Steve Jobs is highly remembered for his contribution to the field of computing and technology through his role in the development of Apple laptops, iPhones, and iPods among other technological products. Born in 1955, he grew up in California’s San Francisco. He was adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs where grew up together with her sister Party (Deutschman, 2018). From the early stages of his life, Jobs demonstrated great interest in electronics and used his spare time to works in an electronics garage run by their neighbor who worked at Hewlett –Packard. During his high school years, Jobs enrolled in an explorer club that was run by Hewlett –Packard where we saw software engineers displaying different computer designs. In 1972, Jobs graduated from high school and joined Reed College located in Oregon’s Portland area. After two years, he dropped out of college and traveled to India where he intended to study eastern religion. Later he returned and joined Homebrew Computer Club. In this club, he met Homebrew Computer Club, and they formed the Apple computer company (Streeter, 2012). Since then, Steve Jobs has contributed to society from the perspective of science and technology.
Computer Designs
Steve Jobs identified a gap within the computer industry and endeavored to fill the Gap. The computers of the time were very big to the extent that one computer was enough to fill one room. While the efficiency in working introduced by information technology and computers, in general, was greatly appreciated at the time, the existing computers were too big and hence inconveniencing to use. Moreover, they were too expensive that the vast majority of potential customers could not afford them. As such, Jobs played a critical role in revolutionizing this computer space through the design of much smaller computers were more easy to use, occupied less space and were less expensive. In 1977, he launched the Apple 2 computers venturing largely into the space of personal computers (O’Regan, 2013). This was a great contribution to the computer space, as the previously existing computers were not accustomed for personal use.
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The introduction of this first Apple computer was successful owing to Jobs’ shift from plastic components that were much bigger to metallic components that were much smaller. Moreover, Jobs was able to greatly minimize the cost of production to the extent that he was able to sell his products at an affordable price (Streeter, 2012). This was a great contribution to the computer and the information technology space as well as to the society in general. The contribution led to a new era of computer development that was not only affordable but equally but equally convenient and easy to use at a personal level (Mangalindan, 2011). Furthermore, this pioneering achievement by Steve Jobs motivated other computer developers to consider redefining the sizes, complexity, and prices of their computer products in a way that was beneficial to customers as well as the society in general.
Contribution in Music
The error of information technology and digital content had a negative impact on music producers during the mid-20 th century. Digital platforms provided an avenue over which music producers could sell their music content to millions of customers across the world. Therefore, digitalization enabled music producers to reach a wide global market that they previously did not have access to. Therefore, the digital space and the internet, in particular, was opening up great opportunities for music producers and leading to expanded sales. However, the digital error equally presented serious challenges for the music producers. Several websites and software popped up through which people could illegally download music. For instance, Napster allowed users to download music without paying for it (Trautschold, Ritchie, & Mazo, 2012). As such, the music producers lost a great amount of revenue due to this illegal downloads.
Steve Jobs made a great contribution in revolutionizing this digital music content space in a way that restored profitability for music producers. The illegal access to music was threatening the music industry by making it less attractive. Through the development of iTunes, Music producers could now develop and sell their music products over a secure digital platform. The iTunes platform enabled the music producers to load their music content on the iPhone platform and obtain revenue for every person who intended to download it (Trautschold, Ritchie, & Mazo, 2012). Jobs structured the iTunes in a way that every person who intended to download music could only do so after making payments that largely went to the music producer. Moreover, the iTunes was integrated into iPods a product that had gained great popularity and hence equally received similar popularity. Through this strategy, he was able to save the declining music industry and offer a more secure online platform over which music producers could sell their music content to customers.
Personal Computers
Previous computers were largely designed for commercial use. They were owned and operated by business enterprises as well as other commercial entities. The large space required to accommodate these computers and the high cost of acquiring one made such computers less attractive for personal use. The main players in the computer space of the time had not envisioned the development of a computer that could be applied for personal use. Steve Jobs created and popularized the personal computer space within the computer development industry (O’Regan, 2013). Therefore, he pioneered the personal computer era that saw massive development
The introduction of Apple II was the game changer in the personal computer space. As already mentioned, it introduced convenience of transportation, storage, and use. Moreover, it was affordable for most people and hence become popular. The impact of this is that it led to extensive use of computers in public. Unlike the original state where computers were only used in offices, the introduction of Apple II led to widespread use of computers in workplaces, homes and social events (Proctor & Bicknell, 2012). The use of computers was expanded from official user to their personal uses such as entertainment. This development further opened up a window for the development of other similar computers by other computer manufacturing which expanded the personal computer space further. Therefore, without the contribution of Steve Jobs, personal computers would probably not have been developed and the extensive use of computers at personal levels that we experience today would only be a mirage.
iPhones
Steve Jobs also made a great contribution to the mobile phone industry and particularly in the smartphone industry. He spearheaded Apple’s introduction of the iPhone to the smartphone industry in 2007 that has greatly revolutionized this industry to date (Bell, 2011). Before the introduction of the iPhone, smartphones only contained the enhanced features of emailing and chatting. These limited features on smartphones of the team greatly limited the user experience of smartphones. While Android phones may have taken over and are leading today regarding market share, their development was largely motivated by the introduction of the iPhones (EsslingerHartmut, 2014). Therefore, Jobs pioneered a revolution in the smartphone space.
The iPhone brought along tremendous change to the smartphone industry. First, it introduced large and highly responsive screens (Mangalindan, 2011). This was largely in contrast to the then existing smartphones that were relatively small and with less responsive screens. Secondly, it introduced solid operating systems the ensured speed and efficiency of the smartphone (Isaacson, 2013). It further introduced internet features such as browsing. This ability further created a platform that social media companies such as Facebook exploited in creating and running their social media sites (EsslingerHartmut, 2014). All these smartphone features had not been previously envisioned in smartphones. Therefore, Steve Jobs contributed to the enhancement of the smartphone experience by adding these additional features to the smartphone portfolio.
Moreover, the iPhone equally changed the voicemail services by the introduction of visual voicemail. Through the iPhone, Steve Jobs also revolutionized the voice mail services that were mail services in a way that enabled iPhone users to push, leave, and access visual voicemails over their smartphones. The iPhone incorporated the nonlinear form of the “Push to use” voicemail feature (Baker & Baker, 2017). While other companies have widely adopted this feature, it was first pioneered in his iPhone Product. Thus, he made a tremendous contribution to the smartphone industry by introducing the iPhone product that revolutionized the way people communicate over technological platforms.
iPod
The development of iPod was also a significant contribution by Steve Jobs to the music industry, the social life, as well as the technological space. Although he did not invest the MP3 product in totality, he revamped this product stylishly and conveniently. He redesigned the product to create a sleek, stylish, and convenient product with the design that largely borrowed from the other apple products (Baker & Baker, 2017). This product presented thousands of music products to the customers. Unlike other MP3 devices, the iPod gave people the opportunity to search and select the music of their choice. Moreover, its sleek design made it convenient to carry around. The popularity of this product rose to the extent that the iPod become synonymous with MP3.
This contribution by Steve Jobs equally influenced the culture of the people. Many youths in America and beyond developed the culture of walking around with the iPad (Bell, 2011). Moreover, it equally helped music producers to create more content and equally reach more customers. The link between the iTunes and the iPod created convenience both in the access of music as well as in the distribution of such music by the music producers.
Tablet Computers
Steve Jobs must also be credited for his role in pioneering and development of tablet computers. The nature of life and operations in businesses necessitated a type of computer that would be more portable. The increasing need for documentation in business meetings that laptops and other forms of computers could not manage then necessitated the development of smaller, portable and convenient form of computers. With the background of this need, he pioneered the development of the iPad (Corcoran, 2014). The computer product that was launched in 2010 was aimed at meeting the growing demand for such smaller computer forms for personal, professional, and academic use.
As envisioned by Steve jobs, the introduction of the iPad was a great success. For the first time, people were able to move with their personal computers whenever they went owing to its portability. Moreover, computers could now be used for entertainment purposes such as listening to music and watching movies as one moved from one location to another. This product had a great impact on academic circles. Students could now store their course contents in the iPad and study whenever they got an opportunity to do so. The tutors can now disseminate soft copy notes, and the learners can equally access such notes. Therefore, the use of iPad in a classroom setting was a great success and a huge contribution by Steve Jobs in the academic circles (Murugesan, 2011). With the development of this product, people could go to meetings with their personal computers and equally take notes over such computers as notebooks. Before these development notes in meetings were handwritten and later converted to soft copy. Therefore, he created convenience in computers that enables computer users to take notes in meetings using their personal computers.
Steve Jobs introduced several features in the iPad that made this product more convenient, portable, small, and easy to use in meetings. Firstly, it had a highly sensitive touch screen (Proctor & Bicknell, 2012). This eliminated the need for keyboard and mouse that were mainly used in standard computers and hence reduced the size and the bulkiness of this computer. Secondly, the iPad did not have provision for USB ports. The absence of such ports made the IPad sleeker, less bulky, and hence more convenient to carry around (EsslingerHartmut, 2014). While many other tablet computers have been developed since credit must be given to Steve Jobs for revolutionizing this computer space by pioneering the development of IPad.
Advertisement
The role of Steve Jobs in revolutionizing the advertising industry was equally notable. There are two ways that he contributed to the advertising industry. First, he led a more creative and versatile advertising campaign during his tenure at the helm of the company. In 1980, the company had the most creative advertising commercials featuring visual as well as the print media. Most notably, the Super Bowl commercial of 1984 was an icon of creativity in the advertising industry of the time (Proctor & Bicknell, 2012). The advertising campaign among others by Steve Jobs spearheaded and depicted high creativity and hence led other companies during this time to explore creativity in the way they presented commercials.
Secondly, he contributed to the development in the advertising industry through the development of online platforms over which business can advertise their products in a way that is efficient and cheap. The development of the iPhone discussed above, provided a platform for smartphone users to access many websites. Therefore, this opened a platform for such websites to carry advertising messages to users. Consequently, the development of the iPhone led to a massive increase in advertisements over online platforms such as websites and social media platforms (Murugesan, 2011). Currently, millions of businesses are now advertising their products on social media platforms and digital news content platforms among other online platforms. While other computers and smartphone manufacturers have reached this space credit must be given to Steve Jobs for pioneering the creation of platforms over which online advertisements can be executed.
Animation
Lastly, one of the least known contributions that Steve Jobs made was to science and technology was in the field of animation. Although he is widely known for his contribution to computers and smartphones, he equally made a significant contribution to the animation industry particularly in the context of entertainment. In 1986, Steve acquired the Pixar Company that mainly dealt with animation and the production of toy stories (Corcoran, 2014). It is through this company that Steve made a significant contribution to the world of animation and toy story development.
Under the leadership of Steve Jobs, Pixar Company produced several animations that were creatively made to fill the animation space in the entertainment industry. The most notable of these animations included the Toy Story 1 and the Toy Story 2 (Corcoran, 2014). Disney largely distributed the two animations and became the most popular animations of the time. The success of these animation films created a huge demand for animation and attracted more players into the animation industry. As such, he contributed to the development of creativity and story building in animation. Although this contribution is unpopular, its impact in the animation field and the overall entertainment industry cannot be overlooked.
Conclusion
Until his death, Steve Jobs had an exciting and successful career and business life. Through technology, he made a significant contribution to society and the world at large. His major contribution was in the area of computer design. The convenience in Computer use that people enjoy today can be largely attributed to him. The revolutionized the design, capacity, and efficiency of computers to what we have now. The work of Steve Jobs greatly impacted music producers. Through the development of iTunes, music producers were able to protect their copyright and sell their music products over a secured online platform. The contribution that he made in the smartphone industry cannot be overemphasized. The development of iPhones was a great revolution in the smartphone industry. Jobs mainly pioneered the many features on the current smartphones. His contribution to the development of tablet computers largely affected society. People were able to carry their computers to meetings. Moreover, students were able to use such computers in their coursework. Moreover, he made a valuable contribution to the advertising industry by creating an online platform to carry such advertisements as well as leading creativity in the advertisement. Lastly, Jobs made a great contribution to the animation field by leading the development of toy story animations as well as other animations that gained great popularity during the time.
References
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