Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Steve Jobs Shuts Down

Roughly six weeks after resigning as Apple Computer's CEO, Steve Jobs died today at 56. Wired magazine's obituary did a good job of describing his impact on the computer industry:
A visionary inventor and entrepreneur, it would be impossible to overstate Steve Jobs’ impact on technology and how we use it. Apple’s mercurial, mysterious leader did more than reshape his entire industry: he completely changed how we interact with technology. He made gadgets easy to use, gorgeous to behold and essential to own. He made things we absolutely wanted, long before we even knew we wanted them. Jobs’ utter dedication to how people think, touch, feel and interact with machines dictated even the smallest detail of the computers Apple built and the software it wrote.

Steve Jobs, 1955 – 2011
The Mac, originally known as the Macintosh, the iPod, iPad, and iPhone weren't revolutionary because of the technology they used. They were revolutionary because they were packaged so well. The devices he helped inspire were easier to use and more stylish than the competition's.

Few have had more of an impact on the industry. It's open to question how long Apple can survive without him.


2 comments:

Unknown said...

He also created 'the mouse' right?

When they fired him,years ago,they sunk..so your question is a valid one I feel.

Cujo359 said...

No, he didn't. That, among many other things that we now associate with graphical user interfaces (GUIs), was originated by the Xerox PARC, back in the 1970s.

Like I said, what Jobs brought to the computer industry was a prodigious talent for packaging computer systems, making them easy for ordinary folks to operate. Apple tamed the PARC GUI, made its behavior consistent and logical to people who aren't used to computers, and presented it all in an elegantly designed machine.

Doing that took smarts, vision, and quite a bit of determination.