Influential Person Assignment Southeast Missouri State University UI 319 Instructor: Mr. Dan Lauder Submitted by: Slob Bob Influential Person I have decided to write this paper about Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was instrumental in making the home computer what it is today, available to the masses. This ideology that computers should be available to everyone helped revolutionize a product that at one time took up an entire room. Now they were small enough to fit on a desk in the study, and even though they were not the computers of today; these computers helped propel a mutli-billion dollar company, Apple, into the stratosphere of the computer industry as a juggernaut with no equal. The birth of Steve Jobs: Steve Jobs was born February 24, 1955. His birth parents subsequently gave him up for adoption. He was later adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs (A&E 2011). Steve and his father, a machinist, worked on electronic equipment together. This sparked a young Job's curiosity, and this curiosity was fostered and nurtured through these activities with his father. Steve Jobs was seen as a very smart kid, but the regimental culture of school did not sit well with him. Jobs would later have a chance to skip high school altogether, but this idea was rejected by his adoptive parents. This led to a very instrumental meeting of minds. At was at this juncture that Steve would meet Steve Wozniak. This meeting would put the two founding minds of Apple together. Later Mr. Jobs still did not click with the educational system as he later dropped out of college saying, "he couldn't see the use in it."(Techspot) Significant contributions: Quite frankly computers could possibly not be where they are today without Steve Jobs in the picture. At the time that Steve jobs was dreaming up his future computers; computers were still the monstrous entire room hogs that used to be seen on movies with the big spools of what Influential Person looked like movie reels that were actually used to keep data on. It was a visit to a Xerox research center that would ignite Job's vision of what computers could be (Markoff 2011). After this visit, and a couple of prior incarnations of Apple computers, the Apple Macintosh was born in January of 1984. This computer possessed 128k of RAM, a floppy drive, and monitor (Cushing 2011). By today's standards this would not operate a basic gaming program, but at the time this was cutting edge technology. These computers provided an origin for today's computer to call a starting point. Today computers processor speeds are measured in gigahertz, RAM is also in Gigs, and the floppy drive has gone the way of the dinosaur. The individual today can game, create, and manage their lives thanks to the vision of Steve Jobs. These advances also led to the future advances that Apple made today. The iPad and iPhone are two of Steve Job's more recent gadgets. These little contraptions broke barriers and defied definition refusing to be fit into a single category. Providing people with the ability to surf, compute, and be entertained which resulted in long waiting lines and Apple laden gift wish lists; and that was if they were not on back order to begin with. These inventions have revolutionized the individual's ability to seamlessly float between the real and online worlds; and also maintain these worlds from almost anywhere in the world that had an internet connection. Apple, thanks to Job's insight and vision, has become a powerhouse in the computer industry worldwide. Apple continues to conquer the computer industry with its newest iPad 2 release, and latest incarnation of the iPhone. These have become common place, and sought after around the world. The releases of both of these have both met with anticipated releases, and resulting Influential Person waiting lists world-wide. These technological titans have made Apple a household name, and have almost everyone wanting to own something with that famous bitten apple logo on it. SWOT: Strength: Steve Jobs biggest strength in my opinion was his creativity, and understanding of what the public wanted. He seemed to see things that others could not, and was able to transfer those visions into tangible creations that revolutionized the technological world of yesterday, and continues to do so today. Weakness: The most notable weakness of Steve Jobs Apple products were their lack of compatibility. I have had several personal experiences with Mac computers that were less than stellar because they were not able to interact with programs that I used on a regular basis; namely games. As an competitive online gamer I have had issues with Macs not allowing background programs required by gaming leagues, i.e. Punkbuster (an anti-cheat program), to run. Earlier Macs would sometimes not even let the gaming programs run at all. Opportunity: The Apple computer was one of the major contributors