Steve Jobs was a college dropout who built computers in his parents’ garage in the mid-1970s with a friend, Steve Wozniak.
They founded what is now Apple Inc. (AAPL) in 1976 to sell their creations. Apple, based in Cupertino, California, surpassed Microsoft Corp. in 2010 to become the world’s most valuable technology company.
A timeline of Jobs’s career follows:
Feb. 24, 1955: A boy is born in San Francisco to college graduate students Joanne Carole Schieble and Syrian immigrant Abdulfattah “John” Jandali. Jobs said in a 1997 New York Times Magazine article that he wouldn’t talk about his biological parents, citing privacy. He is adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs, who name him Steven Paul Jobs and raise him in the suburbs of Mountain View and Los Altos, California.
1972: Jobs graduates from Homestead High School, the Cupertino school that is also the alma mater of Wozniak, his future business partner. Jobs enrolls at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and drops out after one semester. “The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting,” he said during a June 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University.
1974: Jobs returns to California and works as a designer at Atari Corp., the video-game company. He later travels to India in search of spiritual enlightenment.
1975: Jobs and Wozniak hang out at Homebrew Computer Club, an informal gathering of engineers and hobbyists who swap parts and ideas. The two show off the Apple I and Apple II computers at the club meetings, according to an article written by Wozniak.
April 1, 1976: Jobs, Wozniak and Ron Wayne found Apple. Wayne, who worked with Jobs at Atari, gives up his 10 percent share of Apple less than two weeks later.
April 16, 1977: Wozniak and Jobs introduce the Apple II, which becomes one of the first successful personal computers.
May 1978: Jobs’ girlfriend, Chrisann Brennan, gives birth to a girl, Lisa Brennan-Jobs. Chrisann raises Lisa mainly on her own. Jobs later reconciles with Lisa.
Dec. 12, 1980: Apple goes public at $22 a share. Adjusted for splits since then, the initial public offering price is $2.75. Apple closed today at $378.25.
February 1982: Jobs, 26, is featured on the cover of Time under the headline, “Striking It Rich, America’s Risk Takers.” He appears on the magazine’s cover more than a half dozen times.
January 1983: Apple releases the Lisa, the first commercially sold computer with a graphical user interface. The Lisa, with a price tag of $9,995, is a commercial failure.
January 1984: Apple announces the new Macintosh computer with an ad that airs only once, during the Super Bowl. The ad shows a woman throw a hammer at a giant screen as a voice reads, “On January 24, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh and you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984.’” The Mac, which sells for $2,500, becomes the first commercially successful personal computer to have a graphical user interface and mouse.
September 1985: After being stripped of responsibilities amid a power struggle with Chief Executive Officer John Sculley and the board, Jobs resigns as chairman. He tells the board: “I’ve been thinking a lot and it’s time for me to get on with my life. It’s obvious that I’ve got to do something. I’m 30 years old,” according to Sculley’s book, “Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple.” Jobs soon starts NeXT Computer Inc., which builds high-powered educational computers.
February 1986: Jobs buys George Lucas’s computer-graphics shop for $10 million and renames it Pixar Inc.
March 18, 1991: He marries Laurene Powell at a hotel in Yosemite National Park. Their first child, Reed, is born in September, followed by daughters Erin in 1995 and Eve in 1998.
February 1993: NeXT decides to stop making computer workstations and lays off more than half of its 540 employees.
November 1995: Pixar releases its first feature film, “Toy Story,” which grosses more than $360 million and is nominated for three Oscars. In the same month, the company goes public. Jobs would say in a 1998 BusinessWeek article, “I think Pixar has the opportunity to be the next Disney -- not replace Disney -- but be the next Disney.”
Dec. 20, 1996: Apple says it will buy NeXT for $400 million and rehire Jobs as a consultant to help the company revamp its flagship Macintosh software. The third-largest PC maker says it will incorporate NeXT’s technology into the next version of the Mac operating system. Apple was in such dire straits before the return of Jobs that BusinessWeek in February ran a cover article titled, “The Fall of an American Icon.”
July 9, 1997: After 17 months as Apple’s chairman and chief executive officer, Gilbert Amelio is forced to resign. Jobs later becomes interim CEO while Apple searches for a new leader.
Aug. 6, 1997: At the Macworld trade show in Boston, Jobs announces that longtime rival Microsoft Corp. will invest $150 million in Apple. Also, in a boardroom shake-up, Jobs and Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison are named as directors.
May 1998: Apple unveils the iMac, a $1,299 all-in-one PC encased in a translucent, curvy box. It’s the first of many “i” products, including the clamshell-shaped iBook that comes out the next year.
Jan. 6, 1998: Jobs announces at Macworld that Apple has returned to profitability after more than a year of losses, and the shares jump 19 percent.
Jan. 5, 2000: After 2 1/2 years as interim CEO, Jobs officially assumes the helm and receives a long, standing ovation at Macworld. He shows off the Mac OS X operating system, which is similar to the software he developed at NeXT. “Apple will be one of the 10 most profitable Internet companies in the next 10 years,” Jobs tells the gathering.
Jan. 9, 2001: Jobs introduces the digital hub strategy at Macworld, telling participants: “The PC is on the threshold of entering the third great age,” with computers at the center and devices that include cameras and music players. Apple’s next focus will be audio, Jobs says as he unveils iTunes, a free software program for organizing music. “We’re late to this party, and we’re about to leapfrog,” he says.
May 2001: Apple opens retail stores to attract new customers. The first are in McLean, Virginia, and Glendale, California. The company eventually expands to more than 300 stores worldwide.
Oct. 23, 2001: Apple introduces the iPod, its first portable digital-music player, a move beyond PCs as the industry heads for its worst slump in more than a decade. The iPod stores as many as 1,000 MP3-format songs and sells for $399.
April 28, 2003: Apple unveils the iTunes Music Store, which offers more than 200,000 digital songs from the top five record companies. “You’ll fall in love with music so much again that you’ll spend some money,” Jobs says. ITunes sells about 1 million tracks in the first week.
October 2003: Jobs is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer affecting the pancreas and tries to treat the illness by switching to a special diet to avoid surgery, according to a 2008 article in Fortune magazine that cites people familiar with the matter. Apple decided not to tell investors after consulting lawyers, the magazine reports.
Aug. 1, 2004: Jobs, then 49, discloses the cancer for the first time, saying he had successful surgery to extract a tumor and won’t need chemotherapy or radiation. Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook runs Apple until Jobs returns to work in September.
June 12, 2005: Jobs talks about his cancer during a commencement speech at Stanford University, saying that he was diagnosed about a year earlier and that doctors told him he wouldn’t live longer than six months. The cancer turned out to be treatable with surgery “and I’m fine now,” he says.
January 2006: Walt Disney Co. (DIS) announces it will buy Pixar. The $8.06 billion deal, completed in May, makes Jobs the largest shareholder of Disney and a board member.
Oct. 4, 2006: Apple says Jobs knew the company backdated stock- option grants to executives in some cases, though he didn’t benefit or know of the accounting implications of the practice. “I apologize to Apple’s shareholders and employees for these problems, which happened on my watch,” Jobs says in a statement. An internal probe later clears him of wrongdoing.
Jan. 9, 2007: Jobs takes the stage at Macworld to show off the new iPhone and announces Apple is dropping “Computer” from its name, highlighting its reliance on consumer electronics. Apple shares close at a record high on optimism the iPhone will boost sales by more than $1 billion. The device challenges Palm Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd.’s multifunction phones.
June 9, 2008: Jobs, while introducing the iPhone 3G at Apple’s developer conference, appears thinner and frail. The company blames a “common bug.”
July 21, 2008: Responding to concerns about Jobs’s appearance, Apple says that he has no plans to leave the company and that his health is a private matter. Apple also forecasts sales and profit that trail analysts’ estimates. The shares fall as much as 12 percent the next day.
July 23, 2008: Jobs has been telling associates and Apple’s board he is cancer-free, the New York Times reports. Jobs had a surgical procedure earlier in the year to address a problem that contributed to his weight loss, the newspaper says, citing people close to the executive.
Sept. 9, 2008: Jobs, introducing new iPod media players at an event in San Francisco, still looks thin. “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,” he jokes.
Dec. 16, 2008: Apple says Jobs won’t give his usual speech at the Macworld conference, to be held the next month. He had used the forum to introduce new products for 11 straight years.
Jan. 5, 2009: Jobs says he has a hormone imbalance, causing him to lose weight, and vows to remain CEO during treatment. “The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward,” Jobs says in an open letter.
Jan. 14, 2009: He gives up day-to-day operations to Cook until June, saying his health problems are more complex than originally thought. He says he will remain involved in major strategic decisions.
June 23, 2009: Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute in Memphis, Tennessee, confirms that Jobs had a liver transplant and has “an excellent prognosis.”
June 29, 2009: Apple announces Jobs’s return to work. At the time, Apple shares had risen about 70 percent since Jan. 15.
Sept. 9, 2009: Jobs makes his first public appearance since his return to work, introducing new iPod models in San Francisco. He says he was the recipient of a liver transplanted from a young adult who had died in a car crash.
Jan. 27, 2010: He introduces the iPad. Apple sells 7.3 million of the tablet computers in their debut quarter.
Jan. 17, 2011: Jobs begins another medical leave, telling employees in an e-mail that “I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can.” Cook again takes charge of day-to- day operations.
Feb. 23, 2011: Apple shareholders reject a proposal seeking more disclosure about its executive succession plans.
March 2, 2011: Jobs, 56, emerges from medical leave to introduce a new version of the iPad tablet. The appearance assures some investors that he still participates in decision-making.
March 23, 2011: Disney investors re-elect Jobs to the board of the entertainment company, rejecting calls from proxy advisers who say health issues might impair his ability to serve.
April 11, 2011: CBS Corp.’s Simon & Schuster sets the publication date for a Jobs biography for early 2012. The book is written by Walter Isaacson and initially titled “iSteve: The Book of Jobs.” The title is later changed to “Steve Jobs” and the publication date moved up to November 2011.
Aug. 24, 2011: Jobs resigns as Apple CEO, handing the reins to Cook and taking the title of chairman. “I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know,” Jobs says in a statement. “Unfortunately, that day has come.”
Oct. 5, 2011: Apple announces the death of Steve Jobs, saying his “brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives.”
(Bloomberg)
<관련한글기사>
잡스가 일생동안 일군 위대한 업적들
PC와 포스트PC 시대 모두 열어..일부 실패도 맛봐
(샌프란시스코=연합뉴스) 임상수 특파원 = '인류 역사에 큰 영향을 끼친 4번째 사과'
미술평론가 모리스 드니가 인류 역사에 영향을 끼친 사과로 이브의 사과, 뉴턴 의 사과, 화가 폴 세잔의 사과를 꼽았으나 최근 애플의 로고인 '한입 베어먹은 모양 의 사과'를 네 번째 사과로 추가하는 사람들이 늘고 있다.
그만큼 잡스와 그와 동일시되는 애플이 세계에 끼친 영향이 크다는 것을 대변해 주는 말이다.
애플도 5일(현지시간) 잡스의 사망사실을 발표하면서 "스티브의 영명함과 열정, 에너지가 멈추지 않는 혁신의 원천이 됐으며 이로 인해 우리의 인생은 풍부해지고 향상됐다. 스티브로 인해 이 세상은 헤아릴 수 없을 정도로 개선됐다"고 말했다.
◇PC시대 개막…애플Ⅱ로 개인 컴퓨터 대중화
잡스는 1975년 최초의 소형 컴퓨터 '키트'가 등장하자 이를 완제품 개인용 컴퓨 터로 만들겠다고 다짐하고 5세 연상의 천재 공학도인 스티브 워즈니악을 설득해 197 6년 애플컴퓨터를 창업해 애플Ⅰ을 출시한 데이어 이듬해 개인용 완제품 컴퓨터 '애 플Ⅱ'를 내놓는다.
애플Ⅱ는 베이지색 외관에 컬러 그래픽이 가능한 세련된 외관에 모니터·키보드 를 갖췄으며, 전문가뿐 아니라 개인시장을 겨냥한 첫 컴퓨터로 1970년대말부터 80년 대초까지 초창기 개인용 컴퓨터 시장의 50%를 휩쓴다. 1993년까지 16년간 생산됐다.
잡스는 이어 1984년 매킨토시(1984년) 잡스가 제록스연구소를 방문했다가 본 그래픽 사용자환경(GUI)을 적용하고 마우스를 도입한 매킨토시 컴퓨터를 내놓는다.
매킨토시는 컴퓨터 사용환경에 일대 혁신을 불러온 제품으로 평가된다.
잡스는 매킨토시를 공개하는 자리에서 "1977년 애플 컴퓨터는 최초의 개인용 컴 퓨터 애플Ⅱ를 소개한 바 있다"면서 "1981년 이 컴퓨터는 세계에서 가장 인기있는 컴퓨터가 됐다"고 말한 바 있다.
◇포스트 PC시대도 열어…아이폰·아이패드로 30년 PC시대 접어
삼성경제연구소는 최근 애플이 포스트PC시대를 주도하는 것으 보고 "PC 시대의 개척자에서 파괴자로" 변신하고 있다고 지적했다.
실제로 애플이 2007년 주머니에 넣고 다닐 수 있는 컴퓨터로 불리는 스마트폰인 아이폰을 내놓으면서 사실상 PC시대가 저물기 시작했으며, 2010년 초 아이패드를 성 공적으로 출시하면서 포스트PC시대의 본격 출발을 알렸다.
PC는 결국 태블릿PC에 밀려 올해 들어 급격하게 성장률이 축소되면서 급기야 세 계 최대 PC메이커인 휴렛-패커드(HP)가 PC사업부를 매각을 전제로 전격 분사하기에 이르렀다.
잡스는 지난 3월 아이패드2 발표회장에서 "경쟁사들은 이것(태블릿)을 새로운 P C 시장이라고 보고 있지만 올바른 인식이 아니다. 이것(태블릿)은 포스트 PC 디바이 스"라고 강조했다.
지난 6월 '아이클라우드'를 선보이는 자리에서도 "10년 전에는 PC가 디지털 생 활의 허브가 될 것으로 생각했지만 지금은 아니다"며 PC 시대의 종말을 선언했다.
그는 지난 1월 한 콘퍼런스에서도 "기존 PC는 농업사회에서 널리 쓰이던 트럭처 럼 수요는 지속되겠지만 일부 사람만 이용하게 될 것"이라고 말한 바 있다.
◇학문에도 영향…융합학문시대 앞당겨
잡스는 지난해 애플 세계개발자대회(WWDC)에서 "애플은 단순히 기술을 기반으로 한 기업이 아니다"면서 "업계 최고 기술를 개발해 가지고 있지만 우리 회사는 그 이 상이다. 애플을 돋보이게 하는 것은 인문학에서 가져온 인간성과 기술을 연결한 것"이라고 강조했다.
이처럼 인문학과 연계된 공학을 함께 연구하는 융합학문, 인문학과 기술을 모두 갖춘 융합적 인재가 유행이다. 이미 융합학문이 학계에서는 화두가 됐으나 스티브 잡스와 애플 제품이 이에 대한 논의를 앞당기는 촉매가 됐다는 평가다.
이밖에 잡스는 광고와 마케팅에도 상당한 영향을 미친 것으로 평가된다.
지난 1984년 수퍼볼 경기 당시 방영된 매킨토시 광고가 대표적인 예다. 리들리 스콧이 연출한 이 광고는 20세기 최고작으로 꼽히고 있으며, '다르게 생각하라(Thin k different)'는 이 회사 슬로건은 반항적 젊은이 사이에 유행어가 됐다.
◇잡스, 실패도 많이 했다
한계에 도전한 잡스의 아이디어는 대박으로 이어진 경우도 있지만 상업적으로 또는 기능적으로 참담한 실패로 끝난 경우도 적지 않다.
애플Ⅱ의 후속작으로 내놓은 업무용 애플Ⅲ(1981년), 그래픽 사용자 환경에 맞 춰 출시한 리사(1983년), 깔끔한 플라스틱 육면체 외관을 가진 소형데스크톱 큐브(2000년) 등이 실패작으로 꼽힌다.
잡스는 독창적인 제품에 너무 집착한 나머지 대성공도 거두지만 때로는 실패도 많이 했다는 평가다.
