STEVE JOBS

STEVE JOBS

1955-1985 Youth & Apple's early years

 24 Feb 1955Steven Paul was born in San Francisco, the son of Abdulfattah Jandali and Joanne Schieble. He is quickly adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs1960The Jobs family moves from San Francisco to Mountain View, a suburban town in Santa Clara county, more famous under the name Silicon ValleySummer 196813-year-old Steve Jobs calls up Bill Hewlett and gets a summer job at the HP factory1969Steve Jobs meets Steve Wozniak, 5 years older, through a mutual friend. Woz and Steve share a love of electronics, Bob Dylan, and pranks1972Steve and Woz build and illegally sell 'blue boxes' that allow to make phone calls for free1973Steve spends the fall semester at Reed College, Oregon, then drops out. He will stay on campus and attend the classes that interest him for a while, then move to a hippie commune1974Steve gets his first job at video game maker Atari, and later makes a trip to India to 'seek enlightenment' with his college friend Dan KottkeMar 1976Woz and Steve show the early Apple I board at the Homebrew Computer Club1 Apr 1976Apple Computer Inc. is incorporated by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ron WayneSpring 1976 Steve and Woz start assembling Apple I computers in the Jobses' garage, and sell them to computer hobbyists, including 50 for the Byte Shop28 Aug 1976 Steve Jobs and Woz show off the Apple I at the Personal Computing Festival in Atlantic City, with help from Dan KottkeJan 1977Former Intel executive turned business angel Mike Markkula invests in Apple and hires former colleague Mike Scott as CEO. Woz is forced to leave HP to join Apple full time17 Apr 1977Apple makes a huge sensation at the West Coast Computer Faire with a prototype Apple II1978 The Apple II becomes the first mass-market personal computer, with impressive sales around the US. Apple becomes a symbol of the personal computing revolution1978Steve's ex-girlfriend Chris-Ann Brennan gives birth to their daugher Lisa. Steve refuses to acknowledge he is the father1978At Apple, work starts on the Apple III and the Lisa, while Jef Raskin begins The Book of MacintoshDec 1979Steve Jobs is shown the first working graphical user interface at Xerox PARC1979Sales of Apple II skyrocket after pioneer spreadsheet software Visicalc is introduced1980Jef Raskin’s Macintosh project is green-lighted. Lisa evolves into a GUI-computer, in part because of Steve Jobs' demandsMay 1980Apple launches the Apple III, which will prove a disastrous flop12 Dec 1980 Apple goes public, increasing Steve Jobs' net worth from dozens of millions of dollars to over $200 millionEarly 1981Jef Raskin is forced out of his Macintosh project as Steve Jobs takes over25 Feb 1981Black Wednesday: 50 Apple employees laid off by CEO Mike Scott without notice. The board asks him to leave shortly afterwards. Mike Markkula becomes interim CEO12 Aug 1981IBM launches the IBM PC, the biggest threat to Apple's future yetFeb 1982 A portrait of Steve Jobs ends up on the cover of Time Magazine, under the title 'Striking it Rich'. Steve trusts Time correspondent Michael Moritz to follow him on the Mac team for months, hoping to become Man of the Year3 Jan 1983Time instead makes The Computer 'machine of the year' and publishes a hatchet job on Steve Jobs, who becomes furious and suspicious of journalists for the rest of his lifeJan 1983Launch of the Lisa computer. The Lisa team later merges with the Mac team under Steve Jobs's leadership8 Apr 1983 PepsiCo CEO John Sculley becomes Apple's CEO after having been wooed by Steve Jobs for several months24 Jan 1984Macintosh is launched in great fanfare at Apple’s annual shareholder meeting24 Feb 1985 Steve Jobs celebrates his 30th birthday in great fanfare, with Ella Fitzgerald as guest singer for the nightMay 1985Palace coup: Apple's board sides with John Sculley and strips Steve off all executive dutiesSummer 1985Alan Kay first introduces the Pixar team to Steve Jobs17 Sep 1985 Steve Jobs resigns from Apple and starts NeXT with five other refugees from Apple. Apple announces it will sue NeXT

1986-1996 NeXT Pixar and wilderness

 30 Jan 1986Jobs buys the computer division of George Lucas' ILM for $10 million and incorporates it as PixarAug 1986 Pixar unveils John Lasseter’s short film Luxo Jr. at SIGGRAPH. It is praised by the expert audience as one of the first computer-animated work of art1986 Steve's mother Clara dies. A couple months later, Steve discovers his biological mother Joanne and his sister, novelist Mona Simpson. They will become close friendsFeb 1987 Ross Perot invests $20 million in NeXT, based on a $125 million valuation. The startup has still to release a productSep 1988NeXT and IBM form a partnership to have NeXT’s system run on IBM machines12 Oct 1988 Steve Jobs introduces the NeXT Cube in San Francisco to great critical acclaim, pitching it as a workstation for higher educationWinter 1988Pixar launches its new computer graphics workstation, the Pixar Image Computer II, and starts working on the RenderMan computer animation softwareDec 1988 At SIGGRAPH, Pixar releases its new short Tin Toy. It will win 1988's Academy Award for Best Animated Short FilmMar 1989NeXT partners with retailer Businessland to sell to corporate America in addition to higher edApr 1989 Steve Jobs is named 'Entrepreneur of the decade' by Inc. magazineJun 1989Canon invests $100 million in NeXT, now valued at $600 million30 Apr 1989Steve shuts down all of Pixar’s hardware operations13 Sep 1989 Steve introduces the cheaper NeXT Station in San Francisco, to boost the modest sales of NeXT hardwareMar 1991Steve Jobs fires almost half of Pixar’s staff and takes back all of the employees' stock in an effort to cut costs, as the company is still in the red 5 years after its launch18 Mar 1991 Steve Jobs marries Laurene Powell in Yosemite under the blessing of Steve's old zen guru Kobin Chino. Laurene is already pregnantMay 1991Pixar signs a deal with Disney to make a computer-animated feature filmFall 1991Laurene gives birth to Steve’s first son, Reed Paul JobsLate 1991Ross Perot leaves NeXT as his investment is still not paying offJan 1992NeXT licenses its operating system, NeXTSTEP, to run on x86 machines1992NeXT COO Peter Van Cuylenburg betrays Steve Jobs by trying to have the company bought by its giant competitor Sun. Sun CEO Scott McNealy warns Steve Jobs instead11 Feb 1993NeXT fires 300 employees as it discontinues all its hardware operations and becomes NeXT Software Inc. This is the nadir of Steve's careerMar 1993Steve's father, Paul Jobs, diesNov 1993Jeffrey Katzenberg puts a halt to the development of Toy Story because of creative disagreementsNov 1994Pixar resumes work on Toy StoryFeb 1995Steve starts focusing less on NeXT and more on Pixar before Toy Story is released. He becomes President & CEO of Pixar Animation Studios29 Nov 1995One week after Toy Story is out, Pixar goes public. Steve Jobs's worth rises to $1.5 billion, more than it ever was during his first tenure at AppleLate 1995Laurene gives birth to Erin Siena Jobs, her second child with SteveEarly 1996 Steve Jobs negotiaties a breakthrough deal between Pixar and Disney with its CEO Michael Eisner. The deal includes landmark rights for a studio, such as equal billing 1996 Steve's biological sister Mona Simpson publishes her third novel, A Regular Guy, whose main character Tom Owens is largely based on her brotherDec 1996 Apple, which was desperately looking for a modern operating system to buy, eventually buys NeXT for $400 million. Steve Jobs is named "informal adviser" to Apple CEO Gil Amelio
1997-2004 Rebuilding Apple
Jul 1997Gil Amelio is ousted by the Apple Board of directors after a disastrous quarter. Steve Jobs is named interim CEO in his place and installs his NeXT executive team at the top of Apple6 Aug 1997Steve Jobs introduces Apple's new board of directors and a truce with Microsoft at Macworld BostonFall 1997Apple starts its 'Think Different' campaign to restore its damaged brand image. The new slogan will quickly enter popular culture and define the company for the next five years8 Jan 1998 At Macworld San Francisco, Steve Jobs announces that Apple is profitable again, thanks to sales of the new Power Macintosh computers6 May 1998 Steve Jobs introduces Apple's revolutionary iMac at the Flint Center auditorium in Cupertino, 14 years after he had introduced the Macintosh at that same placeMay 1998Eve Jobs, Laurene and Steve's youngest daughter, is born5 Jan 1999Steve Jobs introduces the new Power Mac G3 and the color iMacs at Macworld San FranciscoApril 1999Pirates of Silicon Valley, a TV movie starring Noah Wyle as young Steve Jobs, airs21 Jul 1999 The original iBook is unveiled at Macworld New York with the tagline iMac to go. Steve Jobs invites Noah Wyle on stage to impersonate him again5 Oct 1999Introduction of the iMac DVs and of iMovie, the first of Apple's first Digital Hub app5 Jan 2000At Macworld San Francisco, Steve Jobs drops the 'interim' in his title and officially becomes Apple’s CEO. He also demoes Mac OS X's revolutionary Aqua interface to a bewildered audience19 Jul 2000 The Power Mac G4 Cube is unveiled at Macworld NY. It will be discontinued one year later because of disappointing sales9 Jan 2001Steve Jobs unveils Apple’s Digital Hub Strategy at Macworld: the Mac is to become the center of consumers' emerging digital lifestyles24 Mar 2001After four years of hard work, Mac OS X 10.0, the new incarnation of NeXTSTEP, ships19 May 2001 Apple opens its first Retail Stores in Tysons Corner, Virginia and Glendale, California23 Oct 2001 After an 8-month crash development program, Steve Jobs unveils iPod at a small media event on the company's campus. He has no idea how it will tranform Apple7 Jan 2002Steve unveils the iMac G4 and the fourth iApp, iPhoto, at Macworld San FranciscoMid 2002Apple starts its popular 'Switch' campaign with ads picturing PC users that switched to the Mac17 Jul 2002Steve Jobs introduces the first Windows-compatible iPods at Macworld NY28 Apr 2003 Apple opens the revolutionary online iTunes Music Store in the US, after negotiating landmark deals with all major music labels30 May 2003Opening day of Finding Nemo, Pixar’s first Best Animated Feature Academy Award winnerSpring 2003Following increasing tension with Michael Eisner, Steve Jobs announces that Pixar is seeking a new distributor to replace Disney after its contract expires23 Jun 2003Steve Jobs unveils the Power Mac G5, the world’s fastest computer, at WWDC16 Oct 2003 "The day hell froze over": Steve Jobs introduces iTunes for Windows and further demonstrates Apple's growing lead over its competitors in the digital music businessFall 2003Steve Jobs is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but stubbornly refuses any modern medical treatment for months. He tries alternative diets instead6 Jan 2004Steve unveils the iPod mini and the iLife suite at Macworld. The iPod mini will soon become the world's best-selling MP3 player and truly establish Apple as a consumer electronics powerhouseAug 2004Steve Jobs finally has his pancreatic tumor removed by surgery

2005-2011 The Big Apple

 11 Jan 2005 At Macworld San Francisco, Steve Jobs unveils Apple's productivity suite iWork, the new Mac mini, and the iPod shuffle, the cheapest iPod ever at $4929 Apr 2005Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger is released. A stable, fast release, it is immensely popular and marks the end of the four-year transition from the old Mac OS to UNIX-based Mac OS X6 Jun 2005At WWDC 2005, Steve Jobs announces that Apple is going to switch away from Motorola's and IBM's PowerPC architectures, and use Intel processors in its future Macs instead. This move will further help the growing adoption of the Mac 12 Jun 2005 Steve Jobs makes a memorable commencement speech at Stanford University. History will remember its closing remarks, Steve's advice to the young students: 'Stay hungry, stay foolish', a quote from the last page of the Whole Earth Catalogue from his youth7 Sep 2005Steve introduces the Motorola ROCKR, an iTunes-compatible cell phone, and the iPod nano12 Oct 2005Steve Jobs invites Disney’s new CEO Bob Iger on stage at an Apple Music Event where he also introduces the new iPod videos and the iTunes movie store10 Jan 2006Steve Jobs unveils the first two Intel Macs at Macworld, the iMac and the new MacBook Pro24 Jan 2006 The Walt Disney Company acquires Pixar for $7.4 billion. Pixar's largest shareholder Steve Jobs joins the Disney board while Ed Catmull becomes president of the Walt Disney Animation Studios, and John Lasseter its chief creative officer28 Feb 2006Apple releases its first living-room product, the iPod hi-fi, discontinued a year and a half later18 Apr 2006Steve Jobs announces Apple’s intention to erect a second campus in CupertinoMid 2006Apple starts its famous 'Mac vs PC' campaign, a series of TV commercials featuring Justin Long as Mac and John Hodgman as PC. The campaign will last for three years and mark popular culture7 Aug 2006Apple completes the transition of its entire product line to the Intel platform with the new Mac Pro9 Jan 2007 In his most memorable keynote presentation ever, at Macworld 2007, Steve Jobs introduces iPhone and its revolutionary touch-screen interface. He also introduces Apple TV and announces the company's name change from Apple Computer Inc. to Apple Inc. to better reflect its new natureApr 2007The SEC files charges against Apple’s Nancy Heinen and Fred Anderson for options backdating29 Jun 2007iPhone is released in the US, the same day as Pixar’s 8th feature film, Ratatouille5 Dec 2007Steve Jobs is inducted in the California Hall of Fame by Gov. Schwartzenegger15 Jan 2008 At Macworld 2008, Steve Jobs introduces MacBook Air, with the tagline 'the world's thinnest notebook'. Three years later, it will come to redefine all of Apple's notebook product line6 Mar 2008Apple announces it will open the iPhone platform to outside developers with the App Store. VC fund KPCB starts iFund to invest in the new mobile app economy that they (rightly) believe will sprout from it9 May 2008The press starts speculating about Steve Jobs's health as he appears very thin to unveil the iPhone 3G with an entry price of $199 on stage at WWDCAug 2008The SEC clears Steve Jobs of any responsibilities in the options backdating scandalLate 2008Apple starts its popular 'There's an app for that' campaign to illustrate the growing popularity of the App Store and the thousands of iPhone apps it offers5 Jan 2009Steve Jobs announces he will not speak at Macworld 2009 because of his health, and takes a six-month medical leave of absenceApr 2009Steve receives a liver transplant at the Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He was weeks away from dying when he got the surgery3 Aug 2009Google CEO Eric Schmidt leaves Apple's board because of conflicting interests due to Android28 Aug 2009Apple releases Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, stripped off any code from the original Mac OS9 Sep 2009 Back at Apple, Steve Jobs makes the first public appearance after his transplant to introduce new iPods at the 'It's Only Rock'N'Roll' event27 Jan 2010 After months of wild rumors, Steve Jobs unveils iPad, 'the biggest thing Apple's ever done'. The tablet runs the same operating system as iPhone16 July 2010 One month after the release of the new iPhone 4, Steve Jobs holds a press conference to address the smartphone's supposed reception issues, the so-called 'Antennagate'17 Jan 2011 Jobs surprises the world by announcing his new medical leave of absence, without any end date2 Mar 2011 Despite his medical leave, Steve Jobs takes the stage to unveil the new iPad 26 Jun 2011 At his last keynote at WWDC 2011, a freil Steve Jobs unveils Apple's cloud offering, iCloud, the foundation for the next decade of Apple products7 Jun 2011 Steve Jobs appears at the Cupertino City Council to unveil Apple's plans for its new 'Spaceship' campus. This is his last public appearance24 Aug 2011 Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple, with the words 'I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.' Tim Cook becomes Apple CEO5 Oct 2011Steve Jobs dies at home, surrounded by his family24 Oct 2011After two years of work, and forty interviews with Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson publishes his authorized biography of the Apple and Pixar co-founder, simply named Steve Jobs