STORIES
Scientists
DONATE

Steve Jobs

by Shane from Marathon

Steve Jobs (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=steve+jobs& ())
Steve Jobs (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=steve+jobs& ())

My Renaissance biography is about Steve Jobs. Steve was known as a man who did what he loved no matter what. There are several significant events in the early part of his life that influenced him. Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco, California. He didn't know much about his biological parents until he was 27 years old. He also had a sister. He was adopted by a husband and wife, Paul and Clara Jobs, when he was a baby. Steve's birth mother wanted his adoptive parents to be college educated. Even though Paul and Clara never went to college, they promised they would send Steven to college when he was older.

 (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=steve+jobs& ())
(http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=steve+jobs& ())

Steve didn't like to follow school rules or authority, even though he was very smart. That's why he got into trouble a lot at school. He really loved to work on electronics with his dad and his neighbor in their garages. Both men were very big influences on his life because they liked electronics. That is when he first realized that electronics are not magical, but are built by people.

When he was in middle school, he told his parents he was never going back. He was very stubborn so they decided to move to a new city and send him to a different middle school. During this time, he was part of Hewitt Packard's Explorers Club for Kids. He got to see many new projects HP was working on, including computers. That was when he saw his first computer. He even called the president of HP and asked for parts.

Steve wanted to go into business with his friend Steve Wozniak to sell computer circuit boards. Steve's friend Steve Wozniak was good at building circuit boards for computers. They went to a convention to show them off, but they didn't do very well. They worked on building a computer called the Apple I. He was 21 years old when they started Apple Computers in 1976. To get more interest in their company, they hired a public relations firm to help them advertise. Then they started to build a faster, quieter computer that had color and a keyboard, and they called it Apple II. It even had an operating system made by Bill Gates from Microsoft. People loved the Apple computer so much that Steve and Steve Wozniak were millionaires by their mid 20s.

 Steve Wozniak left Apple a few years later and the company became a public company with a new board of directors that Steve had to listen to. Steve kept trying to introduce new and innovative products. But he wasn't always easy to work with. Apple engineers had a hard time working long hours and meeting his demands. He was even taken off a new computer project called LISA that he started. He was then fired by the company he helped to start. But a few years later, Apple was not doing well and the company asked Steve to come back and help them. They were struggling in the market dominated by computers using Microsoft Windows. Apple bought his company that he started, called Next, for $400 million just to get Steve back. He helped to simplify Apple's product line and introduced new items including the iPad, iPhone, and iPod that uses iTunes and iCloud. His business thinking and new products saved the company.

Steve Jobs is credited with changing the face of technology. He changed the way people think about computers because he invented a computer that a lot of people liked to use. He worked on the Mac and kept its price lower (under $2,500) so people could afford to buy it for their homes(Deutsch & Roberts). The Mac was the first personal computer to use picture symbols and a mouse. He set the standard for designing personal computers. He made products that the public wanted because they were beautiful and simple and worked right. People love Apple Computers. We see his ideas in the world today through many things. His earlier work for an animation company, Pixar, made very popular movies with cool animation, like Toy Story, Nemo and The Incredibles. Today we see even more movies that have almost real looking animation. In computers and technology, products are smaller and used by people every day. Millions of personal computers are sold, and many people have an iPad, iPod or iPhone, even kids. He even introduced the iCloud project to let people sync their music, photos, and calendars to many devices for their families. If Steve Jobs had not invented Apple Computers there would be no cool mini computers like the iPads or iPhones that we have today. In school, we would have to use big text books and we wouldn't be able to research information as easily on the Internet. Steve Jobs was known as one of the world's best inventors. He thought differently and he wanted people to have a positive experience when they buy and use an Apple product. He even described the iPhone as not just a phone, but a lifestyle. Competitors always tried and are still trying to copy Apple and catch up with their new inventions. Even though he had a lot of bad experiences in the business world and in his life, he still was successful. He never took no for an answer and will be remembered as a pioneer in making technology that can be used by anyone.

Page created on 6/4/2013 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 6/4/2013 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

Steve Jobs Biography - This website gives information about Steve Jobs.