The Story of Jobs and Apple

Steve? Jobs (February 24, 1955-October 5, 211) was born in San Francisco, USA, and was the co-founder of Apple. In 1976, Jobs and his friend "Stephen Gary Wozniak" founded Apple Computer Company. In 1985, he left Apple and established NeXT Company in the high-level power struggle of Apple. In 1997, he returned to Apple to take over as CEO. On August 24, 211, he resigned as CEO of Apple Company and died of pancreatic cancer on October 5, 211. Jobs made Apple products lead the global technology trend. On August 21, 212, Apple became the world's first listed company with a market value of 623.5 billion US dollars.

Apple was born:

On February 24th, 1955, Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco. Just born, he was abandoned by his father who worked in a restaurant in San Francisco and his mother who was a chic bartender. Fortunately, a kind couple took him in.

Although he is an adopted son, his adoptive parents are kind to him, just like parents and children. When he was a student, Jobs was smart, naughty and unscrupulous, and he often liked to make some ridiculous pranks. However, his academic achievement as Steve Jobs was outstanding.

At that time, Jobs lived near the later famous "Silicon Valley", and his neighbors were all employees of Hewlett-Packard Company, a veteran of "Silicon Valley".

Under the influence of these people, Jobs was fascinated by electronics since he was a child. An HP engineer saw him so obsessed that he recommended him to join HP's "Discoverer Club". This is a party specially held for young engineers, which is held in the company's restaurant every Tuesday night. It was at a party that Jobs first saw the computer, and he began to have a hazy understanding of the computer.

When he was in junior high school (1976), Jobs met Steve Wozniak at a class reunion, and they hit it off immediately. Stephen wozniak is the president of the school electronic club, and he is very interested in electronics.

at the age of p>19, after only one semester, Jobs dropped out of school because of economic factors and became an employee of Atari Video Game Company. Borrow a friend's garage (Woz's) and often go to the community college to attend calligraphy classes and other courses. In 1974, he earned money and went to Indian spiritual practice, and suffered a lot, so he had to return to atari to become an engineer.

After settling down, Jobs continued his interest when he was young, and often worked with Wozniak on computers in his garage. They dreamed of owning a computer of their own, but at that time, everything sold in the market was commercial, huge and extremely expensive, so they were going to develop it themselves. It was necessary to make a personal computer with a microprocessor, but the retail price of the 88 chip at that time was $27, and it was not sold to individuals.

The two men kept searching, and finally bought the 652 chip produced by Motorola at the Wisconsin Computer Products Fair in San Francisco in 1976. The function was almost the same as that of the 88 of Intel, but the price was only $2.

With the 652 chip, two ecstatic young people returned to Jobs' garage and started their great innovation. They designed a circuit board, installed the 652 microprocessor, interface and other components on it, and connected the microprocessor with the keyboard and video display through the interface. In just a few weeks, the computer was installed.

Jobs's friends were shocked, but they didn't realize how much influence this ugly thing would bring to the future world. But the shrewd Jobs immediately estimated the market value of this kind of computer. In order to raise funds for mass production, he sold his Volkswagen car and Woz also sold his precious HP 65 calculator. In this way, they had $1,3 to lay the foundation for their great cause.

On April 1st, 1976, Jobs, Woz and Long Wayne, a friend of Jobs, did something that influenced future generations: they signed a contract and decided to set up a computer company. Subsequently, Jobs, 21, and stephen wozniak, 26, set up Apple in their garage. The name of the company was decided by Jobs, who preferred Apple-called Apple. Later, it was the famous trademark-an apple that was bitten by someone. And their home-made computer is naturally regarded as "Apple I" computer.

Early development:

An accidental opportunity brought a turning point to Apple.

In July p>1976, the retailer Paul Jay Terrell came to Jobs' garage. After watching Jobs skillfully demonstrate computers, he thought that the "Apple" machine had great prospects and decided to take a risk-ordering 5 complete machines, but demanding delivery within one month. Jobs was overjoyed and immediately signed the contract, which was the first "big deal".

The time was too short and the task was heavy. Jobs and Woz braved the heat and worked day and night. They threw caution to the wind for the survival of the company. They spend almost every day sweating and fighting hard, working 66 hours a week. Finally, on the 29th day, they miraculously completed the task and handed over all 5 "Apple" computers to the businessman Terrell.

5 complete machines were sold out in the hands of Terrell, which made a good start. "Apple" company gained a great reputation. 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 autumn of 1976, I found that the market grew faster than we thought, and we needed more money." To this end, they went to find financial support separately, including Hewlett-Packard, the company where Woz worked, but unfortunately, these companies didn't realize the business opportunities and markets contained in it.

opportunities often favor hard-working people. In October 1976, millionaire Markkula came to visit Woz and their garage workshop. Markkula is a well-trained electrical engineer, and he is very good at sales promotion, so he is called a sales wizard. Because he made a fortune in the stock business, he chose to retire early. But seeing the new products of these two young people, Markkula is determined to return to his old job and help them set up the company with great fanfare. He took the initiative to help them make a business plan and gave them a loan of $69,, linking his fate with two young people. With the guidance of an expert like Markkula and this huge sum of money, the development speed of "Apple" company has been greatly accelerated.

in April p>1977, the first computer exhibition ever held in the United States opened on the west coast. In order to make a name for himself at the exhibition, Jobs ran around and spent a lot of money to get the biggest and best booth at the exhibition. Of course, the Apple II prototype is more striking. It has changed the image of personal computers that are heavy, clumsy, complicated in design and difficult to operate in the past, and has captured the hearts of the audience with its distinctive features such as compactness, portability, simple operation and being able to be placed at home. It weighs only 12 pounds and is assembled with only 1 screws. The plastic shell is elegant and looks like a beautiful typewriter. People can't believe that this small machine can continuously display spectacular kaleidoscope-like colors on the big screen. The "Apple II" machine was a blockbuster at the exhibition, and thousands of users flocked to the booth to watch and try it out, and orders came in succession.

In p>198, a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal read "Apple Computer is the Bicycle of the 21st Century" and carried a huge photo of Jobs.

On December 12, 198, Apple's shares went public. In less than an hour, all 4.6 million shares were snapped up and closed at $29 per share that day. According to this closing price, Apple's top management has produced four billionaires and more than 4 millionaires. Jobs, as the founder of the company, of course ranked first.

in p>1983, Lisa database and Apple Iie were released, and the prices were $9,998 and $1,395 respectively. Apple became the fastest growing company in history. However, the release of Lisa indicates the decline of Apple. There is not much market for a computer that is unrealistic and even expensive for Americans, and Lisa has embezzled a lot of research and development funds from Apple. It can be said that the rise of Apple is the beginning of its decline.

Because of his great success, Jobs was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Steve Jobs of Reagan in 1985. However, success comes too fast, and there is a strong crisis behind too much honor.

Because Jobs' business philosophy was different from that of most managers at that time, and the blue giant IBM began to wake up, it also launched personal computers to seize a large market, which made Jobs' newly developed computers fail one after another. The general manager and directors blamed this failure on Chairman Jobs, and in April 1985, he was revoked his business power by a resolution of the board of directors. After several unsuccessful attempts to regain power, Jobs resigned as chairman of Apple in anger on September 17, 1985.

Steve's departure made him more aware of his mistakes, absorbed lessons, and prepared for returning to Apple and saving it in the future. A few days after his resignation, Jobs founded "NeXT" computer company and continued his career journey.

Independent period:

In p>1986, he bought Lucasfilm's computer animation studio in Emeryville, California from george lucas for $1 million, and set up an independent company, Pixar Animation Studio. In the next decade, the company became a well-known 3D computer animation company, and in 1995, it launched the world's first full 3D animated film Toy Story. This company was acquired by Disney in 26, and Jobs became the largest shareholder.

Return to Apple:

On December 17, 1996, almost all major computer newspapers and periodicals in the world published the news that "Apple bought Next and Jobs returned to Apple". At this time, Jobs became famous because his company (now Pixar) successfully produced the first computer animated film Toy Story, and his personal worth has soared by more than 1 billion dollars. In contrast, Apple is on the verge of despair. Steve Jobs returned from Apple's crisis, and the whole company was very happy. Even Ameglio, the former CEO, said in his welcome speech to Jobs: "We welcome our greatest genius back with the most solemn ceremony. We believe that he will convince the world that Apple Computer is an eternal innovator in the information industry." Jobs returned to his hometown, with the dream of "great cause" in his heart. He said to the followers of Apple Computer: "I have always been passionate about Apple, and I feel great honor to design a blueprint for Apple's future again." This former hero has finally returned under the popular expectation!

Reform period:

At the time of crisis, Jobs boldly exerted the authority of the CEO and carried out drastic reforms. He first reshuffled the board of directors, and then made a jaw-dropping event-abandoning old grievances, shaking hands with Apple's arch-enemy, Microsoft, and concluding the world-famous "Alliance of the Century" and reaching a strategic comprehensive cross-licensing agreement.

As a result, Jobs once again became the cover of Time magazine.

then, he began to introduce a new computer.

in p>1998, iMac was presented to the world with the hope of Apple, the sweat of its employees and Jobs' dream of revitalizing Apple. It is a brand-new computer, representing a future concept. The translucent exterior, the drab monotony of the computer, like the product of the space age, plus the glowing mouse and the price tag of $1,299, are pleasing to the eye ... It's really Apple's design, unique and extraordinary. [1]

For publicity, Jobs turned Descartes' famous saying "I think, therefore I am" into an advertising copy of iThink, there for iMac! This has become a classic case of advertising.

The new product rekindled the hope of Mac fans. Three years after Steve Jobs came, what they had been waiting for appeared, and iMac became the hottest topic of the year.

in December, 1998, iMac was awarded the title of "Best Computer in 1998" by Time magazine, and ranked third in "Top Ten Industrial Designs in the World in 1998".

In p>1999, Jobs introduced the second generation iMac, which was available in five fruit colors: red, yellow, blue, green and purple, and was warmly welcomed by users as soon as it came to the market.

iBook, a notebook computer with a blue and yellow appearance and a beautiful toy, was launched in July, 1999, and was immediately sought after by 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, and is a "mobile iMac" specially designed for home and school users.

in October 1999, iBook won the first place in the "American consumer portable computer" market, and also won the "Best Design Award of the Year" in the "Best in the World in 1999" selected by Time magazine.

Under the reform of Jobs, "Apple" finally made a profit. When Jobs first took office, Apple lost as much as $1 billion, but miraculously made a profit of $39 million a year later.

in January, 1999, when jobs announced a profit of $152 million in the fourth fiscal quarter, which was 38% higher than Wall Street's forecast, Apple's share price immediately climbed, and finally closed at $4.65 per share, causing public outcry. Apple's share in the PC market has increased from 5% to 1%.

In p>1997, Jobs was named "the most successful manager". More and more colleagues in the industry agree with this view. Even Sculley, who had pushed Jobs out of Apple, couldn't help admiring: "Apple's reversal is not a scam, and Jobs did an absolutely excellent job. Apple has begun to return to its original track. "

But Apple can't recover the defeat in the general computer competition.

Jobs became a miracle, but this miracle will continue. He always gives people constant surprises, whether at first or later, his genius for computers; An approachable life style; Wonderful creative brain; A great goal; The unflappable leadership style has built the core content of Apple's corporate culture, and Apple employees' reverence for him is simply a religious fanaticism.

employees even say to outsiders: I work for Jobs!

In p>23, it was predicted that Jobs would appear on the cover of Time magazine for the third time.

Announced resignation:

On August 24th, 211, Steve Jobs submitted his resignation application to Apple's board of directors. In his resignation letter, he also suggested that Tim Cook, the chief operating officer, take his place. Jobs said in his resignation letter that he could not continue to serve as an executive.