The Life of Steve Jobs

Authors Note: I’m attempting to do at least one current event writing piece a week.  So this week  I choose Steve Jobs because of his recent death.  Since this isn't my usual nonfictional writing so I'm hoping my voice still comes through.


Steve Jobs, the man who started Apple.  Apple, the company that has churned out Mac computers, IPods, IPhones, and IPads.  IPod, the revolutionary device that combines the radio, computer, and video games.  To many Mr. Jobs is a hero. But who was Steve Jobs?

Steve was born in San Francisco. His biological parents were Abdulfattah Jandali and Joanne Schieble, but they were forced to put him up for adoption because Joanne's parents did not approve of her choice to marry an immigrant from Syria.  Steve was then adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs and moved to Mountain View California.  It was from Paul that Jobs got his first lesson in electronics.
Steve attended Cupertino Junior High and then Homestead High school.  Following his graduation in 1972 Steve went to Reed College in Portland Oregon.  Unfortunately he dropped out after only one semester though he attended some classes.  He even said once ”If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts."  All this time however Steve was sleeping on the floor in his friends' rooms, returning coke bottles for food money, and getting free meals from a local temple.
Steve eventually got a job at Atari, a company that manufactured video games, so he could save some money for a spiritual retreat to India.  After saving enough money Steve and his friend Daniel Kottke traveled to India.  Upon his return Steve was totally different.  His head was shaved and he was wearing traditional Indian clothing.  His view of life had changed to, he had become a Buddhist who often found that people could not relate to many people who did not have the same experiences he did.
He soon returned to his old job at Atari and there he was given a task.  He was to create a circuit board for the new game Breakout.  The deal was for every chip that Steve eliminated he would receive $100.  But having little knowledge of or interest in circuit boards Steve turned to a friend for help.  That friend was Steve Wozniak, who agreed to help for half of the money.  Wozniak end up eliminating 50 chips from the circuit board, creating a design so tight it couldn't be reproduced on an assembly line. Atari wasn't true to its word though and only gave them $700 dollars (instead of $5,000) so each man made $350. That was 1975.
In 1976 Jobs, Wozniak and Ronald Wayne founded Apple. Steve Jobs and Ronald eventually interested Steve Wozniak in assembling and selling a computer.  When Apple started to expand they started to look for someone to help manage the company.  So in 1978 Apple recruited Mike Scott to serve as CEO for several difficult years.  Then in 1983 Jobs convinced John Scullery of Pepsi-Cola by asking "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?"  This time they were more successful.  They even aired a Super Bowl commercial titled "1984".  
While to the world Jobs was a persuasive and interesting inventor some of his employees said he was crazy.  This behavior even strained his working relationship with Scullery (the current CEO) to the point that Steve was fired.  After being fired Steve decided to make his own business which he called NeXT.  NeXT computers were first released in 1990 and they were priced at a whopping $9,999.  This system was widely dismissed as too expensive.  The next NeXT computer also was released in 1990.  The biggest new thing about this computer was its new NeXTMail system which allowed people to share videos, pictures, and sound clips for the first time.
In 1986 Steve Jobs bought Pixar, which at that time was called The Graphics Group.  Pixar was initially intended to be a graphics hardware developer.  However they spent many years attempting to sell a computer called the Pixar Image Computer they decided to work with Disney on some animated movies.  Some of these movies were the Toy Stories, Wall-E, and Finding Nemo. 
Then in 1996 Apple bought NeXT and Steve went back to the company he co-founded.  He became the effective boss until in 1997 the CEO of the time,  Gil Amelio, was fired.  Once Steve was back in his old job Apple really started to move forward quickly.  In 2001 the first IPod was released.  Soon the IPhone and IPad followed.  
But a tragedy happend.  On October 5, 2011 Steve died peacefully.  The whole United States and maybe even the world is saddened by this tragedy.  Steve Jobs was and is one of the greatest inventors, entrepreneurs, and visionaries the world has ever known.  So the next time you pick up that IPod or log onto that Mac computer remember Steve Jobs, the man who started it all.