Earlier this week, Apple observed the 10th anniversary of Steve Jobs' death with this video
On October 5th, 2011, Apple co-founder and ex-CEO Steve Jobs succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Apple recently observed the tenth anniversary of the death of its fallen leader by releasing a video titled "Celebrating Steve." The video shows Jobs introducing several iconic devices including the Mac, the iMac, the iPod, and of course, the iPhone.
The man handpicked by Jobs to succeed him at Apple, Tim Cook, sent out a letter to all Apple employees earlier this week. In the letter, Apple's current CEO said, "Steve believed that 'people with passion can change the world for the better.' That’s the philosophy that inspired him to create Apple. And it lives in us today.
Tim Cook says that he thinks about Jobs every day
Cook continued by writing that "Steve was so many things: brilliant, funny, and wise, a husband, a father, a friend, and, of course, a visionary. He challenged us to see the world not for what it was, but for what it could be. And he helped so many people, myself included, see the same potential in ourselves. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him."
In the letter, Cook stated "This year, as much as any other, we’re reminded of the profound impact our products have on the world. I feel so lucky that we spend our days creating wildly innovative tools that connect people, inspire them to think differently, and empower them to make their own dent in the universe, too. It’s one of the many gifts that Steve gave to all of us."
No ad that Apple ever created expressed Jobs' philosophy better than the spot known as "The Crazy Ones" which starred those who experienced fame and notoriety because they were different. The commercial featured iconic non-conformists like Muhammad Ali, John Lennon, Ted Turner, Richard Branson, Jim Henson, Amelia Earhart, and others.
Two versions of the ad were prepared for television, one narrated by Jobs himself and the other by Richard Dreyfuss. It was the latter version that was seen on television screens throughout the world. But less than three weeks after Jobs died, Apple held a memorial for him attended by Apple employees and hosted by Tim Cook. A huge throng got to hear the audio recorded by Steve for the "The Crazy Ones" which had never been aired.
Many believed that Steve Jobs himself should have been included in "The Crazy Ones" spot. Nonetheless, the memorial service was so emotionally charged being held so close to Jobs' death that the sound of his voice narrating the ad set off human waterworks and there reportedly was not a dry eye in the house.
Steve (and his estate) was Disney's largest shareholder for several years
Jobs was known to be a taskmaster and notoriously hard to get along with. Yet he was able to build a team around him that was loyal to a fault. Guys like former design chief Jony Ive, former marketing head (now an Apple fellow) Phil Schiller, and of course current CEO Tim Cook among others.
Jobs' legacy includes stints outside Apple. For example, his investment in computer animation firm Pixar made him the company's largest stockholder. When Disney acquired Pixar in 2006, each share of Pixar was converted into 2.3 shares of Disney. As a result, Steve Jobs (and later his estate) became the top stock holder in the entertainment icon and this led to rumors that still persist to this day about a possible Apple-Disney tie up.
When Jobs left Apple for a few years back in 1985, he used $12 million of his own money to start NeXT. This became Steve's way back into Apple after the company was bought by Apple in 1997 for $429 million. Not only did it lead to the creation of the iPod, iPhone and iPad, Apple ported over NeXT's operating system to the Mac to create Mac OS X which later became macOS. The NeXT operating system also became part of iOS, watchOS and tvOS.
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