Its finally curtains down for legendary CEO Steve Jobs who co-founded technology giant firm Apple that is better known for its latest iPhones and iPads than its early Macintosh computers.
Steve Jobs, who had undergone a liver transplant after suffering from pancreatic cancer and opted out of the CEO position, may remain as the companys chairman. The news may not be new since the speculation began as early as January 17 when the 56-year-old honcho went on medical leave.
Born to a Syrian graduate student Abdulfattah Jandali and his American classmate Joanne Simpson, Steve was adopted by Jobs and lived in California. He took up several odd jobs before visiting India in the mid-1970s with a Reed College friend, Daniel Kottke, who became the first Apple employee.
It was in India that he was exposed to multi-culturalism which influenced his entrepreneurial thinking that shaped Apples future. He turned a Buddhist with his head shaved, wore traditional Indian clothing and of course, experimented with psychedelics.
Essentially, he was born to parents with different cultural traits, lived with multi-cultural people including a Hare Krishna temple in Cupertino.
Back in the US, he co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak, and started the popular series of Macintosh computers in the 1980s. But he left the company in 1985 over differences with colleagues but had to return an almost bankrupt company in 1997.
He revived the company first by launching iMac brand of colour computers and later the iPod in 2002 that changed the outlook of music devices.
Finally, the turnaround in the companys status came with the iPhone, which set a new dimension to the concept of smartphones. Later, the iPad too proved hugely popular despite initial scepticism. Apple lovers are sure to miss his presentations of latest iPhones while the company will miss his multiculturalism.
Steve Jobs’s India connection | MF Monitor
