The Life and Awesomeness of Steve Jobs
It goes without saying that our greatest wish for Steve right now is a quick recovery from whatever is ailing him.
To celebrate Steve's career, here's an oldie but goodie -- "The Life and Awesomeness of Steve Jobs" -- a photo biography -- in appreciation of a guy who has accomplished more in one lifetime than most people would in 20.
Steve's Childhood Home
Steve was born in 1955, was adopted, and as his official bio reads, "grew up in the apricot orchards which later became known as Silicon Valley."
Here's the house where Apple later began.
Steve Meets Steve
Jobs met Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, who was four years ahead of him at Homestead High, and the two quickly became friends, sharing stories of pranks they'd pulled.
One elaborate prank -- flipping off a high school graduating class with a big, tie-dyed, middle finger salute-painted sheet, signed "SWAB JOB" -- never quite worked. "Steve got in trouble," Wozniak wrote in his bio, iWoz.
Portrait Of A Young Nerd
Jobs had an early appreciation for facial hair. This will become an on-again, off-again trend.
Jobs and Wozniak, 1975
Jobs attended after-school lectures at HP, where Wozniak worked, and got a summer job there.
But it wasn't until the mid-70s -- after Steve attended and dropped out of Reed College and traveled to India -- that he started attending Wozniak's "Homebrew Computer Club."
Apple's Early Days
To get Apple off the ground, Steve and Steve "sold their most valuable possessions."
Jobs "sold his Volkswagen micro-bus and Wozniak sold his Hewlett-Packard scientific calculator, which raised $1,300 to start their new company."
Think
Note the "Think" sign behind Steve the hippie.
Later, Apple's slogan changed to Think Different. Steve "always had a different way of looking at things," his high school electronics teacher said.
The Moustache
Would you trust this guy to make your computer?
You should.
The Mac is Born
In 1984, Steve rolled out the Mac. It was the first personal computer driven by a graphical user interface. Now they all are.
Here's Apple's famous "1984" Super Bowl commercial.
NeXT
Steve got fired from Apple and started a new company called NeXT.
The hardware side was a bust, but the software would eventually become the basis for Apple's OS X -- which runs today's Macs, iPhones, and the iPod touch. (Apple bought NeXT in 1997.)
Peak Hair
At NeXT, Steve went with the hockey player look.
Steve and Laurene
Steve married Laurene Powell in 1991. The couple has three children.
Pixar's Toy Story
Steve's first hit of the 90s wasn't a computer, but a movie.
Jobs bought Pixar, an animation studio, from George Lucas in 1986.
In 1995, Toy Story started Pixar's streak of hits, grossing over $191 million in the U.S. and Canada during its initial box office release. Pixar's IPO added a cool billion to Steve's net worth.
Macworld '98
After Apple bought NeXT, Steve gradually got closer to Apple.
In early 1998, Steve Jobs had cultivated a woodsy look. Here he is at Macworld in January, where he announced that beat-up Apple made a $45 million profit the prior quarter.
The iMac: Hello (again)
Later that year, Steve unveiled the iMac, Apple's Internet-focused computer that -- controversially -- shipped with no floppy drive. (And was Apple's first computer to use USB.)
"It looks like it's from another planet," Steve said. "And a GOOD planet!"
Here's the video:
The Gulfstream
In 2000, Jobs got 10 million stock options and a Gulfstream V airplane "in recognition of his service to the company."
You can see photos of it around California at Airliners.net.
Photo: S.C. Rubke
iPod, Therefore i Am
The iPod was Jobs's biggest game-changer (so far) at Apple.
Not only did Steve dominate one industry -- portable music players -- but he helped totally shake up another -- the music business.
Steve and Bono
Steve isn't just friends and product partners with U2 frontman Bono.
He also sold him an apartment in the star-studded San Remo co-op building on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
'Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.'
Perhaps Steve's most famous speech was his Stanford Commencement speech in 2005.
He talked about his life as a college dropout, his entrepreneurship, and his battle with cancer.
He ended with a quote from the last edition of The Whole Earth Catalog: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."
Here's the video:
Paul Otellini's Bunny Suit
One of Steve's greatest coups: Getting Intel CEO Paul Otellini to walk out on stage at Macworld 2006 in an Intel "bunny suit."
That's when Steve announced that Apple was switching its product line over to Intel chips.
The iPhone, 2007
Steve's best product showmanship at Apple came in January, 2007, when he unveiled the iPhone.
Perhaps the best part is when he prank called a Starbucks while showing off the phone's Maps app. "I'd like to order 4,000 lattes to go, please. No, just kidding -- wrong number."
Here's a video (part one) of Steve unveiling the iPhone.
Steve's 2009 medical leave and return
Jobs took a medical leave in 2009, and received a liver transplant in Memphis. Last year, he spoke out in favor of a bill that could boost organ donation in his home state of California.
The iPad
In January, 2010, Jobs unveiled the iPad, an inexpensive tablet computer. It blew past peoples' wildest expectations, with almost 15 million sold last year.
Earlier this year, Jobs stepped down again for health reasons.
Dan Frommer, Business Insider
Dinner with President Obama
Flickr/White House
Last week, Jobs and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg got to sit next to President Obama at dinner in Silicon Valley. Sweet!
Happy birthday, Steve. Feel better!
In one of his last acts as (non-acting) CEO, he presented some amazing plans for a new headquarters building.
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Hiten A. Raja
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Hiten@HitenRaja.com
Most people think of success and failure as opposites, but they both are products of the same process.
Capitalism is Man Exploiting Man; Communism is just the opposite.
Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.
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