It was a year ago today, that the tech world mourned the passing of one of its brightest stars. Apple’s former CEO Steve Jobs passed away after a long fought battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer and we acknowledged his contribution as we remembered the iCon.
As we look back at the past year we cant help but wonder how Apple fills that gaping void he has left behind.
When he left Apple’s reigns as CEO, the company was in the best shape it has ever been. The company is now valued at nearly $700 per share and has over a $650 billion market cap. The iPhone and iPad had risen to head the post PC and in the process boosted Apple to become the largest and most powerful tech company in the world.
At many times he has referred to Apple as being part of the essence of everyone who worked there and we see that in the current CEO Tim Cook, as the company continues to move forward with their product releases and see success with every release. The success is evident with devices like the Apple iPhone 5 which managed to sell over 5 million units in just the opening week.There are two aspects to Apple’s success – One is in new and innovative products and the other is in their follow up products which always aim to push the boundaries. Throughout Apple’s success Steve Jobs has been in the helm of every new (successful) product presentation. This ranges from the iPod through the MacBook Air all the way to the iPad. No one presents a new product like Jobs. His charismatic introduction has the most tech savvy in the audience stare wide eyed, forgetting at times that the technology being demonstrated has probably been around for years. Jobs has always been a good salesmen and that has been an integral part of Apple’s success.
Apple at times has faced controversy for releasing a product which looked identical to its predecessor. But in each iteration of their product, Apple aims to push their boundaries. The newest iPhone 5 and MacBook Pro with retina display are great examples of this as both devices cant be matched by competitors for being engineering marvels. Owning an Apple product gives the user a sense of pride and that continues to fuel Apple’s success.
Since Steve’s death, Apple has still to announce a new product. The company has continued to produce follow up devices to their lineup but have still to see a new device join Apple’s ranks. We know that Apple probably have many projects in their labs, but we don’t know how many of them will see the light of day, but we know that the company’s passionate founder inspired many of those products until his last days and cant help but wonder if one of those products inspired Steve Jobs’ last words “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.”