Steve Jobs may have succumbed to pancreatic cancer on Oct. 5, 2011 but his legacy lives on. The charming co-founder of one of today's most profitable companies, Apple, died at the age of 56, five years ago.
Since then, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been sharing a tweet every year on Oct. 5 to commemorate his friend and predecessor's accomplishments in life. And this year is no different.
"'Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.' Remembering Steve and the many ways he changed our world," Cook on Twitter shared one of Jobs' famous quotations in remembrance of Jobs' passing. Along with Cook, many other celebrities, fans, journalists and prominent public figures tweeted about Jobs, sharing his wise words all over social media.
Let's go down memory lane and remember the genius the world once had but will never be forgotten.
Apple: The Early Years
Although Jef Raskin founded the Mac project, Jobs took over it in 1981 and brought it back to life. He wasn't the one who wrote the codes or designed the circuit boards, but was the one with the visions that made Mac happen.
"Steve already gets a lot of credit for being the driving force behind the Macintosh, but in my opinion, it's very well deserved ... the Macintosh never would have happened without him," wrote Andy Hertzfeld, an original Mac project team member.
Apple's launch of the Macintosh in 1984 redefined the definition of a computer. Its 128K memory and 32-bit processor caught Microsoft off-guard, which made the latter introduce its Windows programs, doubling what Apple had at the time, as a response. Today, every computer there is follows majority of the paradigms presented by the original Macintosh more than 25 years ago.
The Macintosh was a success for some time but its increasingly lethargic sales strained the bond between Jobs and his personally-hired CEO John Sculley. Both battled before Apple's board of directors to oust one another. And in May 31, 1985, Apple announced Jobs' departure.
What's "NeXT"
After leaving Apple with a net worth of $150 million, Jobs went on for his next venture and created the computer company NeXT Inc., which was later bought by Apple, marking his return to the company who kicked him out as CEO.
In 1996, Jobs worked as an advisor to then Apple CEO Gil Amelio. In July 1997, Apple's board of directors decided to remove Amelio, naming Jobs as the company's temporary CEO.
Since then, it has been a period of increasing and unceasing success for Apple and Jobs. In 1998, the original iMac was introduced selling 800,000 units in less than five months; the floppy disk vanished and USB became the new thing; and MAC OS X, QuickTime, iMovie, and iTunes made their respective debuts in the following years.
Legacy
Jobs didn't just focus his attention to the iMac, but he envisioned different products of innovation. This transition with Jobs at the helm began in 2001 with the iPod, Apple's original music player, and the introduction of the very first iPhone in 2007.
Jobs was, unfortunately, diagnosed with cancer in 2004. Coming back after a surgery, he again had to leave in 2009 for a liver transplant. Jobs took his final leave in January 2011 and formally resigned as Apple CEO in August of that year. He died two months later on Oct. 5, 2011.
