Even after fifteen years of Steve Jobs’ passing away, his ideas continue to guide Apple and its products. From the first ever iPhone to Mac, the company follows many of his principles that Jobs believed in during his years at Apple. On Jobs’ death anniversary, Apple CEO John Ternus and Apple’s Executive chairman Tim Cook remembered the co-founder on Monday.
Tim Cook Remembers Steve Jobs
Cook, who succeeded Jobs as Apple CEO in 2011, said Jobs had changed not only the technology industry but also the lives of many people around him.
“There are people who leave a mark on the world, and then there are people who change it entirely. Steve changed the world and so many lives in the process. He certainly changed my life forever. His spirit lives on in everything he created and everyone he inspired,” Cook wrote in a post on X.
Ternus also shared a message remembering Jobs and the lessons he passed on to Apple’s teams. “The way Steve taught us to care about every detail, every experience, every person, still guides our work today. Forever grateful,” tweeted the Apple CEO.
Jobs died on October 5, 2011, at the age of 56, following his battle with pancreatic cancer. His death came only weeks after he stepped down as Apple CEO and recommended Cook as his successor.
Jobs had co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in 1976. The company initially found success with the Apple II, before the Macintosh helped bring graphical user interfaces and mouse-based computing to a much wider audience after its launch in 1984.
His first period at Apple ended in 1985 after a difficult period within the company. Jobs later founded NeXT and became involved with Pixar. Apple eventually acquired NeXT in 1997, bringing Jobs back to the company. His return marked the beginning of one of the most important periods in Apple’s history.
After returning to Apple, Jobs was involved in the development and launch of several products that went on to become major parts of the company’s business. The iMac arrived in 1998, followed by the iPod in 2001. Apple then entered the mobile phone market with the iPhone in 2007 and launched the iPad in 2010.
One of the most recognisable parts of Jobs’ philosophy was his focus on simplicity. He believed technology should not make users feel overwhelmed. Instead, products needed to be easy to understand and use while also having a clear and appealing design.
Walter Isaacson’s biography of Jobs also highlighted the importance of simplicity in his approach to technology and design. Jobs once described the challenge of simplicity by saying: “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.”
His legacy, therefore, is not limited to the iPhone, Mac, iPad or any other individual product. It can also be seen in the way Apple approaches technology and design more broadly.
