How's this for a gripping corporate story line: Youthful founder gets booted from his company in the 1980s, returns in the 1990s, and in the following decade survives two brushes with death, one securities-law scandal, an also-ran product lineup, and his own often unpleasant demeanor to become the dominant personality in four distinct industries, a billionaire many times over, and CEO of the most valuable company in Silicon Valley.
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In the past 10 years alone he has radically and lucratively reordered three markets -- music, movies, and mobile telephones -- and his impact on his original industry, computing, has only grown.
Remaking any one business is a career-defining achievement; four is unheard-of. Think about that for a moment. Henry Ford altered the course of the nascent auto industry. PanAm's Juan Trippe invented the global airline. Conrad Hilton internationalized American hospitality.
In all instances, and many more like them, these entrepreneurs turned captains of industry defined a single market that had previously not been dominated by anyone. The industries that Jobs has turned topsy-turvy already existed when he focused on them.
All the Mac vs PC crap aside (I think Gates won this for the 90s), this is some pretty awesome stuff. Anyway, feel free to discuss or ingore as you see fit!
Here is my own favourite Steve moment:
Also... the original "Think Different" commercial with the famous "Here's to the crazy ones..." quote that seems to have been attributed to him, but I can't find any real evidence as to the true source.
Regardless, can there be a better quote to describe Steve Jobs (and even Bill Gates)?
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Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them. Disagree with them. Glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world...
...are the ones who do.
Edit: I know, I know... but you can't really argue against the guy's impact on the world.
His story fascinates me.
I mean, I love tech stuff. Think of it like a hockey player being fascinated with Gretzky or a quarterback and Elway. Basketball and MJ. If you're going to spend your energy trying to learn from someone else, why waste your time learning from anyone less than the best?
Last edited by FanIn80; 11-05-2009 at 05:46 PM.
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No one can argue he has the touch of gold right now.
iCon - the Steve Jobs story is an amazing book - I got it from audible.com - very good listen.
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Fortune Magazine's CEO of the Decade: Steve Jobs
