With the passing of Apple’s former CEO Steve Jobs happening just yesterday, I thought it would be interesting to look at the impact he has had on the every day lives of not just Americans, but almost anyone that has come in contact with a computer. Let’s consider the personal computer that came out in 1984, the Macintosh 128K. It was such a big deal that they even had a Super Bowl commercial for it when it came out. This is what began the craze of a personal computer. Let’s now fast forward to 2001. Yeah, yeah, everyone has a computer, but that doesn’t stop Jobs from making a huge difference in our lives. 2001 marks the introduction of legal music downloading, iTunes (perfect timing seeing as the first generation of iPod was only a few months later.) As of this October, iTunes has sold over 15 billion songs.
So then comes the really big stuff. 2001: the iPod comes out, along with the rest of its family. 2007: the iPhone is introduced, which we all have experienced. Lastly, 2010 brought th iPad, which already has multiple versions.
While there were many gadgets between these, it would be near impossible for me to list them all. What is important to note is that Steve Jobs pushed our society into the 21st century with his innovative ways.
He was a brilliant man. He really set the mark high for others in his field.