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Steve Jobs: Hero & Influence of 20th Century

by Ryan from Toronto, Canada

Steve Jobs in Junior High (http://allaboutstevejobs.com/bio/long/01.html)
Steve Jobs in Junior High (http://allaboutstevejobs.com/bio/long/01.html)

Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco, California. A lower-middle class couple, Paul and Clara Jobs, adopted Steve from his young biological parents Joanne Simpson and Abdulfattah Jandali. The Jobs family moved to Santa Clara County, which is now also known as Silicon Valley because it was the center of computer technology. Steve did not enjoy or put in effort towards school until Grade 4 when his teacher bribed him with money. It turned out that Steve was a very intelligent child so he skipped 5th Grade and went straight to Middle School. Later on, Steve befriended Bill Fernandez who began Steve's interest in computers and technology. In 1969, one of Fernandez's decisions changed technology, as human kind knew it. He introduced Steve to Stephen Wozniak who would be the Co-Founder of Apple.

Steve Jobs on Macworld Magazine Cover (http://allaboutstevejobs.com/bio/long/04.html ())
Steve Jobs on Macworld Magazine Cover (http://allaboutstevejobs.com/bio/long/04.html ())

Later on, after Jobs dropped out of Reed University and returned from a job in India, Wozniak and Jobs started one of the greatest influences in world history. They designed and engineered the first Apple Computer. From there and on Apple shot upwards in the stock market and everyone wanted a brand new personal computer designed by Apple. Unfortunately, this success would not last forever. In 1984, sales plummeted and the company was losing a lot of money. The Board of Directors of Apple decided to fire Steve Jobs as Chief Executive Officer because they thought they could hire someone to get them back on track. After Steve Jobs was released from Apple, he commenced but another revolution, NeXT computers. And from there he moved on to Pixar where he changed the perspective of animation with his first release of Toy Story. Pixar ended up merging with Walt Disney to form the ultimate animation company. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he had made his designs come to life. It started off with the iPod revolution where playing music changed for the better, the PowerBook and the Macintosh. Everything advanced again when Apple released the iMac, the MacBook, and in 2008 the iPhone. Steve Jobs has designed so many things that have advanced technology by about a decade. Unfortunately, the ingenious and creative man passed away on October 6, 2011 and he will be a very missed man.

Steve Jobs Holding iPod (http://allaboutstevejobs.com/bio/long/10.html ())
Steve Jobs Holding iPod (http://allaboutstevejobs.com/bio/long/10.html ())

Every living person wants to be remembered by making a difference in this world, which is something I aspire to do. I don't know if I will make a difference by influencing people to do better things or if I will start a revolution that could be economically, politically or technologically related. Someone who did this is a figure I look up to. This person advanced our technology rapidly and changed software, hardware and animation into something that we might have not seen for another ten years without him. This person was named Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs did something that I dream of doing, making a difference in the world. He also didn't come from a very fortunate background yet he ended up so successful. This has inspired me to try harder in everything I do and to never let anyone tell me I can't do something. These are the types of messages I want my hero to send me and there is no one else that sends these messages as well as Steve Jobs.

Page created on 12/14/2011 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 12/14/2011 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

Related Links

The #1 Unofficial Steve Jobs Fansite - Steve Jobs's Fans Celebrate His Success
The MY HERO Gallery - For the Gallery Page dedicated to Steve Jobs, also by Ryan.