Steve Jobs: 1955-2011
Steve Jobs was not a great human being, but he was a great, transformative, and historical figure, Auletta writes for The New Yorker. One big question is whether the unbelievably innovative culture he forged will live.
Many books were dashed off describing what a tyrannical person Jobs could be—how he took the parking spaces of the handicapped, how he reduced employees to tears. Those tales will fade like yesterday’s newspapers. What will stand erect like an indestructible monument are the things Steve Jobs created that changed our lives: The Macintosh; the iTunes store that induced people to pay for music and other content; Pixar, which forever changed animation; the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. These were more than technological feats, but Apple products were beautifully designed, as well. For three decades, even as he got older, Steve Jobs and Apple remained “cool.”