In news breaking just minutes ago, Apple has announced that Steve Jobs, one of Android’s main detractors, has resigned from his position as CEO of the company. Tim Cook, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, has been named the Cuprtino-based tech giant’s new CEO. Jobs will remain part of the company, assuming the role of Chairman of the Board. In a statement released by Apple’s Board, Art Levinson said:
"Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company. Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO. Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does."
Jobs will no doubt still play a large role in Apple’s operations, with the move being similar to one recently undertaken at Google that saw Eric Schmidt’s duties shifted from CEO to Executive Chairman. Jobs’ history of illness likely was a large factor in the restructuring of Apple’s higher brass. His new position will likely come with a reduced workload.
Let there be no question: ours would be a very different industry, were it not for Steve Jobs. Few, if any individuals have had so profound an effect on their given spaces; a unprecedented track record that began in 1976 with the co-founding of Apple. In earliest incarnation, the company would prove the driving force of the personal computer explosion of the early '80s, beginning with the Apple II -- one of the industry's first hugely popular microcomputers. The Macintosh shook things up yet again, a launch celebrated by the debut of the "1984" ad during that year's Superbowl. That line helped break both the graphical user interface and the mouse to a massive audience.
Soon after, Jobs would resign, going on to form NeXT. The company never managed sales figures anywhere near the previous endeavor, but its products would prove highly influential, forming, among other things, the basis of Apple's paradigm-shifting OS X operating system. While Steve Jobs was focused on NeXT and The Graphic Group -- the company that would later morph into the far more familiar Pixar -- Apple suffered a series of defeats.
Jobs returned to the company first as an advisor, then interim CEO, finally reclaiming his role as the head of the company. In 1998, the company reimagined desktop computing yet again with the iMac. In 2001, the company unveiled the first Apple Store and debuted the iPod and iTunes that same year, drastically altering the state of the music industry.
In 2007, the company debuted the iPhone, before it gave the world the App Store a year later. Smartphones existed before Apple, sure, but since the introduction of the iPhone, they've never been the same. And after years of rumors, 2010 saw the debut of the iPad, a device that did the unimaginable, making the tablet a viable and indeed thriving consumer device.
Over the years, Jobs have proven an enigmatic and sometimes polarizing figure in this industry, but whatever words one might immediately leap upon to describe the black turtlenecked CEO, his impact can never be denied. And the aftershocks will no doubt be felt for decades to come. We knew that this day would come, but we were nonetheless taken by surprise when Jobs announced that he would be resigning his post at the head of the company, stepping aside for Apple COO Tim Cook.
We've gathered some of the biggest pieces of Jobs news to happen since the founding of our own site in 2004, not to bemoan the exit of Jobs, but rather to celebrate the presence of a figure who truly is larger than life.
06.06.05 - Apple goes Intel, it's true!
01.09.07 - Apple loses the "computer," unveils the iPhone
05.30.07 - Steve Jobs and Bill Gates: historic discussion live from D 2007
08.08.08 - Rumors of Steve Jobs' death greatly exaggerated
01.14.09 - Steve Jobs takes leave of absence due to health
06.29.09 - Steve Jobs back to work at Apple
01.27.10 - Apple unveils its "latest creation," the iPad
01.31.10 - Steve Jobs lashes out at Google and Adobe
07.16.10 - Jobs addresses antennagate
01.17.11 - Steve Jobs takes medical leave from Apple, puts Tim Cook in charge
03.01.11 - Steve Jobs' knighthood rejected by Gordon Brown
06.06.11 - Apple unveils iCloud, Jobs gives what may be his final WWDC keynote
06.08.11 - Jobs reveals Apple's new spaceship campus
08.24.11 - Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple
"Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company. Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO. Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does."
Jobs will no doubt still play a large role in Apple’s operations, with the move being similar to one recently undertaken at Google that saw Eric Schmidt’s duties shifted from CEO to Executive Chairman. Jobs’ history of illness likely was a large factor in the restructuring of Apple’s higher brass. His new position will likely come with a reduced workload.
Let there be no question: ours would be a very different industry, were it not for Steve Jobs. Few, if any individuals have had so profound an effect on their given spaces; a unprecedented track record that began in 1976 with the co-founding of Apple. In earliest incarnation, the company would prove the driving force of the personal computer explosion of the early '80s, beginning with the Apple II -- one of the industry's first hugely popular microcomputers. The Macintosh shook things up yet again, a launch celebrated by the debut of the "1984" ad during that year's Superbowl. That line helped break both the graphical user interface and the mouse to a massive audience.
Soon after, Jobs would resign, going on to form NeXT. The company never managed sales figures anywhere near the previous endeavor, but its products would prove highly influential, forming, among other things, the basis of Apple's paradigm-shifting OS X operating system. While Steve Jobs was focused on NeXT and The Graphic Group -- the company that would later morph into the far more familiar Pixar -- Apple suffered a series of defeats.
Jobs returned to the company first as an advisor, then interim CEO, finally reclaiming his role as the head of the company. In 1998, the company reimagined desktop computing yet again with the iMac. In 2001, the company unveiled the first Apple Store and debuted the iPod and iTunes that same year, drastically altering the state of the music industry.
In 2007, the company debuted the iPhone, before it gave the world the App Store a year later. Smartphones existed before Apple, sure, but since the introduction of the iPhone, they've never been the same. And after years of rumors, 2010 saw the debut of the iPad, a device that did the unimaginable, making the tablet a viable and indeed thriving consumer device.
Over the years, Jobs have proven an enigmatic and sometimes polarizing figure in this industry, but whatever words one might immediately leap upon to describe the black turtlenecked CEO, his impact can never be denied. And the aftershocks will no doubt be felt for decades to come. We knew that this day would come, but we were nonetheless taken by surprise when Jobs announced that he would be resigning his post at the head of the company, stepping aside for Apple COO Tim Cook.
We've gathered some of the biggest pieces of Jobs news to happen since the founding of our own site in 2004, not to bemoan the exit of Jobs, but rather to celebrate the presence of a figure who truly is larger than life.
06.06.05 - Apple goes Intel, it's true!
01.09.07 - Apple loses the "computer," unveils the iPhone
05.30.07 - Steve Jobs and Bill Gates: historic discussion live from D 2007
08.08.08 - Rumors of Steve Jobs' death greatly exaggerated
01.14.09 - Steve Jobs takes leave of absence due to health
06.29.09 - Steve Jobs back to work at Apple
01.27.10 - Apple unveils its "latest creation," the iPad
01.31.10 - Steve Jobs lashes out at Google and Adobe
07.16.10 - Jobs addresses antennagate
01.17.11 - Steve Jobs takes medical leave from Apple, puts Tim Cook in charge
03.01.11 - Steve Jobs' knighthood rejected by Gordon Brown
06.06.11 - Apple unveils iCloud, Jobs gives what may be his final WWDC keynote
06.08.11 - Jobs reveals Apple's new spaceship campus
08.24.11 - Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple
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