Steve Jobs - The Apple of this generation’s eye dies at 56

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died at the age of 56 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Jobs was surrounded by his wife and immediate family when he died in Palo Alto, California. Jobs is survived by his wife Laurene and five children, as well as his sister, the novelist Mona Simpson. The iPod, iPhone and iPad are his gifts to the world. "Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve," Apple said in a statement. "His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts." Apple changed it's website to a big black-and-white photograph of him with the caption "Steve Jobs: 1955-2011." Jobs took a medical leave from Apple in January and stepped down as chief executive in August saying he could "no longer meet (his) duties and expectations." Born on February 24, 1955, and then adopted, Jobs grew up in Cupertino, California - which today is home to Apple's headquarters. Jobs launched Apple Computer Inc. with co-founder Steve Wozniak. They built their first commercial product, the Apple 1, in Jobs' parents' garage in 1976. Jobs sold off his Volkswagen to help finance the venture. The computer, priced at ~US$666, had no keyboard or display, and customers had to assemble it themselves.



The following year, they unveiled Apple II computer, which went on to be a big hit. Apple's pioneering Macintosh computer was launched in early 1984. Again, it was very well received by consumers. But an internal power struggle at Apple saw Jobs being ousted in 1986. He was out of Apple for 10 long years during which he founded NeXT Computer, whose costly, cube-shaped computer workstations never quite caught the fancy of consumers. He rejoined Apple in 1997. Apple's fortunes started soaring in 2001 with the launch of one of Jobs' three major success stories - the iPod digital music player. There was no looking back for Apple and Jobs after that. The iconic iPhone came in 2007 followed by the iPad last year. The world of technology, be it personal music players, hand held cellphones or personal computing has never been the same since then. Jobs also founded Pixar, the computer animation company later sold to Walt Disney. Pixar of course has given some of the biggest animation blockbusters in Hollywood like Toy Story, Cars, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, Wall-E, A Bug’s Life, The Incredibles, Ratatouille and more recently Up.