Since Steve Jobs’ resignation as CEO of Apple last week, the tech press has gone completely wild with retrospectives. Being the Apple fanboy that I am, I spent an inordinate amount of time reading, watching and listening to all the media had to say. From favorite Steve quotes and reporters’ personal anecdotes to complete synopses of his life and career, the tech world was literally abuzz covering what was arguably the biggest technology story of the year. Frankly, the tone ranged from playful to funereal and everything in between. Amongst all this noise I came to the the realization that the real story here has hardly been touched: How will history judge Steve Jobs?

First, let’s take a brief look at his life and accomplishments:

• 1976 - Founded Apple Computer with Steve Wozniac and released the Apple II. Many view this as the start of the personal computer revolution.  By 1980 Apple Computer employed over 4,000 people and Steve was worth over $100 million.
• 1984 - Released the first Macintosh. The first personal computer to utilize a mouse and a graphical user interface (GUI), the “Mac” set the standard for how we interact with computers to this day.
• 1985 - Left Apple, founded NeXT Computer and bought Pixar. While NeXT wasn’t a commercial success, it will play a huge role in Apple’s future.  He picked up the little-known Pixar for a few million dollars when the company just did computer graphics on a contract basis.  He later sold it to Disney (after a few blockbuster movies like Toy Story) for a whopping $8 billion!
• 1996 - Triumphantly returns to Apple. Apple buys NeXT Computer and hires Steve back in the process.  He becomes Apple’s CEO the next year.
• 1998 - Released the iMac. The first “all in one” personal computer. The “i” in iMac stands for Internet and the machine was the first personal computer built for connectivity.  It was such a commercial success it was credited with bringing Apple back from the brink of bankruptcy.
• 2001 - Released the iPod. Not much to add here. While it wasn’t the first digital music player, it was by far the best and most successful.  Apple now owns over 85% of the portable music player market.
• 2001 - Introduced Mac OS X.  Built on NeXTStep, the operating system acquired with the purchase of NeXT Computer, OS X is widely acknowledged as the most advanced, stable, easy to use and aesthetically pleasing operating system available. It powers all new Macs today and a trimmed down version, iOS is the operating system for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and AppleTV.
• 2003 - Introduced iTunes music store. iTunes is credited with changing the way we purchase music forever. Without a doubt, iTunes revolutionized the music industry by selling digital versions of songs for 99¢.  Apple surpassed Wal-Mart in 2009 to become the world’s largest music retailer. 
• 2007 - Released the iPhone. Enough said. It is the smartphone everyone else is trying to emulate. This year, Apple became the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer.
• 2010 - Released the iPad. Described by Mr. Jobs as the first device of the “post PC” era and the most important product of his career. Considering this list of accomplishments, that’s saying A LOT! The iPad dominates the tablet market with over 80% market share.
• 2011 - Apple becomes the world’s most valuable company. While it goes back and forth, ExxonMobil’s market cap (the total value of all shares of stock) got passed by Apple for the first time in August 9th, 2011.  What makes this even more impressive is the fact that Apple was near bankruptcy when Steve returned in 1996.

Quite a list, right?  I just hit the high points! Inventing the iPod or iPhone would surely rank Mr. Jobs on par with such pioneers as George Eastman (inventor of the Kodak camera) or Charles Goodyear (invented vulcanized rubber), but coupling his many inventions with his extraordinary business prowess has to put Steve Jobs up there with the likes of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. I’m not certain historians will judge him as favorably as I have, but they should.  Is the personal computer as earth-shaking an invention as the telephone? The automobile? Time will tell. Steve Wozniac (Mr. Jobs’ Apple co-founder) was once questioned as to whether the Apple II was indeed the first personal computer. In response he replied, “I don’t care if I go down in history as the inventor of the personal computer, I just want to be remembered as the inventor of the first good one.” 

Not only did Mr. Jobs usher in the PC era with the Apple II in 1976, he also ushered it out in 2010 when he announced the release of the iPad. How may inventors or entrepreneurs throughout history have done the equivalent? No matter how history judges Steve Jobs’ life and career, I just feel lucky to have witnessed it and benefitted from it.

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