“The only way to do great work, is to love what you do”
~Steve Jobs
Introduction
While we all recognize Steve Jobs as one of the most successful innovators of our times, the visionary was just much more than that- a genius who revolutionized modern technology, business savvy, perfectionist, creative leader, and a tough boss with complex personality traits.
Without Jobs, the world of technology might look very different than we see it today.
Being a CEO at Apple, he completely transformed the thinking standards over technology and making it more simplified to its customers.
To make you understand more about this legendary fame, we have listed 20 Amazing facts about Steve Jobs you might not know before.
Here we go,
1. He was adopted
Steve Jobs may have been a huge public fame, but he was always careful to keep his private life hidden. Jobs was adopted and his biological father, Abdulfattah Jandali, was a Syrian immigrant while her mother was an American. He was later adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs.
2. He was associated to Buddhism
In 1974, Jobs traveled to India for nearly 7 months in search of spiritual enlightenment. As a result, the trip sparked in him a lifelong interest in Buddhism that stayed with him forever.
3. Jobs was Bullied
In the sixth grade, Steve attended Crittenden Middle School where he was bullied for allegedly being odd.
Later, he convinced his parents to move out of the area so, they shifted to Los Altos in California which Luckily! came up to be the birthplace of Apple.
4. He mentored the Google founders
Jobs actually served as a mentor for Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, even sharing some of his advisors with the Google Duo.
Their relationship soured after Google released Android, which Apple considered a threat to their iPhone.
5. Steve used to be Unhygienic
Jobs was moved to the night shift when working at Atari due to complaints about his hygiene.
He rarely showered and would walk around barefoot in the Atari offices.
6. Unusual behaviour with Media
Jobs was not always friendly with journalists and media, he even sued teenager Nicholas Ciarelli for his blog, where he revealed rumors and secret details about upcoming Apple products.
7. Jobs dated Joan Baez
A decade before he met his wife, Lauren Powell, Jobs dated folk singer Joan Baez in 1982. Jobs described their connection as “a serious relationship between two accidental friends who became lovers”.
8. Tough Boss
“My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to make them better” ~Steve Jobs
He believed in being strict with his employees to make them follow the company’s rules and principles properly.
9. Hewlett Packard offered him a job
Steve Jobs once called up HP founder, Bill Hewlett asking for parts to build a frequency counter.
Bill Hewlett, already an established entrepreneur then, just laughed and laughed on the phone. He, however, helped Steve with the spare parts and also offered him a job at Hewlett-Packard.
10. Steve Wozniak ripped off by Jobs
When the pair first created the breakout game for Atari, they planned on splitting the pay 50-50. Although Atari gave Jobs $5,000 for the game, Jobs told Wozniak they got $700, leaving Wozniak to take home $350 while Jobs pocketed the other $4,650.
11. Jobs earned an annual salary of one-dollar
Every year from 1997 to 2011, Steve Jobs made an annual salary of just $1. Taking a $1 salary was a way of showing how much he cared about the company he’d co-founded two decades earlier in his parent’s garage.
12. He knew Calligraphy
In 1972, Jobs audited a calligraphy class while he was in Reed College, which he later credited to be the inspiration for Apple’s beautiful typography.
13. He had a dedicated team to study emotions
Jobs had a dedicated team to study the excitement and emotion behind opening apple’s product box to help them in marketing campaigns. This emotion is very common with Apple products today.
14. The NeXT Company
After being fired from the company in 1985, Jobs quickly started another project creating the NeXT Computer, but sales were limited because it was too expensive.
Apple purchased NeXT stock resulting in Steve returning to Apple. Luckily, the combination of NeXT hardware with Apple resulted in operating systems like iOS used for the iPhone.
15. He denied Paternity
Jobs had a child with Chrisann Brennan (his high school girlfriend) called Lisa. Even after a DNA test proved he was the father, he still continued to deny it, claiming he was sterile. He named the computer Apple Lisa after his daughter.
16. Jobs and his sister
Jobs ended up connecting with his biological sister, Mona Simpson (the famous author) at the age of 27. Both were naturally artistic and shared much in common.
17. He didn’t know technology
While he forever changed the world of technology, Jobs was better known for his business savvy and creativity to his colleagues.
Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple with Jobs and stepped down in 1985, once said, “He did not know technology”.
He had never designed anything as a hardware engineer, and he didn’t know software. He wanted to be important, and the important people are always the business people. So, that’s what he wanted to do”.
18. He resisted the use of technology
Steve Jobs never let his own children using an iPad or a computer. He felt the excessive use of technology by children was a bad thing.
19. The two-Steves started from nothing
The relationship between Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs goes back a long way.
Moreover, they co-founded Apple in the year 1976 with almost no money. Steve Jobs sold his Van while Steve Wozniak sold his few possessions to start building their first product.
20. His last words are still a mystery
His last words on his deathbed were, “Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow,” while gazing over his family’s shoulders. What was he trying to convey or Did he saw something, it’s still a mystery today!
Final Thoughts
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