Steve Jobs was born in 1955, an era where computers were the size of entire rooms and rotary phones were all the rage. He died October 5, 2011 after helping to create an era where computers were portable and phones had computers inside.
Jobs co-founded Apple Computer, Inc. in 1976 with his childhood friend Steve Wozniak, forever changing the way students study, communicate, and relax. The Apple II was the first successful computer to ever hit the market and since then, Apple products have become essential to student life.
IPads, iPhones, iPods, and iMacs are must haves for any students. Even those students who aren’t quite as Apple loving as the rest of the world have some version of a product that was once engineered by Apple. The ideas of Jobs and his company have not only forever changed the technology people own, but also how companies design products.
Apple won the fight for the consumer by providing user-friendly products that needed little technological support. The products looked cool in your pocket or backpack and, most importantly to students, the products worked well. Without Apple products students might still be relying on the Stone Age method of paper and pencil note taking.
Jobs, now ranked with Edison and Ford, faced challenges growing up. Shortly after his birth he was adopted. After high school Jobs attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, but dropped out after only one semester. In his 2005 Stanford University commencement speech Jobs said,
“I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5 cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple.”
Later in life Jobs struggled with disease. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004.
Yet, somehow, Jobs overcame it all and created one of the most successful modern companies.
“Steve Jobs is one of the most inspirational individuals of our time,” said sophomore Alex McKeighan, “and now that he is dead everyone is freaking out because his products and marketing were so good.”
Senior AJ Harrison was one of the first to hear about the death of Jobs. He announced the death on his radio talk show, “The Sports Network,” shortly after Jobs had passed.
“I just found it somewhat crazy that the night before in my Leadership 50 class we watched his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford,” said Harrison. Job’s legacy of innovation and leadership will continue to inspire generations to come.
“I don’t think anyone will ever forget Steve Jobs,” said Harrison.
