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Tuesday, 17 January 2012 | (13) Leave A Comment

Apple: Before and After Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs- The driving force behind Apple is gone. What will become of it?

By: Shermaine Lee

Each time I look at the fruit, it reminds me of Apple Inc. and its co-founder the late Steve Jobs.

The young Steve Jobs

(CC Image courtesy of Iwpkommunikacio on Flickr)

Although not a fan of Apple products, I respect Steve Jobs for revolutionizing the Digital World. The advent in technology has been rapid and immense, resulting in people storing images and games in an MP3 to using phones with fully-fledged touch screens. With the passing of Steve Jobs, it seems certain that this will impact Apple and subsequently the world of technology. That being said, lets look back at some of his past accomplishments and achievements in his life.

Technology Breakthrough

In the past, desktop computers were difficult to use as it featured a command-line interface. The Macintosh was then introduced. It was the first desktop computer to use a graphical-user interface and a mouse, and achieved commercial success. This resulted in a string of other brands of desktops following suit. This changed the way people perceived desktop computers to be.

The Macintosh, featuring a mouse and graphical-user interface

(CC Image courtesy of Marcin Wichary on Flickr)

Apple then went on to release many of its other products over the years, which also proved to be major hits, ranging from the Apple Mouse to the iPod.

The Apple Mouse

(CC Image courtesy of Mitmensch0812 on Flickr)

The iPod

(CC Image courtesy of dyobmit on Flickr)

Fast forward to the year 2007, when it proved to be the most successful time for Apple yet as its sales reached peak high. Within days of launching the iPhone, it received explosive reception, selling 6 million units in over a year. Unsatisfied with the restrictions that the original iPhone had, Apple released a newer version of it the following year and so on and so forth. What is your say on the latest iPhone?

Steve Jobs with the first iPhone

(CC Image courtesy of Iwpkommunikacio on Flickr)

Which came first: iPhone or Android?

Competition soon ensued between Apple and Google’s Android with the former claiming that Android phones were stolen products of the iPhone.

[1] “Our lawsuit is saying, ‘Google you f***ing ripped off the iPhone, wholesale ripped us off.”

(Read more about it here and here.)

Death of Steve Jobs

Fighting a long battle with pancreatic cancer since 2003, Jobs died on October 5, 2011. As Apple announced the death of Steve Jobs, they mourned of his passing with flags flying at half-mast and people paying their respect at Apple stores.

Flags flying at half mast at Apple’s headquarters

(CC Image courtesy of marc.flores on Flickr)

Memorials of Steve Jobs outside one of Apple’s stores

(CC Image courtesy of Lydia Fizz on Flickr)

Now that Apple has lost its leader, the “main brain” behind revolutionizing technology is also gone. Before that, the charismatic and perfectionist leader brought the company to great heights, convincing the world that Apple would not fail under him, creating amazing products one after another. How do you feel about his management of Apple?

Problems faced

Personally chosen by Steve Jobs, Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook announced the iPhone 4s to the world, just a day before his death. However, it did not receive that much of an explosive reaction as it had as compared to the iPhone 4. (Read more here and here).

When Apple released news of Job’s passing, within days [2] the shares of Apple fell by five percent in trading while shares of some of its rivals such as Samsung Electronics and HTC gained.

Apple’s homepage, paying tribute to its co-founder

(CC Image courtesy of manveetSingh on Flickr)

In the same week, [3] Market research company comScore conducted an analysis of the smartphone market share in the U.S, with Google’s Android in the lead with 43.7 percent and Apple’s iOS following behind with 27.3 percent.

Will Tim Cook manage to keep the late Steve Job’s vision alive? Or will the post-Jobs era hinder the success of Apple?

Feel free to share your comments.

Resources:

1) http://asia.cnet.com/crave/schmidt-says-android-came-first-before-iphone-62211940.htm

2) http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2011/11/28/turkey-argument-which-came-first-iphone-or-android/

3) http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2011-10/06/c_131176750.htm

4) http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2394115,00.asp

5) http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/review/2114695/iphone-4s-vs-iphone-head-head-review

[1] Steve Jobs on the on-going lawsuits that Apple is involved with Android. (CRAVE, CNET ASIA, Nov 09, 2011) http://asia.cnet.com/crave/schmidt-says-android-came-first-before-iphone-62211940.htm

[2] Concerns of Post-Jobs era (SCI & TECH, XINHUANET, Oct 06, 2011) http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2011-10/06/c_131176750.htm

[3] Analysing smartphone market shares in the U.S (SCI & TECH, XINHUANET, Oct 06, 2011) http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2011-10/06/c_131176750.htm

Labels: Steve Jobs Apple Technology