He’s Still On The Job: The Legacy Steve Jobs Left For Apple

Ever since the first group of humans roamed the Earth, people already had a high degree of fascination to make the most of what they had and, from that, improve and innovate. Thanks to this never-ending love to be better in every possible way, we now have access to many conveniences, plenty of which hail from the field of technology. We have had many technological innovations over the years, with the most notable one arguably being the creation of the computer. Initially a machine that could almost occupy an entire room, the computer has become as big as our desktop computers or as small as our smartphones. Speaking of which, one such brand that has garnered plenty of recognition for producing many of the world’s finest smartphones, desktops, and laptops is none other than Apple, founded by the late Steve Jobs.

Already a decade since his unfortunate passing, the company has remained successful and faithful to Jobs’ vision for Apple. Now then, what was it that he left behind for the company?

The Achievements

Steve Jobs co-founded Apple back in 1976 with his childhood friend, Steve Wozniak, and sold their first ever product, the Apple I personal computer. While that was undoubtedly an achievement in its own right, it was the improved Apple II that brought them to even greater fame and fortune. Since then, Jobs has made plenty of investments for the company, including creating devices like the iPhone, iPad, iMac, and the funding of the now-famous computer animation studio, Pixar. No wonder the company still keeps his principles in mind when working on a new project: Jobs knew what he was doing, guaranteeing Apple’s continuous success over the years.

The Future

Of course, his journey was not without its challenges. Around 1985, Jobs had to leave Apple due to the friction he had with his colleagues. As bad as that may have been, that time away from the company allowed him to reflect and improve – and that, he did. Upon returning on Apple’s CEO’s chair back in 1997, Jobs had re-entered the company a better leader and even took credit for making the company even more successful.

Like many good leaders, Jobs knew he couldn’t be Apple’s head forever. For that, he and the company started a special program every hired director, executive level manager, and other high-level employees should take, an orientation of Jobs’ and Apple’s vision, principles, and work ethics. Suffice to say, this endeavor has paid off and is quite apparent with Apple’s new CEO,Tim Cook. Since his tenure as the company’s head, Cook helped double Apple’s profit and revenue, increasing its market value along the way. In a nutshell: plan ahead and prepare.

The Legacy

What were these principles he instilled in the company, what was his legacy? Although the company’s first two computers, the Apple I and Apple II, aren’t as efficient as the company’s newer products, Jobs already aspired to make devices that just about everyone could use. Computers back then were text-based and took a while to navigate around, so Jobs opted for Apple to utilize a graphical user interface and a mouse. Suffice to say, adding these two things to their computers ultimately became one of their greatest investments.

Now, functionalities aside, another sentiment Jobs had was that his products didn’t only have to work well – they should also look good. If it isn’t pleasing to the eyes, it would be hard to promote, after all. Because of that, Jobs made it a point that the company makes their devices as sleek and classy as possible, resulting in the now thin iMacs, iPhones, and iPads. No wonder it’s hard to find an Apple product released in the last few years that looks clunky: it’s because there aren’t any.