Steve Jobs.
With his semi-surprising death yesterday at just 56 years of age, the tech and business worlds raced to issue the most gushing of platitudes for the man who co-founded Apple Inc. in 1976, then eventually used it to create groundbreaking gadgets that are now as ubiquitous to consumers as stethoscopes are to doctors.
What I most admire about Jobs is his think-outside-the-box sensibilities and relentless drive to live the life he wanted. During a famous commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005, he eloquently articulated the importance of living life to the fullest and doing things on one's own terms to the graduating class that year. He was always that maverick who didn't conform, but who ultimately made others conform.
That's part of his brilliance.
It speaks to his phenomenal resilience that he was able to rebound from the depths of supposed failure in the mid-1980's (when he was ousted from his own company) to return a decade later as an even more impressive technological mastermind and a peerless innovator. He began his re-ascension as one of the creative forces behind Pixar animation. Then, beginning in 1998, he began redefining the personal computer landscape with a new design philosophy for his Mac computers. The iPod arrived in 2001 and completely dominated the portable music landscape. From there, Jobs helmed one brilliant product or service after another; iTunes, the iPhone and last year, the iPad. Suddenly, owning an Apple product carried a serious status as hip, cool and very stylish.
He made Microsoft and its leader, Bill Gates look antiquated by comparison.
I rank Steve Jobs high on the list of great entrepreneurs who changed the world forever for the better. From Thomas Edison and Henry Ford to John Rockefeller and Sam Walton, the man's legacy of achievement can never be overstated. He was truly one of a kind.
Thanks, Steve.
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