Today, Steve Jobs would have turned 70. Although he passed away 14 years ago, he managed to leave a significant contribution to the development of technology and design. Remembering him in his post on the X platform, Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote: "Steve saw the world not just as it was, but as it could be. His vision continues to inspire us to push boundaries and create the future." I also decided to remember what devices and technologies the modern world owes to Steve Jobs.
Let me start with a little background. In 1976, Steve Jobs, along with his friend Steve Wozniak and business partner Ronald Wayne, founded the Apple Computer Company (now known as Apple Inc.).
They started from humble beginnings – in a garage, where Wozniak assembled the Apple I almost by hand. However, the Apple I and later the Apple II became real breakthroughs of their time, ushering in the era of personal computers.
In 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh, which showed the world that a graphical interface and mouse manipulation could be convenient and intuitive. This marked a departure from the traditional text-based interface and gave impetus to the development of operating systems focused on the end user. Thanks to its convenience and clarity, the Macintosh became one of the symbols of technological innovation of the 80s, and the image advertisement "1984" remains on the list of the most famous commercials of all time.
However, the rapid rise was accompanied by internal conflicts. In 1985, Jobs left Apple due to differences of opinion on the company's development strategy.
After leaving Apple, Steve Jobs founded NeXT Inc., where he continued to implement ideas about revolutionary computing systems and software. NeXT computers were distinguished by advanced technology and sophisticated design, but they were too expensive for the general market. However, it was on the basis of NeXT software solutions that key components of Apple's operating system, macOS, were later developed.
In 1997, Apple acquired NeXT, and Jobs returned to the company he had founded. His return marked the beginning of a new phase in Apple's history: from a computer manufacturer on the verge of bankruptcy, the company turned into a global technology giant with multi-billion dollar revenues. Subsequent developments by Apple allowed the company to establish itself and become a leader in several industries at once.
iPod (2001)
Starting in 2001, Apple, under Jobs' leadership, began to do what would later be called "disruptive innovation" in the startup era, that is, the release of a product or service that completely changes the market. It was the iPod that became the first such product that forever changed the way users listened to music on the go. Thanks to it, the iTunes ecosystem appeared, which later grew into a huge digital store and became a catalyst for changes in the entire music industry.
iPhone (2007)
In 2007, Apple introduced the iPhone, which effectively ushered in the era of smartphones. It combined a phone, music player, and web browser into one, and also offered a fundamentally new control system based on a capacitive touchscreen. Before the iPhone, touchscreen phones weren't anything fancy, but they either used resistive displays that required effort to press, or had an awkward interface. Apple developed a completely new UI for the iPhone and introduced Multi-Touch technology, which allowed the display to recognize multiple taps at the same time. For the first time in history, users could zoom in on a photo in the gallery by simply spreading it apart with two fingers. Now this sounds quite commonplace, but in 2007 it was a real revolution! Apple's patents prevented other manufacturers from creating a system like Multi-Touch for a long time.
App Store (2008)
One of the key drivers of the iPhone’s success was the App Store, launched in 2008. It opened up a wide range of opportunities for software developers from around the world, who could easily offer their applications to millions of users. It revolutionized the way mobile applications were distributed and monetized. Unlike today’s App Store, where developers try to trick users into paying for monthly, or preferably annual, subscriptions, most apps initially cost $0.99. But it still made millions of dollars for the early developers.
iPad (2010)
Another step towards change was the appearance of the iPad tablet, which Jobs introduced in 2010. Tablets had existed before, but it was the iPad that showed how convenient it was to consume content, work, or play using a large touch screen and the same applications from the App Store. The iPad quickly occupied a niche between laptops and smartphones, which helped Apple become a leader in this segment as well.
However, Steve Jobs's activities were not limited to the field of electronics. In 1986, he acquired the computer graphics division of George Lucas and turned it into the Pixar studio. It was Pixar that released the first full-length animated film created entirely with the help of computer graphics, Toy Story (1995).
This cartoon and the studio's subsequent works, such as Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Up, brought Pixar worldwide recognition and numerous awards, including Academy Awards. The company set new standards of quality in animation, and Jobs became one of Hollywood's most successful entrepreneurs, later selling Pixar to the Walt Disney Company in 2006 for $7.4 billion.
It is worth mentioning that Steve Jobs was known for his fanatical attention to design and detail. He was interested in everything from product packaging to the fonts used in the operating system. He often repeated the idea that "design is not just how something looks. Design is how it works."
There is a famous story about how, during the development of the Macintosh, Jobs demanded that the internal boards look as aesthetically pleasing as the external case. Some might have pointed out that no one would see the boards anyway, but for Steve this was not a reason for compromise. In his opinion, true masters should leave their "handwriting" even where, it would seem, no one would look.
Vic Gundotra, a former Google executive, told a funny story about a time when Jobs called him on a Sunday morning. At first, Gundotra was worried that something major had happened, perhaps a critical problem with the iPhone. But it turned out that Steve wasn’t happy with… the shade of yellow in the Google logo on the iOS icon. Jobs thought that this yellow “didn’t fit” with the style of the system and suggested that Gundotra fix it. While this might seem like a small thing to many, for Jobs, this “little thing” was important, because, in his opinion, even the smallest detail affects the overall perception of a product.
During the development of the first iMacs (late 90s), Jobs and designer Jony Ive experimented with transparent plastic and various body colors. The process of choosing the Bondi Blue shade (the first "branded" turquoise version of the iMac G3) was accompanied by dozens, if not hundreds of prototypes with minimal changes. Steve was sure that the color should cause a "wow effect" in people and be recognizable at first glance. Having settled on the right option, Apple then exploited this design concept in various products for years.
Another important aspect of Jobs' approach was the idea of the intersection of technology and the humanities. He emphasized that the best solutions arise when technological advances are combined with knowledge of the needs, dreams, and habits of users. This helped Apple enrich the industry with products that were not only technically perfect, but also often emotionally appealing.
Steve Jobs died on October 5, 2011, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. His passing came as a shock to the tech world and millions of Apple fans. However, Jobs' influence on our culture and worldview has not diminished even after his death. Today's technology products—from wearables to smart home devices—continue to use the approaches and principles he laid down.