Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs has taken a medical leave of absence from Apple. My wife thinks I talk too much about all things Apple/Jobs related, but this news isn't good. It's not good for Steve Jobs. Not good for Apple consumers. Not good for America.

Steve Jobs is a real American entrepreneur. He is visionary and he has changed the way we think and work. There are almost no words big enough to explain his impact on civilization. Think for just a minute of anyone you know with his history. Steve Jobs was adopted. He dropped out of College in 1972 after just one semester. He got a part time job to save money to take a retreat in India where he became a Buddhist. He shaved his head and took LSD while working part time on a Video game at Atari. Any kid today with this profile would be called a "burnout" or Loser. Then in 1976, four years out of high school, no college, and a Buddhist acid freak, he helped to found Apple Computers. By 1984 Apple had built the Macintosh, while PC computing was still using DOS, C: run.

Jobs was fired from the company he helped to create. Apple we were told, was doomed. But Jobs went on to invent Pixar and digital cartooning. Today Steve Jobs is on the Board at Disney and one of their biggest stock holders. Then Jobs went back to Apple. The company was in trouble and Jobs helped to create the iPod. This led to a shift in the way we buy and listen to music. After inventing the Macintosh Computer, Pixar, and the iPod some people would have quit. But Steve Jobs went on to invent the iPhone and recently the iPad. Both are revolutionary new products that have changed our lives. I believe the iPhone created the entire Smartphone App based hand held business for Blackberry and Android. Now the iPad is creating the digital tablet business for others to follow.

Steve Jobs has the ability to see the potential in things we cannot even imagine. Apple announced their quarterly results for the period ending December 25, 2010. They had record earnings of $26.7 billion up 70% from the same period last year. If Apple were a German or Japanese company we would be studying, "how they did that." But Apple is an American company with a driven visionary leader who did not go to MBA School or climb the corporate ladder.

This is a remarkable American story and I only hope it ends well.