Ten years ago today, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died of cancer. For BILD am SONNTAG, BILD reporter Martin Eisenlauer looks back on one of the greats in the high-tech industries – and what of him still determines our everyday life today:
For others, death would probably have been a relief. Steve Jobs pushed himself towards the end until the end. When the Apple co-founder died 10 years ago on October 5, 2011, he was 56 years old and severely marked by a fight that even he could not win.
He had pancreatic cancer. For other people this amounts to a death sentence, the body is at the end of its strength within a few weeks, at most months. Jobs fought cancer for seven years. And he wore the marks of this conflict.
A private photo from the time before his death, which Apple desperately wanted to prevent from being published, is etched into my memory: Jobs emaciated on it. His formerly tight black sweater hangs on him like an oversized nightgown; Skinny legs stick out of too wide shorts and an assistant supports the seemingly disoriented man who once had the strength to change our world.
Jobs was last marked by his illness. But you could always see his enthusiasm for technology
He didn’t invent things – but brought them to everyday life
And strength, Jobs had. He did not invent the smartphone – but he made sure that it is used in its current form by more than six billion people worldwide every day. He didn’t invent MP3 – but he made sure that digital music finds its way into our ears on the go. He didn’t invent animation films – but it was his investment in Pixar that made the aging Disney corporation the giant we know today.
He knew what people want earlier than anyone else
Jobs never invented anything worth mentioning. His co-founder Steve Wozniak (71) was the duo’s nerd and hobbyist. Jobs knew what people want. Even if they might not have known or understood it themselves. He recognized exciting techniques and brought them to the mass market. No wonder then that Apple has not been able to establish any relevant new products in the market since its death. And has been for ten years now.
Today Steve Jobs is on his way to oblivion. For us nerds, his name has a touch of the divine. But when I asked my 19-year-old daughter what she would associate with Steve Jobs, her answer was: “Nothing, really.” For her, he is as much of the past as all the other greats who have changed our everyday lives. Like Alexander Graham Bell. Like Isaac Newton. Like Christopher Columbus. One who saw the world not what it is – but what it could be. And who fought until the end to make it so.
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