To One of the World’s Greatest Businessmen & Innovators: We Thank You, Steve Jobs

Steve JobsJust about a couple hours ago, I read a breaking news email from CNN with perhaps the most devastating news that I possibly could hear today and also in the world of technology, innovation and marketing: Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, has died.

He was considered “one of the business world’s greatest comeback kids” and while I wasn’t a hardcore fan boy over Apple products, I recognized the success that they’ve had. In fact, the success of the Apple brand is largely because of the vision of one man, Steve Jobs. Mr. Jobs was perhaps one of the best businessmen the world has ever seen in the age of technology. From starting a revolutionary company to compete with Bill Gates and the rest of the Windows and PC conglomerate to then picking himself up after being ousted from his own company and starting Pixar Pictures, a highly regarded animation movie studio. A few years later, the Apple board realized the follies of their ways by bringing Mr. Jobs back to the company and that’s where the Apple Renaissance really took place.

Sadly, Mr. Jobs passed away at the age of 56, but with a legacy of being an innovator, one of the best in technology, a mastermind in business, and a revolutionary marketer who understood what customers wanted in communication devices.

Yes, he knew what people wanted and he answered it. He helped change the way technology was being done and how communication was going to happen on. He saw that people were going to be wanting to do business and interact with information on the go, so he introduced the world to the iPhone. From there, he kept revolutionizing and introducing the world to outstanding products that disrupted the industry left and right. Once the PCs were the top of the mountain, but now, Apple seems to reign supreme and it’s all thanks to the one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) marketers of all time.  He engineered one of the greatest feats of company revival seen in the past century and had it be a huge success – so huge that it encompasses the way that we do business and are living lives today. In addition to the iPhone, Mr. Jobs has disrupted the printing industry too by bringing out the iPad tablet device that shook the core of the computing industry. Sure, many manufacturers like Windows, Dell, and IBM had tried it before creating tablets, laptops, netbooks, etc that catered to the specific audience, but Apple knew better and so did Jobs.

 

Mr. Job’s legacy is a solid one and we should all be thankful for what he’s done…regardless of whether we’re against Apple or love the company. There’s no disputing his place in history and the world has definitely suffered a great loss as a result. His innovative spirit is something that marketers should aspire to try and mimic, not mock because his hustle, determination, and futuristic thinking has changed the world for the better. For those who think that the Apple brand will suffer as a result of their leader, mentor and founder’s demise, this should not be an issue. It seems to me that the future is looking good for the company because Mr. Jobs would have endowed his people with the same spirit, dedication, innovative ideals, leadership and motivation to continue to create solutions that were empathetic to the needs of the world, not just their customers.

So I say to Mr. Jobs…thank you for the memories, changing the way that we live our lives, and for your appreciation of business, technology and understanding your customers.

It would be appropo for me to leave this wonderful saying by Steve Jobs, which Engadget placed on their site in honor of Mr. Jobs.

Steve…thank you.

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