Apple CEO Steve Jobs steps down, but remains positive

Posted By on August 25, 2011

"I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it, and I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.”

— Steve Jobs (56), resigning CEO continuing Chairman of the Board

wsj_stevejobs

Although for the most part, my Apple loving days are probably in the past, I’m saddened to see one of America’s brightest and most innovative leaders handing over the reigns.

Apple said Mr. Jobs submitted his resignation to the board of directors on Wednesday and "strongly recommended" that the board name Mr. Cook as his successor. Mr. Jobs, 56 years old, has been elected chairman of the board and Mr. Cook will join the board, effective immediately, the company said.

"I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know," Mr. Jobs said in his resignation letter. "Unfortunately, that day has come."

LINK

My history with Apple stems back to the early 1980s when the only graphical personal computer at the time was the Apple Macintosh computer. It was “the only” fit for a start up printing and publishing company and it created an inroad for me and my new enterprise. No only was I able to set type without a dedicated “galley typesetting machine,” but the Macintosh enabled a user to actually set in position pages of text utilizing software. Soon we were setting type and graphics on a single paste-up sheet which could be quickly put to film, stripped with film halftones and burned to plate. What an innovation and leg up on the competition!

Of course it didn’t stop there … eventually the Mac enabled skilled graphic artists the ability to convert scanned sketches to refined press ready art in less than an hour … assemble catalogs in days not months … and eventually paginate and assemble full projects with color separations all on disk.

The Apple Macintosh eventually faced competition from Windows PC and has shared my industry with machines once again dedicated to prepress … but the revolution started with Apple and their “Xerox inspired” graphical interface. What a ride … thanks for dreaming and thinking out of the box Steve.

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