Today: Steve Jobs, Inventor, Entrepreneur and Artist
He was our generation's Henry Ford with a touch of Thomas Edison and Pablo Picasso thrown in.
Steve Jobs didn't just start Apple computers. He didn't just revolutionize the home computer. He created a whole new work environment. He opened up new worlds for the everyday citizens and provided them with an electronic universe they could tap into from an ordinary desk in a modest den in their home.
Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco in 1955, smack in the middle of the Baby Boom. He was given up for adoption and raised by his adoptive parents in what would later be known as Silicon Valley.
He spent only one semester in college, although he dropped in on classes for another 18 months at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. One of those courses was calligraphy, which would play a role in his business life.
Jobs worked at low-level positions at Hewlett Packard and Atari. His life at age 20 was not really the stuff of legends.
When he was 21, he co-founded Apple Computers with Steve Wozniak. By the time Jobs died of cancer earlier this month, Apple had surpassed ExxonMobil as the world's most valuable company.
Jobs was not an easy person to work for. He could be demanding, relentless and unsympathetic.
But he had qualities that put him far above almost everybody in his generation. Qualities that led him to be a transformative figure during his relatively short life.
Jobs was certainly an inventor. Much like Edison, he saw things differently than most people. He could think beyond the obvious and imagine what most others couldn't fathom.
Jobs was confident in his vision. He didn't need input and he didn't seek it. His view of what was to come was never watered down by consultants or committees.
That would have been great enough, but Jobs was more than an inventor. He also had an entrepreneurial side much akin to Ford. The automaker's greatest gift was his utilization of the assembly line in the early 20th century, so cars could become affordable to everyday Americans.
Jobs did much the same with the home computer. He made the boxy, complicated machines of the 1970s easy to understand and fun to use. The Apple II in 1977 was just the start. The MacIntosh, introduced in 1984, was the beginning of a revolution.
Jobs had great instincts. He knew the original Mac had flaws, so while the rest of the world was racing to catch up, he plowed ahead. He kept improving his machines and he did something unusual, and somewhat risky, for the computer world. He didn't allow his Apples to interface with other computers.
He created a separate world from the "p-c's." If you had an Apple, you had to use Apple software and Apple products. This closed-circuit world worked. He created a community that wasn't infected by the outside world.
This pattern continued until his death. You see it in the iPhone and with iTunes. Same with the iMacs. You even see it at Pixar, the company he developed when he was persona non gratis at Apple.
Cutting edge. User friendly. Highly functioning. Those characteristics are found in all his products.
However, there was one more element that led to Jobs' success. One that is sometimes overlooked.
Steve Jobs was also an artist. His products not only work well. They are beautiful.
Hold up an iPhone, open up an iMac laptop or turn on an iPad and people go "oooooh." They are cool and they are sleek.
Jobs added streamlining to computers. He splashed in color. He even used that calligraphy class on his computer's fonts and their keyboards.
You can go on and on. How Jobs revolutionized the music industry with the iPod. How he turned the mobile device world on its ear with the iPhone.
Steve Jobs allowed people to carry all the entertainment and information they need in the palm of their hand. He changed the way we work and live.
When you watch a movie on a hand-held device, you can thank Steve Jobs. When your bosses allow you to work from home, you can thank Steve Jobs.
It is sad that he died at the age of 56. He had so much more to offer, so much more to bring us.
He was a blazing star in our generation and we won't see the likes of him again in our lifetime.
