Jobs anecdotes and deeds

The birth of Apple

On February 24, 1955, Steve Jobs

Early photos of Steve Jobs (23 photos) Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco, USA. When he was just born, he was abandoned by his father, who worked in a restaurant in San Francisco, and his mother, a chic bartender. Fortunately, a kind-hearted couple took him in. Although he is an adopted son, his adoptive parents treat him very well, just like their own children. As a student, Jobs was smart, naughty, and unscrupulous. He often liked to pull out some ingenious and ridiculous pranks. However, his academic performance is very outstanding. At that time, Jobs lived near what became known as "Silicon Valley", and his neighbors were all employees of Hewlett-Packard, the founder of "Silicon Valley". Under the influence of these people, Jobs was obsessed with electronics since he was a child. An HP engineer saw his obsession and recommended him to join HP's "Discoverers Club." This is a party for young engineers held every Tuesday evening in the company cafeteria. It was at a party that Jobs saw a computer for the first time, and he began to have a vague understanding of computers. When he was in junior high school (1976), Jobs met Steve Wozniak at a class reunion, and the two hit it off. Steve Wozniak is the president of the school's electronics club and has a great interest in electronics. At the age of 19, Jobs dropped out of school due to financial reasons after only one semester and became an employee of Atari Video Game Console Company. I stayed in the garage of a friend's house (Woz's house) and often went to community colleges to audit calligraphy classes and other courses. In 1974, he made money to go to India for spiritual practice, but suffered so much that he had to return to Atari and work as an engineer. After settling down, Jobs continued his youthful interests, often working on computers with Wozniak in his small garage. They dreamed of owning their own computer, but at that time all commercial computers on the market were bulky and extremely expensive, so they planned to develop their own. A microprocessor was necessary to build a personal computer, but the 8080 chip retailed for $270 at the time and was not sold to individuals. The two were not discouraged and continued to search, and finally bought the 6502 chip produced by Motorola, which featured young Steve Jobs and Bill Gates at the 1976 Wisconsin Computer Products Show in San Francisco. It's almost the same as Intel's 8080, but costs only $20. Armed with the 6502 chip, the two ecstatic young men returned to Jobs's garage and started their own great innovation. They designed a circuit board, mounted the 6502 microprocessor and interfaces and other components on it, and connected the microprocessor to the keyboard and video monitor through the interfaces. In just a few weeks, the computer was installed. Jobs’s friends were shocked, but they didn’t realize how much impact this humble thing would have on the world in the future. But the shrewd Jobs immediately estimated the market value of such a computer. In order to raise funds for mass production, he sold his Volkswagen car, and Woz also sold his cherished HP Model 65 calculator. In this way, they had 1,300 US dollars to lay the foundation for their great undertaking. On April 1, 1976[5], Jobs, Woz and Jobs’ friend Long Wayne did something that would affect future generations: the three of them signed a contract and decided to establish a computer company . Subsequently, 21-year-old Jobs and 26-year-old Steve Wozniak founded Apple in their garage. [6] The name of the company was decided by Jobs, who favored Apple - called Apple. What became popular later was the famous trademark - an apple with a bite. And their homemade computer was naturally regarded as the "Apple I" computer.

Early development

But at the beginning, the business of "Apple" machines was very light. After all, it was a brand new thing. Except for people who are interested in electronics, who knew What use does this thing have for Steve Jobs (left)? Friends who were originally interested in the "Apple One" are now taking a wait-and-see attitude, waiting for the release of the better "Apple II". An accidental opportunity brought a turning point for "Apple" company. In July 1976, retailer Paul Jay Terrell came to Jobs's garage. After watching Jobs skillfully demonstrate the computer, he believed that the "Apple" machine had a great future and decided to take a risk-order 50 complete machines were required, but they were required to be delivered within one month. Jobs was overjoyed and immediately signed the contract and made a deal. This was the first "big business" he had ever made. The time was too short and the tasks were heavy. Jobs and Woz braved the scorching heat and worked day and night. They risked their lives for the survival of the company. They spend almost every day sweating and fighting tenaciously, working 66 hours a week. Finally, on the 29th day, they miraculously completed the task and handed over all 50 "Apple" computers to the businessman Terrell. The 50 complete machines were quickly sold out in Terrell's hands, and it was off to a good start. "Apple" company became famous. Small batch production started. Jobs and Woz began to realize that their small capital was simply not enough to cope with this rapid development. Jobs later recalled: "About the fall of 1976, I found that the market was growing faster than we thought, and we needed more money." To this end, they split up to find financial support, including Hewlett-Packard, the company where Woz worked, Unfortunately, none of these companies realized the business opportunities and markets contained therein. Opportunities tend to favor those who work hard. In October 1976, millionaire Marcula came to visit Woz and their garage workshop. Markula is a trained electrical engineer and is very good at sales work. He is known as a sales wizard. Because he made a fortune in the stock business, he chose the Steve Jobs life of retirement very early. But seeing the new products of these two young people, Markkula was determined to return to his old business and help them start the company with great fanfare. He took the initiative to help them develop a business plan and gave them a loan of $690,000, linking his destiny with the two young men. With the guidance of an expert like Markkula and this huge sum of money, the development speed of "Apple" has been greatly accelerated. In April 1977, the first computer expo in the history of the United States opened on the West Coast. In order to make a name for himself at the exhibition, Jobs traveled around and spent a lot of money to get the biggest and best booth at the exhibition. Of course, the more eye-catching one is the Apple II prototype. It changed the past image of personal computers that were heavy, cumbersome, complex in design, and difficult to operate. It firmly grasped the market with its distinctive features of being small, lightweight, easy to operate, and can be placed at home. the hearts of the audience. It weighs only 12 pounds, is assembled with only 10 screws, and has a beautiful plastic shell that looks like a beautiful typewriter. People couldn't believe that this little machine could continuously display spectacular kaleidoscope-like colors on a large fluorescent screen. The "Apple II" machine was a blockbuster at the exhibition. Thousands of users flocked to the booth to watch, Trial, orders are coming in one after another. In 1980, a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal read, "Apple Computer is the Bicycle of Mankind in the 21st Century" and featured a huge photo of Jobs. On December 12, 1980, Apple's stock went public. In less than an hour, all 4.6 million shares were sold out, closing at $29 per share that day. Based on this closing price, Apple's top executives have produced 4 billionaires and more than 40 millionaires. Steve Jobs, as the founder of the company, is of course number one. In 1983, Lisa Database and Apple Iie were released, priced at US$9,998 and US$1,395 respectively. Apple became the fastest growing company in history.

However, the release of Lisa heralded the decline of Apple. There was not much market for a computer that was unrealistic and even considered expensive by Americans, and Lisa misappropriated a large amount of Apple's R&D funds. It can be said that the rise of Apple was the beginning of its decline. Steve Jobs

[7] Because of his huge success, Jobs received the National Medal of Technology awarded by President Reagan in 1985. However, success comes too quickly, and behind too many honors is a strong crisis. Because Jobs' business philosophy was different from that of most managers at the time, and the blue giant IBM also began to wake up and launched personal computers to seize a large market, the computers developed by Jobs failed miserably. The general manager and directors They blamed this failure on Chairman Jobs, and in April 1985, the board of directors passed a resolution to revoke his management power. After several unsuccessful attempts to regain power, Jobs resigned as chairman of Apple on September 17, 1985. Steve's departure made him more aware of his mistakes, absorbed lessons, and prepared him to return to Apple and save it. A few days after resigning, Jobs founded the "NeXT" computer company and continued to start his business. Career journey.

Independence Period

In 1986, he spent $10 million to acquire Lucasfilm’s computer animation effects studio in Emeryville, California, from George Lucas and established the independent company Pixar. animation studio. In the next ten years, the company became a well-known 3D computer animation company, and in 1995 launched the world's first fully 3D animated film "Toy Story". The company was acquired by Disney in 2006, and Jobs became the largest shareholder.

Return to Apple

On December 17, 1996, almost every major computer newspaper in the world published the news "Apple acquires Next, Steve Jobs returns to Apple" on the front page. At this time, Steve Jobs's "outfit"

Scott was becoming famous because his company (now Pixar) successfully produced the first computer cartoon "Toy Story", and his personal worth had soared by more than 10%. billion; in contrast, Apple is on the verge of extinction. Jobs returned from Apple's crisis, and everyone at Apple was very happy. Even former CEO Amelio said in his welcome speech to welcome Jobs: "We welcome the return of our greatest genius with the most solemn ceremony. We believe that he will make the world believe that Apple computers are forever in the information industry." Innovator." Jobs returned to his hometown with the dream of "big business" in mind. He said to the followers of Apple Computer: "I have always been deeply passionate about Apple, and I feel very honored to be able to design a blueprint for Apple's future again." This former hero finally returned under the expectations of the public!

Reform period

Assigned at a time of crisis

The charm of Jobs (30 photos), Jobs boldly exerted his authority as CEO and carried out drastic reforms . He first reorganized the board of directors, and then did something jaw-dropping: he put aside old grudges, shook hands with Apple's old enemy Microsoft, and concluded the world-famous "Alliance of the Century" to achieve a comprehensive strategic crossover. Licensing Agreement. As a result, Jobs once again became the cover star of Time magazine. Then, he began to introduce new computers. In 1998, iMac was presented to the world with the hopes of Apple, the sweat of its employees, and Jobs’ dream of revitalizing Apple. It is a brand new computer that represents a future concept. The translucent exterior eliminates the monotony of gray-brown computers and looks like a product of the space age. The illuminated mouse and the price tag of US$1,299 are pleasing to the eye... It is indeed an Apple design, unconventional and extraordinary. For publicity, Jobs turned Descartes' famous saying "I think, therefore I am" into iMac's advertising copy I think, therefore iMac! This became a classic case in the advertising industry. The new product reignited the hopes of Macintosh fans.

What they had been waiting for for three years appeared, and the iMac became the hottest topic of the year. In December 1998, iMac won the title of "Best Computer of 1998" by Time magazine and ranked third among the "Top Ten Industrial Designs in the World in 1998". Jobs

In 1999, Jobs launched the second-generation iMac, which was available in five fruit colors: red, yellow, blue, green, and purple. It was warmly welcomed by users as soon as it was launched. Launched in July 1999, the iBook, a laptop computer with a blue and yellow appearance that looks like a beautiful toy, was immediately popular among users in the market. iBook combines the unique fashion style of iMac, the latest wireless network function (WLAN) and all the advantages of Apple Computer in the field of portable computers. It is a "mobile iMac" specially designed for home and school users. In October 1999, iBook won the first place in the "U.S. consumer portable computer" market, and also won the "Best Design Award of the Year" in the "1999 World's Best" selection held by Time magazine. Under Jobs’ reforms, Apple finally became profitable. When Jobs first took office, Apple's losses were as high as US$1 billion, but a year later it miraculously made a profit of US$309 million. In January 1999, when Jobs announced fourth-quarter profit of US$152 million, exceeding Wall Street's forecast38, Apple's stock price immediately climbed, finally closing at US$4.65 per share, and public opinion was in an uproar. Apple Computer's share of the PC market has increased from 5 to 10. In 1997, Jobs was named the "most successful manager". More and more industry colleagues agree with this view. Even Sculley, who pushed Jobs out of Apple, couldn't help but admire: "Apple's reversal is not a scam. Jobs did an absolutely outstanding job. Apple has begun to return to its original track." But Apple can no longer restore its position in the general computer competition. 's defeat. Steve Jobs became a miracle, but this miracle will continue. He always surprises people, whether at the beginning or later. His genius computer talent, approachable style of life, wonderful creative mind, great goals, and calm leadership style have formed the core content of Apple's corporate culture. Apple employees' reverence for him is nothing short of religious. Employees even say to outsiders: I work for Jobs! In 2003, people predicted that Jobs would appear on the cover of Time magazine for the third time.