A Memoriam of Steve Jobs and Our (Im)Take

By Tim Wut On October 8, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock (and assuming your rock doesn’t have WiFi access) just knows. The news of Steve Job’s passing has exploded across the internet with tribute videos, old video viewings, and news blasts in the form of tweets, posts, and updates at an all time high. With one of the most poignant and impactful memorials ever created for… ANYONE on Apple’s homepage, the news hit the tech and consumer world with an impact that exceeded that of The King of Pop’s recent passing. But not to embark on an Apples to oranges argument, the influence of Apple Computers has had, in the tech consumer world, been undeniably profound with Steve Jobs at the forefront.

As also posted on Techzulu (with an Immersive Technologies take on the bottom of this article):

Steve Jobs, CEO, Chariman, and Co-Founder of Apple led nothing short of an extraordinary life with significant ups and downs. From sleeping on floors and collecting recyclables during his adolescent years, to being fired from the very company he founded, the peak moments of his professional career had seen him build not only THE largest computer company in the world, but also one of the most largest film studios (Pixar) as well. Upon news of his resignation as Apple’s CEO in 2011, it was also announced that Jobs was a victim of pancreatic cancer with public disclosure of his declining health. But even through that, he continued to serve as Chairman for Apple’s board of directors until the very end.

So whether you loved or hated Jobs, use a Mac or a PC, love the svelte aesthetics of your Macbook Pro, or prefer the full control of your Android based device, there is no denying Steve Jobs and Apple’s influence on the consumer tech-space. So for your reading enjoyment, we’ve compiled a list of neat Steve Jobs related factoids, some of which you may already know, some you may not. Paying respect to a truly inspirational figure.

“The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.” – President Barack Obama

R.I.P Steve Jobs 1955-2011

As of July 2001, Apple had over $4.2 billion in cash. Today? More than $76 billion in cash; 2 billion MORE than the US Treasury.
Steve Jobs studied calligraphy at Reed College and dropped out early in his educational career. He directly attributed influence a calligraphy class for the typeface and spacing of his Apple products.
The reaction to Steve Jobs’ death was recorded in record breaking numbers. 10,000 tweets per second following news of his death on Wednesday night.
The trending search item: “pancreatic cancer” reached Google’s rankings at #2 in a span of one night.
As of June 2011, there have been 25 million iPads sold cumulatively since its introduction in April 2010.
To date, 14 billion apps have been downloaded via the App Store. In April 2010, just about 1.5 years ago, the number was at 4 billion. Right around when the iPad was launched.
Despite lackluster buzz, the most recent iPhone 4S got 200,000 pre-orders in just 12 hours.
Jobs purchased animated studio ‘Pixar’ at $5M from Lucasfilms in 1986. In 2006, he sold Pixar to Disney for $7.6B and became Disney’s biggest shareholder.
Apple made the first mass-market color digital camera in 1994. The camera had no digital display, boasted one megapixel, took a total of eight photos, and cost $749.
Apple is the 2nd largest company in the world, right behind Exxon-Mobil.

And the ImTech take (please note this is my personal opinion and perception):

Steve Jobs’ Apple products have directly and indirectly influenced a huge spur in development and awareness of immersive technologies. The iPhone entered into the peak of a mobile industry monster that ran on button interfaces, and maybe sometimes, styluses. In just a few short years, they made touch-based interfaces the standard. Along with the iPod touch, multi-touch tracking pads and mouse, and the iPad; these devices fueled a continual growth in interest for touch-based computing further moving consumers away from the conventional (and aging) buttons and mouse.

The iPad and Macbook Air and the convenience of personal computing: Prior to the introduction and upgrades of these products, you were forced to choose between portable and lackluster, or powerful and inconvenient. The introduction of unobtrusive product offerings for personal computing that actually could handle a reasonable workload has been key, especially considering that the tablet and netbook market was small and slow to adopt. In addition, the iPad has played a huge role in the tablet industry BOOM.

Also, keep in mind the huge spur in momentum for the Augmented Reality industry from the iphone/iPad boom. Prior to the iPhone, even the constant action of holding phones in the air (to seek & view visual digital information overlayed on the physical world) didn’t exist. The app store model and popularity of the iPhone also led to strong competitive development by Google’s Android OS and their (more open-source friendly) brand of products contributing to the augmented reality industry.

We can also discuss the iPhone as a technological extension of one’s self (human-android relationship) (there’s an app for that). The iPhone entered into a niche market of smart phone users at a high buy-in price Now, the prominence of smart phones (with touch-interfaces no doubt) is ubiquitous. We use our phones to guide us (GPS) and our decisions (Yelp); to schedule, document, then broadcast our lives, and to connect to others. Smart phones have become our first full-time extension of our physical forms within the digital space. (When’s the last time you put down your phone?)

And let’s not forget the influence on the development of the Android OS industry – whole industries and markets created to compete against Apple iOS. Some might enjoy the open source availability and rootability of Android’s devices, and maybe they curse Apple’s proprietary nature and marked up prices of their products. But no matter what side you’re on and what you prefer, we can at least mildly agree that the quality of Android’s operating system has been strongly influenced by the iPhone’s success… competition breeds continual innovation. From both sides.

And finally, we speak on the widespread adoption of 3D media. While Apple didn’t invent 3D technology, the wide monetary success of 3D animated films by Pixar (and a consistent growth of quality 3D productions by other studios) has given the 3D industry such a strong demand that 3D media appears to be rapidly on its way to being the standard.

I understand Apple doesn’t necessarily invent these breaking technologies, nor are they ever the first do adopt/implement. Instead, they do seem to be the ones to set the standard. So whether you admired Jobs’ vision, or thought he was pompus and abrasive, own Mac products, or prefer performance per dollar over aesthetics; I’d like to point out just the same to everyone how influential it appears Apple has been on the Immersive Technologies space as a whole.