The first time I ever remember interacting with an Apple product was in 2001. I was a little kid

at the time and was at the local mall with my dad. We were walking around and he said he wanted to

check out something at the Apple store. The bright, minimalistic room with everything neatly arranged. We walked up to the

first table which had an iPod on it. He had seen one of the ads for it on TV and wanted to see the

scroll wheel. He tested it out for a minute before showing me how it worked and letting me try it.

I remember being mesmerized by this wheel. Spinning it navigated through menus smoothly

and pressing the center button selected the item. It was unlike anything else I had ever used

and right on the table next to us was a sign that said 1000 songs. I remember telling my dad

wow that's more than all the CDs we have at home and while the iPod wasn't the first mp3 player

it quickly became the most popular. Years later I got an iPod but I'll never forget my first experience

with that simple elegant design. I think that's where Apple products really used to shine. Anyone

could pick it up no matter their age and just start using it. And as most of you likely know

the person running Apple at the time of the iPod was Steve Jobs. From dropping out of Reed College

to getting managed out of his own company on this episode of In The Shell.

Whoa. Hey why we're not shipping Windows 98? Absolutely. Mr. Jobs you're a bright and

influential man. Here it comes. It's sad and clear that on several counts you've discussed you don't

know what you're talking about. The key to success is developers developers developers developers

developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers

Jans and I don't own phones. Neither should you people if you have any common sense.

My name is Josh and I'm able to keep this podcast independent and advertisement free

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Steve Paul Jobs was born on February 24th, 1955 in San Francisco and was adopted as an infant by Paul

and Clara Jobs. As a 13 year old, Jobs boldly called Bill Hewlett of Hewlett Packard to ask

for spare parts for a school project, which landed him a summer job at the HP factory. In high school,

he met Steve Wozniak, who I covered in the previous episode, a like-minded electronics whiz who shared

Jobs' love for pranks and technology. Together, they'd tinker with projects like building illegal

blue boxes to hack telephone systems for free calls. Jobs briefly attended Reed College in Oregon,

but dropped out after one semester. He continued auditing classes that interested him, such as

calligraphy, which would later influence the typography on the Mac. Back in Silicon Valley

in 1975, Jobs joined the Homebrew Computer Club, a hotbed of early computer hobbyists.

His friend Wozniak had designed a simple personal computer circuit board, the Apple I. Jobs immediately

saw its potential. In April 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple Computer Company,

along with a third partner, Ron Wayne, in the Jobs family garage. They started by hand-building

Apple I boards and selling about 200 units to hobbyists. The following year, Apple released the

Apple II, one of the first highly successful, mass-produced microcomputers. The Apple II was a hit,

becoming the first personal computer to appeal to a broad consumer market.

quickly grew into a symbol of the 1970s personal computing revolution,

an era when computers shrank from room-sized machines

to devices people could use in their homes.

By age 25, Jobs was a millionaire and Apple was thriving.

In 1980, the company went public,

and its charismatic co-founder became the young face of the booming tech industry.

In 1983, as Apple continued to grow,

Jobs recruited Pepsi executive John Sculley to be Apple's CEO,

famously challenging him with the question,

Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life,

or do you want to come with me and change the world?

That bold vision, changing the world through technology,

was at the heart of Apple's identity.

Under Jobs' guidance, Apple launched the Macintosh in 1980.

1984, with the now-legendary Super Bowl commercial targeting Big Blue, otherwise known as IBM.

We shall prevail!

On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh, and you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984.

The Macintosh introduced the GUI, graphical user interface, to a wide audience, paving the way for modern, user-friendly computers.

Despite Apple's early success, the mid-1980s brought power struggles.

The Macintosh, though innovative, initially struggled in the market against cheaper IBM PC clones.

Tensions were also growing between Jobs and CEO John Sculley over the company's direction.

By 1985, Apple's board sided with Scully.

In a dramatic internal showdown, Jobs was stripped of any real authority.

Feeling betrayed, he resigned from Apple in September 1985 at just 30 years old.

It was a crushing moment, being forced out of the company he co-founded, but it would prove formative.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me,

Jobs reflected years later.

Free from Apple, he said,

It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

Jobs took with him a handful of Apple employees and started a new company called Next Inc. in 1985,

aiming to build advanced computers for education and business.

Around the same time, he also became involved in a little animation.

studio that would change Hollywood. In 1986, shortly after leaving Apple, Jobs purchased

the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm and rebranded it as Pixar. He invested 10 million of

his own money into this venture, becoming Pixar's chairman. For years, Pixar struggled to find its

footing. They sold high-end graphics computers and created animated short films to showcase

their technology. Jobs believed in the team's potential, even when they weren't yet profitable.

His perseverance paid off when Pixar, in partnership with Disney, premiered Toy Story in 1995,

the first-ever feature-length film made entirely with computer animation. Toy Story was a stunning

success, both a technological milestone and an instant classic in cinema.

Pixar's breakthrough not only made animation history, but also revived Jobs' reputation as a tech visionary.

Over the next decade, Pixar produced a string of beloved hits,

A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and more.

The company's success led to a major deal with Disney.

In 2006, Disney acquired Pixar for $7.4 billion in stock,

making Steve Jobs the largest single shareholder in Disney at the time.

By the mid-1990s, Apple, the company Jobs had co-founded, was in trouble.

It had failed to deliver on a next-generation operating system,

and was on the brink of irrelevance, losing market share and bleeding financially.

In a twist of fate, Apple decided in 1996 to buy Next.

Steve Jobs' new company, to acquire its advanced software.

In December 1996, Apple purchased Next for $400 million, bringing Jobs back to the company he started.

In 1997, Apple's board ousted CEO Gil Emilio and invited Jobs to step in as interim CEO, or I-CEO as Jobs called it.

Jobs wasted no time.

He slashed failing products, like the Newton handheld, streamlined the product line, something Apple should do again,

and infused Apple with a renewed focus on innovation and design.

Crucially, technology from Next became the foundation of Apple's future.

The Next Step software was adapted into Mac OS X, giving Apple a modern, stable operating system.

With a solid OS and Jobs at the helm,

Apple staged one of the most remarkable comebacks in tech history.

In 1998, Apple introduced the bold, translucent iMac,

which helped re-energize the brand with its all-in-one design and user-friendly appeal.

The mantra was to make technology elegant and accessible.

The back of our computer looks better than the front of anyone else's, Jobs quipped,

underlining Apple's new emphasis on design.

The next decade saw Apple, under Jobs' vision, roll out one world-changing product after another.

The iPod in 2001, iPhone in 2007, and iPad in 2010.

Here's Jobs announcing the iPhone at the Macworld Expo in January 2007.

An iPod.

A phone.

And an internet communicator.

An iPod. A phone. Are you getting it?

These are not three separate devices. This is one device.

And we are calling it iPhone.

Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.

Under Jobs' leadership, Apple not only returned to profitability, it became a trendsetter.

By the late 2000s, Apple was one of the most valuable tech companies in the world.

Jobs had transformed Apple from a struggling 90s underdog into a global powerhouse at the forefront of the world.

front of consumer technology. Inside Apple, Jobs pushed for excellence, famously telling his team

that real artists ship, a reminder that innovation must be coupled with actually delivering products.

In 2004, Steve Jobs was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer.

He battled health issues privately for several years, even as he continued to lead Apple

and appear at major events. By 2011, his condition worsened, and on October 5th, 2011, Steve Jobs

passed away at his home in Palo Alto, California, surrounded by his family. He was 56 years old.

News of his death spread around the world instantly. Fittingly, much of it via devices

he had shepherded into existence. Tributes poured in from world leaders and

History peers, President Barack Obama, held Jobs as among the greatest American innovators,

brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world,

and talented enough to do it.

Microsoft's Bill Gates, once Jobs' rival, said,

For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor.

Jobs once said in a keynote,

We are here to put a dent in the universe.

By the time of his death, it was clear he had done exactly that.

He had inspired a generation of entrepreneurs to think differently and chase big dreams.

In the Shell is written, researched, and recorded by me, the iPodcaster.

If you are listening in an app that lets you rate shows, please take a minute to rate this one.

I would truly...

really appreciate it. I mentioned it last episode, but if you are looking for a great movie

that covers the early days of Apple and Microsoft, with some creative liberties, of course,

check out Pirates of Silicon Valley. That's it, take care, and I'll see you next time.