AnOther reflects on the passing of Steve Jobs, visionary co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Apple, who will be remembered not just for his innovative products, but also his passion, energetic keynote speeches and trademark attire...
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"That's been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains," Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs gave plenty of inspirational quotes in his lifetime, but the former goes a long way to shed light on the genius visionary. Jobs, who passed away last night after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, remained loyal to that mantra throughout his lifetime – starting Apple with a school friend in a Silicon Valley garage in 1976 and leading the company to become the most valuable technology company in the world. Even in his short lifetime, Jobs is grouped with historic business geniuses and innovators such as American industrialist Henry Ford and inventor Thomas Edison. Apple's products, such as the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad promote focused technology and a simple, minimalist, iconic aesthetic and have significantly changed our relationship with technology, worldwide.
Jobs will also be remembered for his Apple keynote presentations, the once or twice yearly events which were live-streamed, creating a frenzy of excitement across the globe. Since the inaugural event in 1997, the keynotes (colloquially known as 'Stevenotes') have become feted for their signature structure, Jobs' trademark outfit (a black long-sleeved Issey Miyake turtleneck – the designer made him a hundred –, Levi's 501 blue jeans, and New Balance 991s) and his vibrant address style. Kicking off with sales figures, company updates and reviews, the highlight was always Jobs' "one more thing" – a famous part of each keynote when Jobs feigns concluding remarks, turns to leave the stage, then turns back to reveal the most exciting new release.
Like many companies globally, Jobs' work for Apple has been the key underpinning of the Dazed Group offices in London, from the early days of Dazed & Confused when the office shared a single Dial-up Apple in the basement. James Baker, Dazed Group's longstanding IT and Systems Manager and Apple enthusiast shared his thoughts: "The common mantra attributed to Apple products is 'it just works' and Jobs' proved this countless times with a succession of innovative and user friendly products. A fond memory I have of arriving at Dazed in April 2007 was seeing 40+ original tutti-frutti iMacs and a handful of Graphite PowerMacs all scattered around the office with people busy emailing, writing and designing magazines."
Having battled cancer in 2004 and undergone a liver transplant in 2009, Jobs has spoken regularly about death, most poignant his revelation of "being the richest man in the cemetery" didn't matter to him – instead the focus was "going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful".
Steven Paul Jobs, was born in San Francisco on February 24, 1955 and passed away in Palo Alto on October 5, 2011.
Text by Laura Bradley
