Steve Jobs: An Apple era comes to an end

Reema Sharma The real opportunity for success lies within the person and not in the job. If someone is to define Steve Job, the above lines would be the most appropriate.

After Fourteen years of command over the iconic Apple Inc, Steve Jobs has finally decided to leave the boardroom of the US’ largest computing firm. The career and life of Steve Jobs is nothing less than a Bollywood movie. Known as a doyen of the world of computing, this college dropout started Apple Computer with friend Steve Wozniak in the Jobs family garage in Silicon Valley in the late 1970s. Jobs, a Buddhist and a son of adoptive parents, soon introduced the Apple 1 computer. Although he didn’t taste much success, his Apple II became a runaway success followed by an IPO in 1980 that made him a multimillionaire. The sweet tale turned a little sour later with rival IBM launching its range of personal computers. Things became more serious when partner Wozniak got injured in a plane crash. And then the real twist of tales followed. Steve jobs convinced Pepsi-Cola’s head honcho John Sculley to join Apple. The same Sculley later threw Jobs out of Apple. Eventually Apple`s rags to riches story took a detour after Jobs’ ouster. It became even worse after the company delivered a slew of flops. Sculley was later ousted and much later Apple re-united with its former co-founder Steve Jobs. After his comeback, Jobs introduced the iPod portable music player, iPhone and ipad, thereby revolutionizing the entire computing and the cellular phone business. But a pall of gloom descended over Apple fans when in 2003, Jobs was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. His exit from Apple follows years of health struggles. Therefore his resignation was more a question of “when” than “if”. The beauty of Steve Jobs lies in being a true visionary and his creative urge to push the boundaries of technology. Unlike other CEOs, Jobs is a total hand drawn guy who would like to lead from the front. The resignation of Jobs has opened the door for rival Samsung Electronics which has been for a long time trying to unseat Apple in the battle for smartphone supremacy. Both the companies being fierce rivals, it will become easier for Samsung to take on Apple`s game-changing iPhones and iPads. For many Apple fans Steve Jobs is Apple and Apple is Steve Jobs. With his resignation Apple might lose its cutting edge. Jobs was integral to Apple who drove the company single handedly. It would also be very hard to accept Jobs’ replacement— whoever he is, however brilliant he is— he is not Steve Jobs. Moreover it cannot be also denied that innovation is not only about making money. It is driven by idea which is genuine and at the same time very nebulous. All the dexterous management gurus can find out ways to mint money but novelty of idea is not everyone’s cup of tea. Steve Jobs’ resignation has created a huge vacuum and has raised question mark on future innovation. Jobs passed the reins to his right-hand man and the company’s number 2. Tim Cook. It must be very intimidating for Cook as he now has big shoes to fill. Cook has this toughest job in the IT industry— to match up to Steve Jobs level. The resignation of Steve Jobs marks the end of an era not only for Apple but for the entire IT industry.