What did Steve Jobs accomplish in his life??
Well if I were to try to some up a list of those accomplishments, and elaborate on what led to the great feats that Jobs was able to achieve throughout the course of his life, it would take me close to as much time and publishing space as the great biographer Walter Isaacson who had the wonderful privilege of documenting the life of the greatest innovator of our time.
See to me there is a disparity between innovators and inventors. Often throughout history there were great inventors, phenomenal engineering minds who lacked the social aptitude to promote and visualize the business potential of their inventions. This happened many times throughout history including with such great “inventors” as Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison. And even in a modern comparison, aside from Jobs, you could make the argument for Bill Gates. However Gates belongs alongside the Graham Bell’s and the Edison’s who although were incredibly intelligent men, they understood that it wasn’t who invented the product, it was who patented it and brought it to market.
Steve Jobs learned this lesson in his early business career with his early business dealing with Bill Gates, and was still fighting the battle with Google and the Android operating system. But Jobs, and his innovation protégé had the foresight to innovate products that would change the world by altering the lives of people throughout the globe for the better. Through his “1984” commercial he was able to brand Apple as the “different” company because after he learned what Bill Gates and Microsoft were up to, he knew that they were the real “enemy”, not IBM. But he also that Bill Gates in the long run would not be able to keep up because he wasn’t innovative, he merely try to adapt on existing products.
This is why I am glad that Steve Jobs was able to live until the time he died last month. Mr. Jobs was ahead of his time as a visionary back in the early 80’s. He didn’t have very much engineering knowledge, but he had visionary savvy. He knew what the consumer would want, and how it would change the world. He single handedly turned three industries on their heads; cell phones, music, and the table computing industries, and they will never look back. He created these products that spawned a revolution of branch off social networking tools, and has allowed the internet to integrate seamlessly in the palm of your hand.
How did Steve Jobs change my life? Well let’s see as I sit here on my computer listening to itunes while watching Paxar’s “Cars 2” I can only help but think that Steve Jobs, whether we like it or not, has changed all of our lives. He’s allowed us to believe that anything is possible with the right engineering, savvy, intelligence, and will power. He is an American Icon, a shroud businessman, and a relentless, cocky pitchman; all of which have led us to believe in Apple because Steve Jobs himself gave his entire life for us.
