Steve Jobs, the face of Apple, died Wednesday in Palo Alto, Calif. — a day after the iPhone 4S announcement was made. He was 56.
Jobs had been battling a form of pancreatic cancer known as islet cell neuroendocrine tumor. He announced for the first time that he had a surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in the summer of 2004. Jobs then underwent a liver transplant in 2009 and took three leaves of absence before handing the company over to Tim Cook in August.
“He was the one who moved the world,” said Yoon Kim, a Cal State Long Beach psychology major. “I don’t know how [Tim Cook is] going to work.”
Apple posted Wednesday on its website: “Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.”
President Barack Obama paid homage to Jobs’ creativity and his important contributions to the digital age.
“The world has lost a visionary,” Obama said in a statement Wednesday, “and there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.”
Jobs was born on Feb. 24, 1955 in San Francisco. He was given up for adoption by Joanne Carole Schieble and Abdulfattah Jandali, both graduate students at the University of Wisconsin. Paul and Clara Jobs adopted him.
Jobs dropped out of Reed College in Oregon in 1972 after six months. Although he was no longer enrolled at the college, he still attended classes that interested him.
Four years later, Jobs co-founded Apple from his parent’s garage in Cupertino, Calif. with Steve Wozniak, a friend he met while attending Homestead High School.
The company would become the No. 1 business in the technology sector with a market cap of $285 billion, according to marketwatch.com.
Jobs is credited for the invention of the Apple II, Macintosh, iMac, iPod, iPhone and the iPad.
After the announcement of Jobs’ death, YouTube created a spotlight segment on the website’s front page that featured videos of Jobs introducing the first iPod in 2001 and giving the commencement address at Stanford in 2005.
Kinesiology therapy student Hilgard Cruz said Jobs cemented a legacy that will never be forgotten.
“He’s definitely going to be an icon,” Cruz said. “He set high standards for people to compete with.”
Kinesiology graduate student Gerardo Martinez said Jobs’ death leaves behind uncertainties.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen with Apple,” Martinez said. “You don’t think of Apple without thinking of Steve Jobs.”
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