Jobs managed to negotiate the most favorable terms for his company. In 1991, this agreement became a lifeline for Jobs; newspapers had already predicted a future bankruptcy for him, not yet knowing that PIXAR would bring him billions. Another thing happened that same year important event in Jobs' life - his wedding with Lauryn. At that time, Steve was 36 and Lauryn was 27 years old. The wedding was ascetic.
In 1992, Jobs was unable to finance Next on his own, and got Canon to reinvest $30 million (previously $100 million). At that time, sales of Next computers increased, but still, the company sold as many computers in a year as Apple sold in a week.
In 1993, Steve had no choice but to decide to wind down the production of the Next PC, although this decision was difficult for him. It was decided to direct all the company's efforts to software development. This was a turning point for history, as the NextStep operating system would later become the basis for MacOSX, which would lead Macintosh computers out of the crisis.
At that time, there was one person, a tandem with whom ensured Jobs’ success. Director, animator, artist - John Lasseter. John was still working at PIXAR, and it was largely thanks to him that PIXAR signed such a lucrative contract with Disney, since the latter were persistently trying to lure John to themselves. But Lasseter remained loyal to PIXAR.
PIXAR's first animated film, Toy Story, was released on Christmas Day in 1995. The debut project was a dizzying success.
The mid-90s were a terrible time for Apple. John Sculley was fired from the post of president of the company, Michael Spindler did not last long in his place, and after him Jill Amelio took the presidency of Apple.
The company's market share was rapidly declining. Moreover, it became unprofitable. Management tried to get out of the crisis by selling the company to a larger company. Negotiations were held with companies such as Phillips, Sun, Oracle, but they were unsuccessful.
Steve Jobs was busy planning PIXAR's initial public offering at the time. The IPO was the light in the window for Jobs; he was planning a public offering immediately after the release of Toy Story.
Meanwhile, the situation at Apple was not getting better; at the end of 1996, it got to the point that Bill Gates was constantly calling the head of Apple Computer, Gil Amelio, to convince him to install operating system WindowsNT on Macintosh computers.
As a result of long negotiations, Steve Jobs sells Next to Apple for $377 million and 1.5 million shares. Apple's main goal was to obtain the NextStep operating system and a group of its developers (more than 300 people). Apple got what it wanted, and Steve Jobs was appointed advisor to Gil Amelio.
However, the innovations did not bring much benefit. The company's activities were controlled by the same people, and the company's losses grew. Jobs took advantage of the moment and overthrew Amelio as president. At that time, Gil Amelio was hit by a barrage of devastating articles published in various media.
The reaction of the company's board of directors was not long in coming; Amelio was fired from the post of president. Then no one thought about the promise Amelio made when he was appointed. Amelio promised to bring Apple out of the crisis in three years, but only worked for half of this period. During his tenure, the company's cash flow increased markedly. At that time, this merit was not enough.
It was obvious to everyone that the post of president of Apple would be taken over by Steve Jobs, a media darling. How could it be otherwise? A man who lost everything, but did not give up and found a way to get up from his knees (thanks to PIXAR). Moreover, it was Jobs who was the founder of Apple, whoever is not him will be able to breathe life into the company and all its employees.
Jobs was named acting CEO. First of all, Steve Jobs called Bill Gates. Apple has granted Microsoft rights to some user interface developments. In turn, Microsoft invested $150 million in the company's shares and also committed to releasing new versions of Microsoft Office for the Macintosh. In addition, Internet Explorer has become the default browser for Mac.
Steve Jobs quickly adapted to the company and took control. They decided to close the unprofitable Newton project, which had been sucking money from their Apple for many years. It was a project to develop the first PDA, but it ended in failure because it was simply ahead of its time.
At that time, Steve's old friend joined the Apple board of directors; it was the head of Oracle, Larry Ellison. Ellison's presence was a great support for Jobs.
In 1998, Jobs gave a speech at the MacWorldExpo. Steve was telling visitors about the state of the company, and as he left the stage he said, “I almost forgot. We're making a profit again." The hall exploded with applause.
By 1998, PIXAR had released four wildly successful animated films: Toy Story, The Adventures of Flik, Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc. The company's total revenue at that time was $2.8 billion.
Jobs' studio was a phenomenal success. That same year, Apple began returning to the big game. Jobs introduced the first iMac. It's worth noting that the iMac was being developed before Jobs returned to the company, when Gil Amelio was president. But all the credit for the iMac was given to Jobs, nothing can be done about it.
Jobs' return to Apple had a positive impact on the company in many ways. For example, the company's inventories were $400 million, but after the measures taken by Steve they were reduced to 75 million. This was achieved thanks to Jobs's habit of being careful and attentive to every small detail of the production process.
The iMac, being a computer and monitor in one, was a great success. After Apple presented another new product - the iBook portable computer. At the same time, C&C transferred the rights to Sound Jam MP to Apple. Subsequently, the world will recognize this program as iTunes; it will mark the beginning of the popularity of iPod players.
After the release of iTunes, Apple turned its attention to the mp3 player market. Jobs held a series of negotiations with the PortalPlayer company, as a result of which it was decided to entrust this company with the development of a player for Apple, or rather the hardware part of the player, since Apple itself was responsible for the software part.
This is how the iPod was born. During the development of the player, Jobs regularly made a lot of comments to the developers of the Portal Player company, in the end this was beneficial: customers received the best (at that time) mp3 player. The player was designed by the famous Apple designer Jonathan Ive, who is currently the chief designer of the Fruit Company.
Quince's merits also include the success of all the company's new products after Jobs returned to it. The design of the first iMacs also belongs to him.
Subsequently, new versions of the player began to be released, each subsequent one being more popular than the old one.
Around the same time, Apple introduced a new operating system, MacOSX, which marked the beginning of the entire series. OSX gave Macintosh computers a new lease of life.
As events unfolded after everyone knows, the iPod became the most popular player in the world. The popularity of Macintosh computers is getting higher and higher.
Apple began producing a mobile phone that has become a cult favorite. The iPhone has absorbed all the best achievements of the “fruit company”.
Steve Jobs was first and foremost a public figure
He had amazing ability inspire young and talented people. What is this performance worth?
His drive made it possible to achieve success almost always.
On October 5, 2011, at the age of 56, Steve Jobs passed away. But he remained in the memory and hearts of people forever.
This is the success story of Steve Jobs.
Stephen Paul Jobs is a man who is one of the generally recognized authorities in the global computer industry, who largely determined the direction of its development. Steve Jobs, as he is known throughout the world, became one of the founders of Apple, Next, Pixar corporations and created one of the most odious smartphones in history - the iPhone, which has remained among the leaders in popularity among mobile gadgets for 6 generations.
Founder of Apple
The future star of the computer world was born in the small town of Mountain View on February 24, 1955.
Fate sometimes throws out some very funny things. Coincidence or not, this city will become the heart of Silicon Valley in a few years. The newborn's biological parents, Syrian emigrant Steve Abdulfattah and American graduate student Joan Carol Schible, were not officially married and decided to give the boy up for adoption, setting only one condition for the future parents - to give the child higher education. This is how Steve ended up in the family of Paul and Clara Jobs, nee Akopyan.
Steve's passion for electronics captured him during his school years. It was then that he met Steve Wozniak, who was also a little “obsessed” with the world of technology.
This meeting became somewhat fateful, because it was after it that Steve began to think about own business in the field of computer technology. The friends implemented their first project when Jobs was only 13 years old. It was a $150 BlueBox device that allowed you to make long-distance calls absolutely free. Wozniak was responsible for the technical side, and Jobs was in charge of sales. finished products. This distribution of responsibilities will continue for many years, but without the risk of being reported to the police for illegal actions.
Jobs graduated from high school in 1972 and attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He got bored with his studies very quickly, and he dropped out of college immediately after the first semester, but he was in no hurry to leave the walls of the educational institution completely.
For another year and a half, Steve wandered around friends’ rooms, slept on the floor, handed over Coca-Cola bottles and once a week had free lunch at the Hare Krishna temple, which was located nearby.
Still, fate decided to turn its face to Jobs and pushed him to enroll in calligraphy courses, attending which made him think about equipping the Mac OS system with scalable fonts.
A little later, Steve got a job at Atari, where his responsibilities included developing computer games.
Four years would pass, and Wozniak would create his first computer, and Jobs, out of old habit, would handle its sales.
Apple Company
The creative union of talented computer scientists very soon grew into a business strategy. On April 1, 1976, the well-known April Fool's Day, they founded Apple, whose office was located in the garage of Jobs' parents. The history of choosing the company name is interesting. Many people think that there is some very deep meaning behind it. But, unfortunately, such people will be bitterly disappointed.
Jobs suggested the name Apple because it would appear right before Atari in the phone book.
Apple was officially incorporated in early 1977.
The technical side of the work still remained with Wozniak, Jobs was responsible for marketing. Although, in fairness, it must be said that it was Jobs who convinced his partner to finalize the microcomputer circuit, which later served as the beginning of the creation of a new personal computer market.
The first computer model received a completely logical name - Apple I, the sales volume of which in the first year was 200 units at 666 dollars 66 cents each (witty, isn’t it?).
Quite a good result, but the Apple II, released in 1977, was a real breakthrough.
The stunning success of two Apple computer models attracted serious investors to the young company, which helped it take a leading position in the computer market, and made its founders real millionaires. Interesting fact: Microsoft was founded six months later, and it was the company that developed software for Apple. This was the first, but far from the last meeting between Jobs and Gates.
Macintosh
After some time, Apple and Xerox entered into a contract between themselves, which largely determined the future of the development of computer technology. Even then, Xerox's developments could be called revolutionary, but to find them practical application the company's management couldn't. The alliance with Apple helped solve this problem. Its result was the launch of the Macintosh project, within which a line of personal computers was developed. Everyone technological process, from design to distribution to the end consumer, was handled by Apple Inc. This project can easily be called the period of the birth of the modern computer interface with its windows and virtual buttons.
The first Macintosh computer, or simply Mac, was released on January 24, 1984. In fact, it was the first personal computer, the main working tool of which was the mouse, which made operating the machine extremely simple and convenient.
Previously, only “initiates” who knew an intricate “machine” language could cope with this task.
Macintosh simply did not have competitors who could even remotely come close in terms of their technological potential and sales volume. For Apple, the release of these computers was a huge success, as a result of which it completely stopped the development and production of the Apple II family.
Jobs' departure
In the early 80s, Apple turned into a huge corporation, releasing successful new products to the market over and over again. But it was at this time that Jobs began to lose his position in the company's management. Not everyone liked his authoritarian management style, or rather, no one liked him.
An open conflict with the board of directors led to Jobs being simply fired in 1985, when Jobs was only 30 years old.
Having lost his high post, Jobs did not give up, but, on the contrary, plunged headlong into developing new projects. The first of these was the NeXT company, which was engaged in the production of complex computers for higher education and business structures. The low capacity of this market segment did not allow significant sales to be achieved. So this project cannot be called super successful.
With the graphics studio The Graphics Group (later renamed Pixar), which Jobs bought from LucasFilm for just $5 million (when its real value was estimated at $10 million), everything was completely different.
During the period of Jobs's management, the company released several full-length animated films, which were extremely successful at the box office. Among them are “Monsters, Inc.” and “Toy Story.” In 2006, Jobs sold Pixar to Walt Disney for $7.5 million and a 7% stake in the Walt Disney company, while the Disney heirs themselves own only 1%.
Return to Apple
In 1997, 12 years after his ouster, Steve Jobs returned to Apple as interim CEO. Three years later he became a full-fledged manager. Jobs managed to take the company to new level development, closing several unprofitable areas and completing the development of the new iMac computer with great success.
In the coming years, Apple will become a real trendsetter in the high-tech goods market.
Her developments invariably became bestsellers: the iPhone, iPod, iPad tablet. As a result, the company took third place in the world in terms of capitalization, surpassing even Microsoft.
Steve Jobs: speech to Stanford graduates
Disease
In October 2003, during a medical examination, doctors gave Jobs a disappointing diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
The disease, which is fatal in the vast majority of cases, developed in a very rare form for the head of Apple, which can be treated through surgery. But Jobs had his own personal beliefs against interference in human body, so at first he refused the operation.
The treatment lasted 9 months, during which none of the Apple investors even suspected the fatal illness of the company's founder. But it did not give any positive results. Therefore, Jobs finally decided to undergo surgery, having previously publicly announced his state of health. The operation took place on July 31, 2004 in medical center at the Stanford Institute, and it was very successful.
But this was not the end of Steve Jobs' health problems. In December 2008, he was diagnosed with a hormonal imbalance. He underwent a liver transplant in the summer of 2009, according to officials at the University of Tennessee Methodist Hospital.
Steve Jobs: quotes
Name: Steve Jobs
Age: 56 years old
Place of birth: San Francisco, USA
Place of death: Palo Alto, USA
Activity: entrepreneur, founder of Apple
Marital status: was married
Steve Jobs - biography
It’s easy to talk about a person gifted since childhood; such is the entrepreneur and founder of the era of continuous computerization, Steve Jobs.
Childhood, family of the inventor
A native American from San Francisco, he was born into a scientific family. His father is a university teaching assistant, and his mother received her education at the same institution. There was no official marriage in the couple, since the girl’s parents were categorically against their acquaintance and life together. Little Steve was born almost secretly, and then he was raised by adoptive parents.
The Jobs couple were happy to pay attention to the baby, since they could not have their own children. The real mother wanted her son to receive a good higher education. From the very beginning, it seemed that the biography of an unwanted child could not be happy.
Steven Jobs - businessman
Soon the couple adopted the girl so that the boy would have a sister. The whole family chose Mountain View as their permanent residence and left San Francisco. The adoptive father was a car mechanic; he found a well-paid job to pay for his children’s education. Steve was not interested in mechanics; he preferred electronics. Although the town was small, it was believed that all the high technologies were located there. The boy's biography was predetermined. Stephen was not stupid, but he was not interested in studying.
One day a miracle happened: one of the teachers managed to instill diligence, and the boy completed two classes as an external student at once. The student was familiar with radio electronics, he himself managed to assemble a frequency meter using electronics, and worked in one of the famous companies. Like many teenagers, at the age of 16, a passion for hippie culture and the Beatles began. He started trying drugs and became acquainted with a guy much older than himself. Stephen Wozniak became Jobs's friend for many years.
The guys were brought together by their passion for computers and electronic equipment. They knew how to invent, and the first device they came up with was a tool for hacking a phone network. The guys learned how to select tone signals. Then the device began to be in demand, and friends earned a lot of money. Steve Jobs had no trouble getting into a liberal arts college. But after 6 months he quits his studies, because at that time he was interested in the practices of the East and vegetarian food.
"Apple"
Steve gets a job at a computer game company. And an old friend creates boards and improves them. The two Stephens started their own firm. In this duo, it was necessary to take leadership, and Jobs did it perfectly. This is how the biography of the first computers began.
The first specimens were primitive, but the partners continued to work on perfecting their creations. As a result, the improved Apple II has a plastic body and a beautiful appearance. IN financially the company flourished, but due to Jobs’s difficult character, scandals often arose between friends. Jobs quit, but immediately founded a new company.
Jobs retrained
Stephen bought out George Lucas's animation studio to create commercials, but his cartoons receive prestigious awards. Jobs creates animation, and after some time he manages to profitably sell his studio to the famous company Disney. He returns again to his beloved company, of which he was the founder. Managed to find a new market and always strived to act in the spirit of the times. He owns the production of a media player, an iPhone touchscreen mobile phone, and an iPad Internet tablet.
Steve Jobs - biography of personal life
Steve had many loved ones and loving women. The first was Chris Ann Brennan. Relations with her were always complex and confusing. When their daughter Lisa was born, father Steve recognized her only after taking a DNA test. Then in life young man Advertising agent Barbara Jasinski, singer Joan Baez, and Tina Redse, who works with computers, appeared. None of these women became Steve's official wife. Lauren Powell became the official wife; she worked in a bank.
A year after the marriage proposal, they got married. The couple had a son, Reed, and daughters, Erin and Eve. The father understood that electronic technology was harmful to the health of young children, and computers and phones were banned for a long time for Jobs’ children. Later, Steve decided to find his real mother and sister and began to communicate with them, something he had been deprived of since childhood.
Steve Jobs - Illness and Death
The entrepreneur was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; all the treatment undertaken by his family did not produce results. The businessman died, the whole family was with him. Cause of death apple genius was struck by cancer. A film was made about Steve Jobs, books and memoirs were written. His biography is of interest to many screenwriters and directors. But we should not forget that this man had a talent not for entrepreneurship itself, but for invention and the latest computer developments.
Steve Jobs - documentary
