Steve Jobs
A Biography by Patrick Schloesser
Steve Jobs is a role model for me. I want to be like him when I grow up
because he has created many music downloading devices, software programs,
and computers. He started Apple Corporation and has made it thrive. That is
why I have chosen him for my biography.
Steve Jobs was born on February 24,1955 in San Francisco. His mother
was a graduate student and she decided to give him up for adoption. He was
eventually adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs. He went to Cupertino Junior High
school in Cupertino, California. He later graduated from high school and enrolled
in Reed College in Portland ,Oregon. Although he was accepted into Reed
College he dropped out after one semester, although he still attended a
calligraphy class. It was good that he dropped out because he probably would
not have built his first computer until much later. Steve Jobs said that if he had
dropped out of the calligraphy class, the Apple computers would have less fonts
to choose from.
In the autumn of 1974 Steve Jobs returned to California and started to
attend meetings at the Home Brew Computer Club with his good friend Steve
Wozniak. Later he would sell his first computer there. He took a job at Atari, a
manufacturer of popular video games. They wanted him to make one hundred
game chips for a new video game for the payment of $100 per chip. He turned to
his friend Steve Wozniak and asked him to see if he could change the amount of
computer chips to fifty. Steve Jobs promised to split the money with him if he
could do it. Instead of receiving the promised $5,000 he only received $600 and
both of them only got $300.
Here is a list of his early inventions. At the age of 20 he and his friend,
Steve Wozniak, made a personal computer called the Apple 1. It changed the
idea of computers from huge big boxes with tubes sticking out the back to small,
affordable, and personal computers. The Apple 1 introduced mouse technology
and a windows interface. Two years later he built the Apple 2. The Apple 2 was
best for small companies and homes. After the Apple 2 came the Macintosh. It
was made for medium- sized businesses.
After the success of the Macintosh Steve started working on the Apple Lisa.
Its main feature was its graphical user interface, point and click folders, and cut
and paste. A lot of the technology came from the science lab in Stanford
University. People thought that their computer wouldn’t sell, but Steve Jobs was
convinced that one day all computers would be like it. He urged his R&D
department to make something like it. Because of his hard managerial style he
was excluded from the project. The company thought that he would be better as
Chairman of the Board instead of working on the project.
Steve Jobs made Apple Corporation look good before it went public in
December 12,1980. In one day his value jumped from $7.5 million to $217.5
million. Steve Jobs became the youngest self-made millionaire ever. Apple
started to feel tension growing within the board. The struggles eventually lead to
him leaving the company in 1985. Steve Jobs started a company called NeXt. It
started out doing aesthetic computing but later focused on software design. In
1996 it was bought by Apple Computer. Steve Jobs was reinstated as C.E.O.
Steve Jobs is known for his work ethic and rumored bad temper. Ever since the
near bankruptcy of Apple in the 1990’s he has consistently helped Apple grow.
Steve Jobs has personally helped to create the Iphone and Ipod. He has created
new operating systems, new computers, new software, new music listening
devices, and phones. Everybody should try to be like him in at least one way.