STEVE JOBS: HIS LEGACY CONTINUES TO SHAPE APPLE
HIS LEGACY CONTINUES TO SHARE APPLE
APPLE’S FUTURE LIES IN ITS PAST
There’s no denying Steve Jobs’ impact on Apple and the way in which his visions have shaped the company. Apple now has a trillion-dollar valuation and has been awarded the most valuable in the world. Steve’s way of thinking is, indeed, now ingrained in Apple’s ethos, from marketing to management, to pushing technology and innovation to new heights. Without his passion and bravery for innovation, the iPhone and Macintosh may never have seen the light of day, and today’s leaders would never have had the courage to create the Apple Watch and HomePod.
In this week’s article, we relive the death of Steve Jobs, look at the way Apple has changed since his passing, and explore his influence over the company, and how he is shaping its future.
SEVEN YEARS WITHOUT STEVE
October 5, 2011, will go down in history as the day one of the world’s most innovative and influential figures in technology and business passed away. Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, died aged 56 after battling pancreatic cancer for nearly a decade. In the weeks following his death, tributes poured in for one of “the greatest of American innovators.”
In some ways, it’s hard to believe that seven years have passed since Jobs’ death. For many, Steve Jobs was Apple, and his name continues to be mentioned after every major Apple event. One of the greatest leaders of our time, his death was met with worldwide mourning. Jobs was headline news around the world for a different reason, and the Apple website became an obituary, where fans and colleagues shared experiences of Jobs, and the impact he had had on them. This obituary is maintained every year, and just last week, Tim Cook shared a personal memoir of his old friend on Twitter.
After battling with illness for years, Jobs decided to step down as CEO of Apple on August 24, 2011, saying that he believed “Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it” and that he had “made some of the best friends of [his] life at Apple.” Sadly, just weeks later, Jobs died as a result of a ‘respiratory arrest’. It wasn’t until years later that we learned Tim Cook, Jobs’ successor, had offered to give Steve part of his liver, but that he had refused.
Following the news of Jobs’ death, world figures led tributes, with Microsoft’s Bill Gates saying “the world rarely sees someone who has had the
profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, thanked Steve for being a “mentor and a friend” and for “showing that what you build can change the world,” while Barak Obama added Steve was “brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.”
HUGE INNOVATIONS SINCE JOBS’ DEATH
Since Jobs’ death, many have criticized Apple for deviating from his visions, with some saying that the company has “sold out” following product launches such as the Plus-sized iPhone and the HomePod, which has struggled to make an impact compared to Alexa and Google Home. Apple has, without question, changed its image, and is now gentler, friendlier and more inclusive than ever before.
It has also made a reputation of itself for buying innovation, instead of building. Jobs reportedly wasn’t big on acquiring other companies, but a $3 billion purchase of Beats Electronics, and several other high-profile acquisitions, including AuthenTec for $370 million and Shazam for $390 million, have shown that Apple is no longer afraid of buying talent and fresh ideas.
Siri is another area where criticism is strong. Although the smart assistant arrived when Jobs was still at the helm - the iPhone 4S announced just a day before Jobs’ death - its technology has been overtaken by Microsoft and Google. Jobs had a perfectionist attitude, and rivalry with Microsoft and Google, so seeing the assistant the butt of jokes with satisfaction levels at an
all-time low is something that Steve Jobs would not have been happy about.
But that’s not to say Apple hasn’t innovated since Jobs’ death. Indeed, the Apple Watch is one of the biggest Apple products, with designer Jony Ive telling Hodinkee the first discussions of the device began just months after his death. “It caused us to take time, pausing to think about where we wanted to go, what trajectory we were on as a company, and what motivated us,” Jony said. “I think that Apple since the 1970s has made difficultto-comprehend and inaccessible technology easy to understand and accessible.” Apple Watch is now a core Apple product, with more than 4.7 million units shipped in the last quarter alone. That figure is expected to climb following the launch of Series 4 models.
Software is another area where Apple has come on leaps and bounds. Today’s macOS, iOS and tvOS are more advanced than ever, with facial recognition security, Apple Pay, augmented reality technology and more to boot. Indeed, Apple’s ecosystems are stronger than they have ever been, and alongside iCloud and Apple Music, its services division has gone from strength to strength, jumping 31 percent in 2018 now accounting for $9 billion in a single revenue quarter.
Other huge innovations in the past seven years include iPhone, which has gone from a 4.5inch 8GB 1.0 GHz device to the superpowered iPhone XS Max, Apple’s latest $1,099 flagship smartphone that’s packed with a 2.49 GHz hexa-core 64-bit CPU, 4GB of memory, 512GB of storage and a stunning all-glass 6.4-inch
OLED display with facial recognition and more. The Mac has also seen something of a makeover, with latest models sporting an allnew design, the introduction of a TouchBar and Touch ID on the MacBook Pros, and a brand new high-spec iMac Pro, designed for professional users, complete with a 1TB hard drive and 32 GB RAM.
APPLE IS THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE BRAND
Despite critique, Apple has continued to advance, from what was once a niche computer startup into the world’s most profitable and respected name in technology. In August, the Cupertino firm became the world’s first to cross a trillion dollar market value after shares hit $207.05, a mere 42 years after it was founded by Jobs, Wozniak and Wayne. Apple battled it out with Amazon and Google parent Alphabet and proved victorious, with Amazon also crossing the trillion-dollar mark just weeks after Apple.
The company has also, for the sixth consecutive year, beat competition from aforementioned Google, Amazon, as well as Microsoft and CocaCola, to become the world’s most valuable brand according to Interbrand’s Best Global Brands Report for 2018. Apple’s value grew 15 percent in 2018 and by more than $214.5 billion, which was up from $184.1 billion in 2017. When compared with Apple’s 2011 revenue, which sat at $108 billion, it’s clear to see that the company has exploded in the seven years since Jobs’ passing, more than doubling its revenue.
THE FUTURE OF APPLE
With Tim Cook continuing to perform well as CEO at Apple, the future is bright. But amidst former employees saying the company’s culture has changed since Jobs’ passing, growing pressure for Apple to give some love to its software such as Siri and dwindling sales in key markets such as China and India, more must be done to ensure Apple delivers to shareholders and its users.
And although iPad sales continue to cannibalize desktop sales in our post-PC era, and iPhone continues to perform well despite little innovation between cycles, it’s clear the company needs to look beyond smartphones. Its identity, in some ways, has been “lost in the smartphone,” according to some, with many products left on the wayside in favor of its high-performing flagship. Products in the Mac lineup, for example, have received no attention for four years, so Apple could choose to go back to its roots and innovate in the way only Jobs knew how.
Whatever the world’s most valuable company decides to do next, we know one thing for sure: consumers can expect more innovative hardware and software that will make their lives easier, their bodies and minds healthier, and the world a more productive place. With Steve Jobs’ ethos and the help of every Apple employee, the company continues to stand head and shoulders above its competition and proves that a little innovation and bravery can change the world.