Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple is no more. He died on October 5, 2011 in pancreatic cancer at age of 56. But he left his legacy immortal. The beauty of Apple products provided Jobs a place in history, in the sphere of electronics design long before his death. Even before he died, he was one of the most influential figures of the last century. From Mac to digital animation, to the iDevices, he is in every man’s heart and house, today. The Mac, the iPod and iPhone, born out of his vision of marrying high technology to an elegant and simple form, are already recognised by designers as among the most iconic products of the digital age. The creations from Apple not only changed the way people communicate, watch films, listen to music and shop on the Internet but large

Early years:- Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco, US on February 24, 1955.  He was adopted by the family of Paul Jobs and Clara Jobs of California. He attended Cupertino Junior High School and Homestead High School in California. During his school days, he worked with Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple as a summer employee at the hp (Hewlett-Packard) Company in California. In 1972, for graduation Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon; but he dropped out after only one semester. He was sleeping on the floor in friends’ rooms and getting weekly free meals at the local Hare Krishna temple.

In 1974, Jobs returned to California and took a job as a technician at Atari, a video game manufacturer company. His primary intent was to save money for a spiritual retreat to India. Jobs then traveled to India to visit the Neem Karoli Baba at his Kainchi Ashram with a Reed College friend in search of spiritual enlightenment. He returned back as a Buddhist with his head shaved and wearing traditional Indian clothing. He joined in his previous job at Atari and was given the task of creating a circuit board for the video games.

Founding of Apple Computer:- In 1976, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne founded Apple with a funding from A.C. Mike Markkula (Jr), a then-semi-retired Intel marketing manager and engineer. In 1984, Jobs introduced the Macintosh, which became the first commercially successful small computer with a graphical user interface. But in 1985, Jobs resigned from Apple after losing a power struggle with the board of directors.

Leaving Apple:- After leaving Apple, Jobs founded NeXT Computer in 1985 with $7 million. But in 1993, after having sold only 50,000 machines, NeXT transitioned fully to software development. 

Earlier in 1986, Jobs acquired the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm Ltd, which was spun off as Pixar Animation Studios. He remained the CEO until its acquisition by The Walt Disney Company in 2006. Consequently Jobs became Disney’s largest individual shareholder and a member of Disney’s Board of Directors.

Return to Apple:- NeXT was acquired by Apple in 1996. Hence Steve Jobs backed to the company he co-founded, and he served as its CEO from 1997 until August 2011, the day he voluntarily retired. Under Jobs’ guidance Apple introduced the iMac and other new products. Its sales increased significantly. With the introduction of the iPod portable music player, iTunes digital music software, and the iTunes Store, the company made forays into consumer electronics and music distribution. In 2007, Apple entered the cellular phone business with the introduction of the iPhone, a multi-touch display cell phone, which also included the features of an iPod and, with its own mobile browser, revolutionized the mobile browsing scene.

Jobs married to Laurene Powell in 1991. The couple has a son and two daughters. Forbes estimated his net wealth at $8.3 billion in 2010, making him the 42nd wealthiest American. In 2007, Jobs was named the most powerful person in business by Fortune Magazine. In 2009, Jobs was named the CEO of the decade by Fortune Magazine. In 2011, Jobs was ranked No.17 on Forbes: The World’s Most Powerful People.

On August 24, 2011, Jobs announced his resignation from his role as Apple’s CEO, but remained at the company as chairman of the company’s board. On October 5, 2011, Jobs died in California at age 56, seven years after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Even after his death, Steve Jobs is widely described as a legendary visionary, great pioneer and genius—perhaps one of the foremost in the field of business, innovation, and product design, and a man who had profoundly changed the face of the modern world. His death was widely mourned and considered a loss to the world by commentators across the globe.