Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs revolutionized the world of technology. As the CEO of Apple, he changed the way CEOs think. Not only did he push the company to out-perform and out-compete all other companies in the industry, he was more involved in his company than most CEOs. Jobs didn’t necessarily change the opinion of the public, but he changed the way we live today and changed the way CEOs and other company employees think about business.

When Steve Jobs passed recently, it struck the world. For days, his name was “trending” on Twitter and mass amounts of content were posted all over the internet. The public felt his loss and knew it would be devastating; the world of technology may never grow at such a fast pace. Even if a person was to not think about all of the things he did for Apple, for just a moment, the things he did for other companies was monumental. He did not purposefully help any competitors. However, everyone looked to Jobs as an industry standard. Dell, Windows, HP, etc, they all looked at Apple to be the company that they needed to keep up with. The iPod was developed; Microsoft soon made the Zune. The iPhone was developed; Verizon scurried to release the Android. The iPad was next, followed by other company’s attempts at a tablet. Whatever Apple made, the rest of the industry knew they had to capitalize on the design, function and success of that product.

Jobs knew that innovation was the key. Being the first to introduce a product is great. But Jobs knew being better was more important than being first. A great example of this is the Palm Pilot. Palm Computing came out with one of the most forward thinking technologies to date. This device could electronically hold notes, contact information, had backlight, had RAM memory, could sync with your computer, and a list of things that were almost unimaginable before this. But where is the Palm Pilot today? The answer is no where significant. 10 years later, Apple released the iPhone. He was not the first to release a PDA, but by far the most successful. His patience and insistence on being the best is what keeps Apple running.

His ability to run a company as well as have such a presence and influence in the research and development side of a company was unheard of.  His knowledge and power seemed astronomical.

This video is a bit lengthy, but if you look at the initial reaction of people when Jobs announces the iPhone, it is amazing. People are more than excited to hear about his pitch. You can tell these employees truly believe in what Jobs says, does, believes in, and is working towards. He created such a positive atmosphere for his employees. His leadership skills were unmatched. The way he worked in the field and was so innovative, his employees had a great amount of respect for him.

He has single handedly changed the way we live today. As you see in the video (the pitch was less than 5 years ago), people are astounded by the thought of a phone, internet, and iPod on one device. Today, it’s hard to imagine a device with any less. Without Jobs pushing the envelope, developing new devices, new technologies, where would we be? What would Microsoft have developed; anything this innovative, this quickly? It’s hard to say, but I don’t think our world would be anywhere near the same. Now companies are trying to emulate the way Jobs did his job. He revolutionized our world, the technology world, and the business world. Without him, people today might be satisfied with a phone that only….makes phone calls.