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Apple's Steve Jobs passes away at 56 |
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Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs is no more. He passed away on October 5th, 2011, after a prolonged battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer.  Apple announced the demise of their co-founder with a simple page on their corporate homepage showing Jobs's name and lifespan alongside his grey-scale portrait. Apple CEO Tim Cook emailed all Apple employees, sharing the sad news. “Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple,” Cook said. “No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much,” he added. Widely mourned, tributes and condolence messages for Jobs have poured in from across the world and the industry. Apple's Board of Directors, in a statement expressed their sadness at Job's passing, saying that his “brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer expressed his deepest condolences on the passing of Jobs, calling him “one of the founders of our industry and a true visionary.” Microsoft founder Bill Gates said, “I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work. Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives. 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. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.” President of the United States, Barak Obama, said, “Steve was among the greatest of American innovators — brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it. By building one of the planet’s most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the Internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike. Steve was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. Because he did, he transformed our lives, redefined entire industries, and achieved one of the rarest feats in human history: he changed the way each of us sees the world.” Mourning the passing of Jobs, New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, "Tonight, America lost a genius who will be remembered with Edison and Einstein, and whose ideas will shape the world for generations to come.” Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said, "People sometimes have goals in life. Steve Jobs exceeded every goal he set himself." In 2004, Steve Jobs announced his diagnosis to Apple's employees and the rest of the world about a cancerous tumor in his pancreas, albeit a rare less-aggressive type called “islet cell neuroendocrine tumor.” Concerns over his health persisted through 2006 and 2008, with the media drawing their own conclusions from his public appearances at the WWDC keynotes. He kept information on his health private, sparking a debate about the shareholder's right to know more about it given his hands-on style of functioning. He made light of a August 2008, mistakenly-published obituary by Bloomberg, responding to it at Apple's September 2008 “Let's Rock” keynote by quoting Mark Twain, "Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” Jobs later underwent a liver transplant in April 2009, and took a medical leave of absence from Apple in January 2011 to focus on his health, even as he made an appearance at the launch event for the iPad 2 in March this year. In August this year, Steve Jobs hung up his boots as CEO of the company he co-founded, instead taking over as Chairman of the Board. Jobs started Apple Computer in his parent's garage in 1976 after dropping out of college. He helped, via his innovations and inventions, grow Apple into a multi-billion company while notching up a personal fortune of $8.3 billion, as per data from Forbes. He has been cited as a person living the American Dream by President Obama in December 2010 while responding to a question about the divide between middle-class and wealthy Americans. Jobs is survived by his wife of twenty years, Laurene; their three children, and a fourth child, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, from a previous relationship. |
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