Tag: Steve Jobs

Initially when I heard that Steve Jobs was to permanently resign from Apple due to ill-health, I thought it was simply retirement from one of the pillar companies of the personal-computing age.

Now, the man responsible for the Macintosh computing platform which commercialised and legitimised the “WIMP” (windows, icons, mouse, pointer) user-interface style and the iPhone and iPad devices which also did the same for touchscreen computing, has now passed away.

Many will remember his style of commercialising these technologies through a vertically-integrated method which requires the use of Apple products and services for full benefit, but this let the competitors implement systems that implemented these usage metaphors on their own platforms.

This was all from him and Steve Wozniak turning the proceeds from selling that VW Bus (Kombi-van) into capital for the Apple company. Here, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak worked on the development of the Apple II which became one of the beacons of the personal-computing age in the late 1970s.

A lot of commentators had said that Steve Jobs, through his efforts at Apple with the Apple II, the Macintosh and the iPhone and iPad devices had personalised computing. I have observed this through the demonstration software that came with Apple II computers in the 1980s, the boot sequence that was used in all the incarnations of the Macintosh platform and the design of computing products from the iMac onwards.

Whether its through the evolution of a computing technology or the passing of one of the people who influenced the direction of personal computing and communications; I would see this simply as a milestone to the connected lifestyle.

Articles

Steve Jobs resigns as Apple Chief Executive | SmartCompany.com.au

Steve Jobs steps down from Apple | CNet

Steve Jobs quits as Apple CEO | The Age (Australia)

My comments

There has been a lot of press about Steve Jobs intending to resign from Apple’s chief-executive position due to ill health. Now it had to happen that he is resigning. He is still able to maintain his position in Apple’s board of directors, both as a director and as the chairman of the board.

I see it as something that had to happen for another of personal-computing’s “old dogs”. These are the people who had founded companies that had been very instrumental to the development and marketing of commercially-viable personal computers. A few years ago, Bill Gates had resigned from Microsoft which he had founded.

This is more about a “change of the guard” at the top of these “pillar companies” as the technology behind these computers leads to highly-capable equipment for the home and business. This includes affordable mobile tablet computers that are operated by one’s touch and the smartphone which becomes a “jack of all trades”, working as a phone, personal stereo, handheld email terminal, handheld Web browser and more.

It is so easy to cast doubt over a company once a figurehead relinquishes the reins but I have seem may companies keep their same spirit alive and continue demonstrating their prowess at their core competencies.

As well, even though people may criticise him for how he manages the iTunes App Store and the Apple platforms, as in keeping them closed, Steve Jobs and Apple are in essence milestones to the connected lifestyle.