- Steve Jobs 1955-2011
Those outside the techno geek world could be forgiven if they’d never heard the name Steve Jobs. If you follow the trials and tribulations of the multimillionaire CEO world, you may have had an inkling however; if you happen to use social media and you didn’t know the name before today, you certainly will now…
For those not in the know, Steve Jobs was the co-founder of Apple Inc and the mastermind behind an empire of products that revolutionised computing, telephony and the music industry. There surely can’t be anyone left in the civilised world who hasn’t heard of the company’s products. Can there?
Their iTunes media management software is available in 19 languages and arguably the most popular of its genre in the world. At an Apple keynote presentation in 2009, it was announced that total cumulative sales of iPods exceeded 220 million. In addition, it is estimated that in excess of 108 million iPhones and 25 million iPads have also been sold so far.
In 2008, Apple Inc reported record revenue of US$9.6 billion and a record net quarterly profit of US$1.58 billion. 42% of Apple’s revenue for the First fiscal quarter of 2008 came from iPod sales, followed by 21% from notebook sales and 16% from desktop sales. In 2010 Apple Inc. surpassed Microsoft in market capitalization with an 84% increase to $153.3 billion, and also became the most valuable consumer-facing technology brand in the world (wikipedia).
A pretty impressive financial CV for any corporation you have to admit… Following the death of their ‘inspirational founder’ the Apple Inc website said;“Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius and the world has lost an amazing human being.”
That may be so however, despite his undoubted status as an inspirational icon for those aspiring to immense personal wealth, what else has he left us? Within the field of technology and consumer electronics, only Bill Gates of Microsoft compares. But perhaps Steve Jobs was more than just a clever businessman with a high degree of consumer savvy?
Irrespective of his financial and technical achievements, resulting in the mass outpourings of sympathy and sentiment since his untimely death, I care little about the tangible worth and innovations attributed to the man. Although my thoughts are with his bereaved family and friends at this sad time; I did find the following Jobs quotation inspiring. It was taken from his Commencement address delivered at Stanford University in June 2005, in my opinion it is one of his most prophetic…
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary…(Steve Jobs)
Although likely to have been offered up in the name of consumerism (fed by astute business acumen), technological and money-making aspects of the speech aside, it was probably the lifestyle implications of his words that actually struck a chord with me. Far too often people measure the worth of individuals upon their financial status and the materialistic things that they possess. They bury beliefs and principles in their aspirational race to achieve similar status. They are blinded by the physical assets and possessions of others and like sheep, they trot through life singing their own rendition of dedicated follower of fashion!
Take the quotation above and apply it to life in general. Care less about that which is fashionable, think for yourself and not the way you are directed by others (usually the media) and importantly, believe in yourself so that others may believe in you… I for one will be remembering Steve Jobs for some of his less materialistic words, what will you remember him for?
Related articles
- Steve Jobs: A Leader to Remember (epiphanysolutions.co.uk)
- Apple stock price falls on news of Steve Jobs’s death (guardian.co.uk)
- Steve Jobs ‘single-handedly’ created the digital music market (telegraph.co.uk)
- Josh Bowman: 10 Things I’ve Learned From Steve Jobs (huffingtonpost.ca)
Dave's Bankside Babble 
I don’t put much store in CEO hagiography. I’m fairly sure that PC and Apple architecture is technically poor and wins out through market dominance and the lack of ‘superhighway infrastructure’ using minimal terminals. Over hyped would be my thought on Jobs. I suspect both Apple and Microsoft have really succeeded owing to subsidies and arm-twisting from US government.
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As you put it “over hyped” is one of the points I tried to make but perhaps failed with. This OTT attitude now endemic in our society, is one of the major failings we constantly face… We tend to get all worked up about what in real terms is trivia and consequently, fail to notice that which is important to our very framework!
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I have to confess (as the worlds biggest technophobe), I believe that I am the only person in the country to have failed to pass the European computer driving licence test (twice). For God’s sake I wanted to type on it not steer it through the streets of Northallerton, so I suppose that technically I am driving this computer without a licence. More Brussels Bumph. I have never heard of Steve Jobs, and didn’t know that he had passed on. However what an awesome legacy to leave us (I refer to the above mentioned quote). Tattoo it on the arse of every scrounger and shyster that sucks our system dry and teach it (as rote) to the “Yoof” in school and maybe just maybe….. No sorry I think I was becoming idealistic there. But if it makes a difference to one young (or not so young) person, then not the money or inventions or multi billion dollar company that he left, will ensure that quote will be the perfect legacy. And God rest his soul. Slainte.
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