Steve Jobs Dead At 56

Steve Jobs Dead At 56

The famous co-founder of Apple Inc., died today (October 5) at age 56.

In a brief statement, Apple announced the death of their visionary leader, but did not say where he was when he died.

Mr. Jobs suffered from a rare form of pancreatic cancer and had a liver transplant in 2009.  He stepped down as Apple’s chief executive on August 24th.

Jobs introduced simple, well-designed computers for people who were more interested in what technology could do rather than how it was done.

Jobs was considered to be the key mind behind the company's visionary products.  The deceased CEO will live on through his products.

An original thinker Jobs helped create the Macintosh which was one of the most influential computers in the world.

Jobs also reinvented the portable music player with the iPod, launched the first successful legal method of selling music online with the creation of iTunes, and reordered the cellphone market with the iPhone. The introduction of the iPad also jump-started the electronic-tablet market, and it now dominates the field.

Mr. Jobs had a genius for understanding the needs of consumers before they did. Calculating that people would be willing to pay a premium price for products that signal creativity, he started a chain of retail stores and pushed consumers away from their dependence on floppy disks and CDs.

Mr. Jobs was the first crossover technology star, turning Silicon Valley renown into Main Street recognition and paving the way for the rise of the nerds, such as Yahoo founders Jerry Yang and David Filo, and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Pancreatic Cancer

Known within the technology community for his complex and combative temperament, Mr. Jobs was a private man. But in a June 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, he talked about his pancreatic cancer, diagnosed in 2004, in a video that became an Internet sensation.

He later became furious at speculation over his health in mid-2008, when he appeared in public looking gaunt. In late 2008, he took a medical leave from the company, and he had a liver transplant the following year.

Medical Leave

In January of 2011 he took another medical leave. On Aug. 24, 2011 he stepped down as Apple’s chief executive but became chairman of board.