Tim Cook is the new Apple CEO as Steve Jobs resigns. In his resignation letter, Jobs explains that ″I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple′s CEO, I would be the first to let you know.″ The co-founder of Apple has battled several major health issues in recent years, including pancreatic cancer and a liver transplant. While Steve Jobs is resigning as CEO, he will remain with Apple serving where he can. Since the founding of Apple in 1976 on April Fools Day with Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs has taken the company from a garage to become the world′s largest technology corporation. Indeed, for a brief time this month, Apple had more equity than oil giant Exxon-Mobil.
The rise of Apple is a remarkable story. From two buddies hanging out at a home-brew computer club to designing and building the first real personal computer. Jobs and Wozniak essentially wrote the book on everything. The necessity for the ′killer app′, making plugs a certain shape so they only fit one way, and innovations in corporate culture. Apple became the renegade company, symbolizing youth and exuberance compared to the ever stogy IBM. The famous Super Bowl commercial in 1984 directed by Ridley Scott exemplified Apple′s willingness to challenge convention.
Innovation always played a key role with Apple under Steve Jobs. After a visit to the Xerox facility at Palo Alto, California, Jobs and Wozniak knew that the future of personal computing lay in a Graphic User Interface, or GUI. For several years, Jobs oversaw the Lisa project to achieve this end, but the design was a commercial flop due to its high price tag. One year later, in 1984, Apple launched the Macintosh, billed as the most user-friendly computer ever built. With ′killer apps′ in graphic arts and desktop publishing, the Mac sold well, but the winds of change were already blowing.
While Jobs had been focused on these projects, Apple had hired former Pepsi exec John Sculley to run the company as CEO in 1983. Two years later, Sculley forced Jobs to resign after a bitter battle over the future direction of the firm. Jobs went on to found new enterprises, such as NeXT and Pixar Animation Studios. In 1996, Apple bought NeXT and Jobs returned as CEO. Since then, Apple has ventured into new technologies, such as iPod, iTunes, iPad and iPhone. Once again, Apple is leading the way to a new future full of fun, new products to use and enjoy.
Yesterday came the sad news that Steve Jobs resigns and that Tim Cook is the new CEO of Apple. Nothing against Tim Cook, as he is the heir apparent selected by Jobs. Cook has been running Apple before off and on since 2004 when Jobs health issues became serious. Steve Jobs resignation is a sad one due to the circumstances. He′s only 56 and his health is poor. We wish him well and hope that Steve Jobs continues to inspire future innovators for many years to come.
August 25th, 2011 at 9:13 am
Sad, I hope you’re not hurting.
I’ll bet you’re doing this because you know that day is soon so before you’re gone I want to say thanks for making this world better than most have.
August 25th, 2011 at 9:41 am
I am everything Mac here. Have an iPhone, an iPod, an iMac and have had Macs all the way back to the 1990s. I hate PCs.
Anyway, it’s no surprise that Cook is taking over. He’s been pretty much running things for several years already.
August 25th, 2011 at 11:19 am
I just recently went Mac. I bought a Macbook Pro a few months ago and now I just can’t go back to non-Mac laptops. I really dig the gestures idea. Now surfing around on a non-Mac laptop feels very cumbersome.
August 26th, 2011 at 3:28 pm
He will be sorely missed. The workers at Apple will never forget that simple three letter name.
Jobs.
J-O-B-S!!!