August 24, 2011 was officially Steve Job’s last day as the Chief Executive Officer of Apple but certainly not his last day as the leader of Apple. What happens to Apple next is what fills everyone’s mind now. Has the leadership of Apple really changed? Will Tim Cooks be able to fill the shoes Steve left behind and continue to excel and deliver? A part of Steve’s resignation letter states “I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it.” Perhaps this may be the answer since it’s coming from the man who has envisioned Apple’s success from the day he built the company, or at least in the near term.
Steve was highly regarded for his innovation and vision, in making Apple’s range of products something people seek and queue for. His creations revolutionized every segment they were in. Macintosh, the first small computer with a graphic interface in its time, began to revolutionise the personal computer industry. His creation of iPod and iPhone took the world by storm and changed the world of digital music and mobile phones. His latest iPad is also revolutionizing the tablet PCs and the importance of such devices to our daily lives.
Steve was also a man of passion. His passion was so great that he would rather be ousted than to give them up in 1985. In the following 10 years, Steve fulfilled his promise where he said Apple will be sorry he left. He envisioned and built NeXT and Pixar and they grew so well that he made a fortune when Apple and Walt Disney company bought them over respectively in 1996. The next evolution of Apple came with the integration of NeXTSTEP into Mac OS X and with Steve back in the company.
Steve’s vision, passion and innovation has sealed him as an iconic and charismatic leader, so much so that people were looking forward to his stage presence and performance more than the new product itself. In 2009 when Steve missed the annual Macworld Conference and was replaced by Phil Schiller, one of his key lieutenants, the...
