More than anyone else, Apple's co-founder has brought digital technology to the masses.
The tech world gulped on Aug. 1 upon hearing that Steven P. Jobs had been operated on for pancreatic cancer. The Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL ) co-founder and chief executive, who broke the news in an e-mail typed from his hospital bed, said his prognosis was excellent. Still, everyone from artsy Mac lovers to buttoned-down Wall Street pros had to contemplate a future without one of the leading innovators of the Information Age.
Jobs's contribution? More than anyone else, he brought digital technology to the masses. As a visionary, he saw that computers could be much more than drab productivity tools. Instead, they could help unleash human creativity and sheer enjoyment. A marketing genius, he conceived of elegant products that captured consumers' imaginations. And as a relentless perfectionist, he came up with creations that actually delivered on their promise -- raising the bar for rivals. "From the time he was a kid, Steve thought his products could change the world," says Lee Clow, chairman of TBWA/Chiat/Day and Jobs' longtime ad man.
News source: BusinessWeek Online
