Visionary Apple CEO Steve Jobs Dies at Age 56

Apple’s  iconic co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, who altered the habits of millions by reinventing computing, music and mobile phones, has died at the age of 56.  With Jobs’ passing, Apple has lost a visionary leader who inspired personal computing and products such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad.  These innovations made Jobs one of his generation’s most significant industry leaders.  His death, following a long fight with a rare form of pancreatic cancer and a liver transplant, set off an outpouring of tributes as world leaders, business rivals and customers mourned his early death and celebrated his historic achievements.

“The world has lost a visionary.  And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented,” said President Barack Obama.  Even Bill Gates, his rival at Microsoft, joined in the laments.  “For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor,” Gates said.

With a passion for minimalist design and a genius for marketing, Jobs laid the groundwork for Apple to flourish after his death, according to analysts and investors.  A college drop-out, Jobs altered technology in the late 1970s, when the Apple II became the first personal computer to gain a wide following.  He repeated his early success in 1984 with the Macintosh, which built on the breakthrough technologies developed partially at Xerox Parc to create the personal computing experience.

“Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve,” Apple said.  “His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family.  Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.”

According to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, “We’ve lost something we won’t get back,” he said.  “The way I see it, though, the way people love products he put so much into creating means he brought a lot of life to the world.”  Wozniak said that Jobs told him around the time he left Apple in 1985 that he had a feeling he would not live beyond the age of 40.  Because of that, “a lot of his life was focused on trying to get things done quickly,” Wozniak said.  “I think what made Apple products special was very much one person, but he left a legacy,” he said.  Wozniak hopes the company can continue to succeed despite Jobs’ death.

Computerworld raises the question “Where will that excitement come from now?”  When Jobs stepped down as CEO in August, industry analysts said that Apple, with a team of talented, creative employees, will be able to continue his tradition for ingenuity, if not all of his passion, perfectionism and energy.  “Steve’s excitement for technology will still come from Apple and from the team that Jobs carefully built that worked with him to give us the iPhone and iPad and many other successful products,” said Carolina Milanesi, a Gartner analyst.

“Jobs didn’t just change mobile phones — he reinvented them,” said Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Gartner.  “That was typical Steve.”  In another example, the iPad took user-centric values inherent in the touch-screen iPhone and larger-screen laptops, and found a useful compromise — a classic expression of Jobs’ ability to combine technological concepts, art and ideas and deliver a product that was termed “magical,” according to analysts.  “Apple, under Jobs’ leadership, focused on the user experience first and the technology second,” said Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates.  “This focus was groundbreaking in that most tech companies were just the opposite.  Apple pioneered hiring many usability specialists, human factor engineers and designers before it was fashionable to do so.  Jobs’ vision of technology was to make a smooth intersection into our lives and our work, and that was what put Apple ahead of the pack.  He redirected engineering from technical engineering to engineering for usability.”

One question that has industry analysts abuzz is whether Apple will be able to maintain its dominant position now that Jobs is gone. Jobs’ passing and the industry’s mixed response to the recent iPhone 4S model create challenges for Apple in coming quarters,” said Neil Mawston, an analyst with Strategy Analytics.  “Industry eyes will inevitably turn to the iPad 3 launch next year to see whether Apple can continue the company’s impressive legacy of innovation created by Steve Jobs,” he said.  In a sign of deepening competition, Amazon.com recently unveiled its Kindle Fire tablet at an affordable $199 that could pose a serious threat to the iPad.  “Apple is facing a competitive firestorm from not just one company but a coalition of rivals that are trying to beat it, including some of the largest consumer electronics companies on the planet,” said Ben Wood, head of research at British mobile consultancy CCS Insight.

Writing in the Washington Post,  Melissa Bell believes that one of Jobs’ longest-standing legacy will be the recognition that his illness and death are bringing to pancreatic cancer.  According to Bell, “Steve Jobs knew the art of keeping your cards close to your chest.  Though  leaks did spring from the closely guarded Apple world, Jobs was a master at unveiling his secrets only when the time was right for him.  As with his business ventures, so it was with his cancer.  Jobs ‘kept his illness behind a firewall,’ the Associated Press reported.  Apple released no more of a statement than that they lost a ‘visionary and creative genius, and the world … lost an amazing human being.’  It was not known whether Jobs died from the rare form of pancreatic cancer that plagued him for seven years, or from complications from a liver transplant two years ago.  Despite the lack of details, Jobs’ role as the very public face of Apple put his illness on display along with his products.”