Steve Jobs: a man of contradiction and genius - Apple co-founder brought innovation, elegance and a hint of control-freakery to the technology powerhouse, Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American computer entrepreneur and inventor. He was co-founder,chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Jobs also previously served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios; he became a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, following the acquisition of Pixar by Disney. He was credited in Toy Story (1995) as an executive producer.

In the late 1970s, Jobs, with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Mike Markkula, and others, designed, developed, and marketed one of the first commercially successful lines of personal computers, the Apple II series. In the early 1980s, Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potential of Xerox PARC's mouse-driven graphical user interface, which led to the creation of the Macintosh. After losing a power struggle with the board of directors in 1985, Jobs resigned from Apple and founded NeXT, a computer platform development company specializing in the higher-education and business markets. Apple's subsequent 1996 buyout of NeXT brought Jobs back to the company he co-founded, and he served as its CEO from 1997 until 2011. Steve Jobs led a company that became one of the world's most valuable enterprises, and easily the most beloved by its customers, with a series of innovative and always elegant products that brought value and pleasure to people's lives. This is why you are seeing an outpouring of genuine sentiment at his passing.

Here are some of Apple's milestones:

1976 - High-school buddies Steven Wozniak and Steve Jobs start Apple Computer. Their first product, Apple I, built in circuit board form, debuts at "the Homebrew Computer Club" in Palo Alto, California.
1977 - Apple II is unveiled, the first personal computer in a plastic case with color graphics.
1983 - Apple starts selling the "Lisa," a desktop computer for businesses with a graphical user interface, the system most users are familiar with today.
1984 - Apple debuts the Macintosh personal computer.
1985 - Jobs leaves Apple after a power struggle.
September 1997 - Jobs is named Apple's interim CEO after the company records losses of more than $1.8 billion.
November 1997 - Jobs introduces a new line of Macintosh computers called G3, and a website that lets people order directly from Apple.
1998 - Apple unveils the iMac desktop computer.
2001 - Apple introduces the iPod.
2003 - The iTunes Store opens, allowing users to buy and download music, audiobooks, movies and TV shows online.
August 2004 - Jobs announces he underwent successful surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his pancreas.
January 2007 - Apple introduces the iPhone.
2008 - Apple opens its App Store as an update to iTunes.
January 2009 - Jobs takes leave for health reasons. COO Cook leads the company in the interim.
June 2009 - Jobs returns to the company after undergoing a liver transplant.
April 2010 - Apple begins selling the iPad, a 10-inch touchscreen tablet, and has an 84 percent share of the tablet market by year's end.
Jan. 17, 2011 - Jobs announces that he will take another medical leave.
March 2, 2011 - Apple launches the iPad 2.
Aug. 9, 2011 - Apple briefly edges past Exxon Mobil Corp to become the most valuable U.S. company.
Aug. 24, 2011 - Jobs steps down as CEO and is replaced by Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer.
Oct. 5, 2011 - Jobs dies at age of 56 after battle with pancreatic cancer.

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