Steve jobs why apple

Steve Jobs and the Apple Story

The legacy and lessons of Apple’s co-founder

On Aug. 2, 2018, Apple (AAPL) made history by becoming the world’s first publicly traded company to achieve a market capitalization of $1 trillion. On April 30, 2019, Microsoft (MSFT) joined Apple’s exclusive club, also catapulting past the $1 trillion mark. On Jan. 16, 2020, Alphabet (GOOGL) became a $1 trillion company, followed by Amazon (AMZN) on Feb. 4.

Key Takeaways

• Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple in 1977, introducing first the Apple I and then the Apple II.
• Apple went public in 1980 with Jobs the blazing visionary and Wozniak the shy genius executing his vision.
• Executive John Scully was added in 1983; in 1985, Apple’s board of directors ousted the combative Jobs in favor of Scully.
• Away from Apple, Jobs invested in and developed animation producer Pixar and then founded NeXT to create high-end computers; NeXT eventually led him back to Apple.
• Jobs returned to Apple in the late 1990s and spent the years until his death in 2011 revamping the company, introducing the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, transforming technology and communication in the process.

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Investopedia / Bailey Mariner

On Oct. 5, 2011, Steve Jobs passed away at the age of 56. He had just left the CEO post at Apple, the company he co-founded, for the second time. Jobs was an entrepreneur through and through, and the story of his rise is the story of Apple as a company, along with some very interesting twists. In this article, we’ll look at the career of Steve Jobs and the company he founded, as well as some of the lessons Apple offers for potential entrepreneurs.

As to be expected, the market value for each of these companies has swung up and down as prices fluctuate, and maintaining the $1 trillion valuation can be elusive. However, the fact that Apple was the first company to surpass the $1 trillion mark is in no small part connected to the legacy and lessons learned from Steve Jobs.

From Blue Boxes to Apple

Steve Jobs got his start in business with another Steve, Steve Wozniak, building the blue boxes phone phreakers used to make free calls across the nation. The two were members of the HomeBrew Computer Club, where they quickly became enamored with kit computers and left the blue boxes behind. The next product the two sold was the Apple I, which was a kit for building a PC. In order to do anything with it, the customer needed to add their own monitor and keyboard. 

With Wozniak doing most of the building and Jobs handling the sales, the two made enough money off the hobbyist market to invest in the Apple II. It was the Apple II that made the company. Jobs and Wozniak created enough interest in their new product to attract venture capital. This meant they were in the big leagues and their company, Apple, was officially incorporated in 1976.   Steve Jobs was a month shy of turning 22 and would be a millionaire before his next birthday.

The Roller Coaster Ride Begins

By 1978, Apple was making $2 million in profits solely on the strength of the Apple II. The Apple II wasn’t state of the art, but it did allow computer enthusiasts to create and sell their own programs. Among these user-generated programs was VisiCalc, a type of proto-Excel that represented the first software with business applications.

Although Apple did not profit directly from these programs, they did see more interest as the uses for the Apple II broadened. This model of allowing users to create their own programs and sell them would reappear in the app market of the future, but with a much tighter business strategy around it.

By the time Apple went public in 1980, the dynamic of the company was more or less set. Steve Jobs was the fiery visionary, with an intense and often combative management style, and Steve Wozniak was the quiet genius who made the vision work. Apple’s board of directors wasn’t too fond of such a power imbalance in the company, however. Jobs and the board agreed to add John Sculley to the executive team in 1983. In 1985, the board ousted Jobs in favor of Sculley.

The Gap Years

Steve Jobs was rich and unemployed. Although he wasn’t working at Apple, he was far from idle. During this time, from 1985 to 1996, Jobs was involved in two big deals; the first of which was an investment. In 1986, Jobs purchased a controlling stake in a company called Pixar from George Lucas. The company was struggling, but their eventual success in digital animation led to an initial public offering (IPO) that earned Jobs around $1 billion.

The second was a return to his old obsession with computers, founding NeXT to create high-end computers. These were expensive machines with an operating system representing the best attempt yet at making the power of UNIX fit into a graphical user interface. When Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web, he did so using a NeXT machine. 

Of these two deals, NeXT proved the most important, as it turned out Apple was looking to replace its operating system. Apple bought NeXT in 1996 for its operating system, bringing Steve Jobs back to the first company he founded.

The critical year in which Steve Jobs sold NeXT, the computer maker he had founded, to Apple, returning him to the company eleven years after he had been ousted.

Getting Apple Back on Track

When Jobs returned, the company wasn’t in a good place. Apple had begun to flounder as cheap PCs running Windows flooded the market. Jobs found himself in the driver’s seat again and took some drastic steps to turn around Apple’s decline. The company asked for and received a $150 million investment from Bill Gates.   Jobs used the money to ramp up advertising and highlight the products Apple already offered while choking off research and development (R&D) money in non-producing areas.

The NeXT operating system was used to create the iMac, Apple’s first hit PC in a long time. Jobs followed this up with a list of successes from the iPod in 2001 to the iPad in 2010. The years between saw Apple dominate the smartphone market with the iPhone, open up an e-commerce store with iTunes, and launch branded retail outlets called, what else, the Apple Store. When Jobs stepped down as CEO, Apple was scrapping with Exxon for the world’s largest market cap.

Starting with the iPod in 2001, and then continuing with the iPhone and iPad over the next decade, Jobs rejuvenated the ailing Apple, putting it at the forefront of technology and communications.

The Bottom Line

It’s impossible to sum up Jobs’ career in a single article, but a few lessons stick out. First, innovation counts for a lot, but innovative products fail without proper marketing. Second, there are no straight paths to success. Jobs did get wealthy very early on, but he would be a footnote today if he didn’t return to Apple in the 90s. At one point, Jobs was kicked out of the company he helped create for being hard to work with. Rather than change, he bided his time, then took over again, and this time his attitude was seen as part of his genius.

There is much more to be learned from the life of Steve Jobs, as there is in the life of every successful entrepreneur. The sheer hubris of the entrepreneurial spirit, the idea you can do something bigger and better than it has ever been done before, always bears watching and studying, whether to imitate it or just to marvel at what that hubris can create.

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Why Apple is Called Apple

Who named Apple? Steve Jobs of course! The story behind the naming of the company has been revealed in Steve Jobs’ official biography by Walter Isaacson.

The name “Apple” apparently reflects Steve Jobs’ early vagabonding years when he ventured north from California and into the state of Oregon.

According to excerpts from the WSJ and AP, after some time spent working on apple orchards in that state, Steve Jobs was in the midst of a “fruitarian diet” and thought the simple name was “fun, spirited, and not intimidating“, the rest, of course, is history.

Apple’s original logo showed famous physicist Isaac Newton sitting under an Apple tree. This is an obvious reference to Newtons theory of gravitation, but now in light of the companies naming history, seems to give that apple tree a dual meaning.

The Apple logo was then changed to the rainbow variation shown above, which lasted for many years until the color was removed to the current incarnation of a minimalist black or white silhouette in the early 2000’s (which can be typed on the Mac by hitting Shift+Option+K )

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak mentioned a similar story about the companies name history in an interview from 2010:

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20 Comments

i think it is because of isaac newton.i could mean knowledge💬💬💭💭💭👥👥✨✨✨

He called it apple because eve took a bite of an apple and gained all the knowledge of the from the forbidden tree (hence the bite in the logo). Understand the knowledge of what holds itself in the technology that Jobs created, he knew it was basically like we all are holding the apple (knowledge) in our hand when we use a device.
That why its called apple.
smart phone

Apple was named after the Apple Shaped Torus Vortex. The immortal self regulating energy of all things in the cosmic chain. Same reason why the Freemasons named the New World they created The Big Apple. Ritually they shoot the apple off of a fellow mason’s head symbolizing destruction of self and realization of their own immortal energy. 33rd degree graduation. 33 is the number of vertebrae in the spinal column. Through meditation kundalini energy is drawn up the spine through deep breathing. Constant practice opens the pineal gland. Self realization and universal realization occur. Awareness of the Apple Shaped Torus Vortex is a permanent and unchangeable life experience. Apple doesn’t mean just knowledge. It means hidden knowledge. Freemason secrets we are not to have. Please research the Torus and the Apple Shaped Torus Vortex. Also an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Please eat some while you uncover and discover your own immortality. The truth does set you free.

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How Did Apple Get So Big?

The Story Behind Apple’s Success

On August 2, 2018, Apple made history by becoming the first publicly traded U.S. company to be valued at $1 trillion, as measured by market capitalization.   In August of 2020, the company broke records again by becoming the first U.S. company to reach a $2 trillion market cap.   Apple (AAPL) hovered just below that level as of early October 2020.

Since 2010, Apple has been one of the most valuable companies in the world.   It stayed at or near the top for many years after that.   The reason Apple is so highly valued is simple on the surface: the company makes popular products with generous margins. However, a curious reader who digs a little deeper will find mistakes, overthrown CEOs, and much more. In this article, we’ll look at the story behind Apple’s success.

Key Takeaways

• Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple in 1977, introducing first the Apple I and then the Apple II.
• Apple went public in 1980, but Jobs eventually left—only to triumphantly return several years later.
• Apple’s success lies in a strategic vision that transcended simple desktop computing to include mobile devices and wearables.
• Both performance and design are key drivers of the Apple brand and its ongoing success.

From Apple I to Steve Jobs 2.0

Understanding why Apple became so successful requires looking back at its origins and history. From the first Apple computer (the Apple I, which was just a motherboard without a monitor or keyboard) to the latest iWatch, here is a brief overview of the chronology of Apple’s innovative products.

Apple, founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, started out in the business of kit computers with the Apple I.   This initial production run is popular as a collectible now. However, it will mainly be remembered for helping the company get enough capital to build the Apple II in 1977—the same year Apple officially incorporated.   Wozniak primarily built both these computers, and Jobs handled the marketing side. 

The Apple II drove the company’s revenue until the mid-1980s, despite the hardware remaining largely the same. Apple attempted updates like the Apple III and the Apple Lisa, but these failed to catch on commercially. Although the Apple II was still selling, Apple as a company was in trouble when the 1980s began.

The 1984 release of the Macintosh was a leap forward for Apple. However, in the intervening years between the Apple II and the Macintosh, IBM had caught up. Disappointing revenues from the Macintosh and internal struggles for control led to Apple’s board dismissing Jobs in favor of John Sculley (some sources say Jobs decided to leave). 

In any case, Jobs worked on NeXT Inc. after leaving Apple. Under Sculley, Apple started growing its product lines.

Sculley served as Apple’s CEO until 1993.   During those years, Apple enjoyed strong growth. It created new products, including laser printers, Macintosh Portable, PowerBooks, the Newton, and much more. Apple products continued to sell at a premium, so the margins were generous for Apple and led to strong financial results. During the same period, however, cheaper computers running Windows were serving a far larger middle market, while Windows also benefited from powerful Intel processors. By comparison, Apple seemed to be stalling.

Two CEOs, Michael Spindler and Gil Amelio, failed to turn the tide against the relentless spread of systems running Microsoft operating systems.   Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows, was becoming the industry standard, and the Apple Macintosh was showing signs of age. Amelio eventually set about addressing some of these issues by buying NeXT Inc.—the company run by none other than Apple founder Steve Jobs.

The Second Chance CEO

From the Macintosh onward, Apple has either been a reflection of or a reaction to Steve Jobs. In the Macintosh, Apple was trying to create a machine that made computing simple and enjoyable. In particular, Jobs was out to create a user experience that would convince everyone to buy a Mac.

Jobs believed a truly revolutionary product couldn’t depend on customers’ needs and wants. He thought customers could not understand the value of a product until they were actually using it. Unfortunately, Jobs was ahead of his time in 1985—precisely 12 years ahead of his time.

When Jobs overthrew Amelio and took Apple’s reins once more in 1997, the hardware had caught up to his vision for all things digital. He launched the iMac with a strong marketing campaign featuring the «Think Different» slogan. Although Jobs is often given credit for spending the money and time on marketing, excellent marketing and branding have always been key to Apple’s growth. The real difference between the iMac and all the products preceding it was the beauty and design.

It was not a tower and monitor setup like every other PC on the market. The iMac almost looked like a racer’s helmet photographed at speed, a colorful blur sweeping back from the screen. In 1998, the iMac was the most aesthetically pleasing machine on the market. It was the computer no one knew they wanted until they saw it. It was elegant and, thanks to the OS upgrade, it was user-friendly.

The iEcosystem

The iMac was just the start as Apple released a string of hit products that reflected the new focus on elegance and user experience. These included the iBook, the iPod, the iPhone, the MacBook Air, and the iPad. The iPod became the category killer in MP3 players, and the iPhone essentially launched and then dominated the smartphone market. The iPad then somehow convinced millions of people that they needed yet another screen to consume content.

All these devices were perceived as being better in quality—and certainly in design—than competing products. Jobs was relentless on design and indoctrinated the entire culture of Apple into the art of design.

The other point he brought Apple back to in his second tenure is the ease of use. After a few minutes of using the wheel on an iPod or tapping icons on an iPad, these new forms of control became part of the simplicity that makes Apple appealing. Now every product update from Apple is anticipated by the media and the general public, in addition to the fans that the company had from the start.

More importantly, all of these products moved Apple into a new business model of creating a tight ecosystem of hardware, software, and content. Apple didn’t create iTunes to be a simple program for users to transfer MP3s onto iPods, as was the case with many other manufacturers’ offerings. Instead, the company attacked the concept of an album by breaking them into songs that would be sold individually at a fraction of the whole album’s price.

The same process took place with software. Many popular computer functions could be done on Apple’s mobile devices using stripped-down apps—available, of course, on Apple’s App Store.

Being the first big mover into many of these markets, Apple built the stadium and set the rules for the game. When you pay for books, movies, apps, or music on an Apple device, Apple gets a cut. Of course, this business doesn’t generate as much revenue as selling an iPhone or an iPad, where the markup is much more generous.

That said, it is the content you buy through Apple that locks many people into buying Apple again when their i-devices get old. So the content part of the ecosystem pays off for Apple in the short-term and the long-term. Once you migrate to Apple because of the design or the simplicity, it is the integration with your content that keeps you there.

The Post-Jobs Era

Steve Jobs died in 2011 of pancreatic cancer.   Serving as CEO until shortly before his death, Steve Jobs turned the reins of the company over to Tim Cook.   The post-Jobs era at Apple has nonetheless been a success by most measures. Apple continued to be the dominant tech company in both market share and stock price.

Some analysts feel that without Jobs as the creative force, Apple has become solely iterative in its tech releases rather than transformative. The major release of the post-Jobs era has been the Apple Watch. The firm also created Apple TV devices and launched the Apple TV+ streaming video-on-demand service to go with it.

In the absence of a groundbreaking new product, Apple is heavily reliant on the iPhone’s production cycle to power its financial success. Critics say that without Steve Jobs at the helm, Apple has lost its innovative edge in recent years and is riding on its brand to drive sales.

The company still produced some of the best products with the most integrated ecosystem. However, the gap between Apple and competitors like Samsung and Google was no longer as pronounced as it once was. Indeed, companies like Samsung were increasingly poised to take the lead when it comes to product innovation in some categories.

Apple in the 20s

Apple’s market capitalization reached new highs in 2020, as the company enjoyed some successes and set new goals for the future. The company’s revenue from wearable technology, such as the Apple Watch, set new records. Apple’s revenue from services also rose to record highs during the 2020 crisis, as contactless payment options like Apple Pay became more popular.

Apple also announced two major changes to the Mac in 2020. First, Apple is transitioning the Mac away from Intel processors to its own custom-designed chips. Apple’s new processors are based on the ones used in iPhones and iPads, making them more energy-efficient. The new chips have the potential to give Apple’s laptops longer battery life and more processing power than PCs.

Secondly, Apple is changing the macOS so that developers can make iOS and iPadOS apps run on the Mac without modifications. That will dramatically expand the number of apps available on the Mac and make it more competitive with PCs.

The Bottom Line

There is a fairly good chance that you are reading this article either on an Apple device or with one near you. Maybe you are doing it on a MacBook Air while listening to an iPod touch and occasionally glancing at the newest Apple Watch for alerts from your iPhone. The reason behind that—and behind Apple’s success—is that its devices are beautiful to look at and a pleasure to use. That’s why the company has such a powerful brand and lofty stock valuation.

The marketing helps, and the media and fan frenzy never hurt. However, it is the quality of the products that drive Apple’s success. Add to this the iEcosystem that makes it much easier to stay with Apple than try something new, and you have a company with what Warren Buffett called an economic moat. It should not be surprising that Buffett invested heavily in Apple.

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