I have to admit that I am not a fan of Apple products.  I find them to be good quality for sure, but definitely overpriced.  However, that doesn't change the fact that Jobs was able to take this company, which was headed for bankruptcy and completely turn it around into a powerhouse of relative dominance that exists to this day.   

The year was 1997

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[source](https://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/steve-jobs-with-imac-geek-inherit-the-earth-640x353.jpg)</center> 

Although Jobs had been a part of Apple during its inception, he was ousted from the company as it was discovered he was formulating a "coup" against the current leadership in the early 80's.  A board meeting was called and while Steve wasn't fired, he was relieved of all operational duties.  Feeling a bit hurt, Jobs left the company in 1985 (as did Steve Wozniak.)  On a side note it is worth noting that Jobs acquired Pixar in the interum 10 years or so and well, they went on to be a reasonably profitable company now didn't they?  

<center> ![photo-by-alan-dejecaciongetty-images.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmWc9b75tp5XGRCtDqzNmDdz5PvBDDmSEQZntrKcnWKCiv/photo-by-alan-dejecaciongetty-images.jpg)
[source](https://www.biography.com/.image/ar_16:9%2Cc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cg_faces:center%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_768/MTYwNTE2MzE0OTk2MjIxMDk5/photo-by-alan-dejecaciongetty-images.jpg)</center> 

The late 80's and early 90's were rather disastrous for Apple, who struggled to remain solvent and at 2 points during that time-period, the company was "hours away" from being sold to IBM and also Sun Microsystems.   

After firing Gil Amelio due to a rather terrible performance as CEO, Jobs was asked to fill in as interim CEO and given complete creative control of the company.  It turns out that this was exactly what the company needed.

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I was in college in the late 90's and all of a sudden these bad boys started appearing in computer labs.  I worked in the labs and was informed that the computers were given to the university for free and this was happening all over the country.  There was a massive advertising campaign detailing how there were only 2 wires (electric and phone line) that needed to be connected.  Compare this to the mess of wires on the back of your run-of-the-mill PC desktop and the consensus among me and my nerdy pals was "Yeah, they're gonna sell a lot of those."   And they did precisely that.

A series of wildly popular products followed:  The iMac, iBook, the PowerMac, and of course the ubiquitous iPod were all created under the guidance of the the visionary Steve Jobs.  

<center> https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4d/31/c3/4d31c38e226437eadc3ea78c0bb812dd.png
[source](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4d/31/c3/4d31c38e226437eadc3ea78c0bb812dd.png)
<sub> pretty much everyone owned one of these in the early 2000's </sub> </center> 

Partnerships were made with Microsoft for the licensing of their popular Office Suite and OSX became the operating system of "stability" in a world of viruses.   Apple branded their own stores and now those friggin things are everywhere.  

Although i don't know anyone that uses it anymore, iTunes was one of the first forays into legally obtained music in a world where BearShare, LimeWire, and other such things made music free to steal for anyone with even basic computer knowledge.  Itunes was so convenient and easy to use that most people appreciated how easy it was to obtain almost any song in existence for 99 cents.  

In 2007 the name of the company was changed from Apple Computer company to simply Apple, since they were focused on far more than computers at this point.  They also unveiled what is likely the most dominant Apple product of all time.

<center> ![history-iphone-original-hero-fixed.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmWvanp1E7u4qbWxTpTXYTuHKpzU3QSSPjHzibFSp85LR7/history-iphone-original-hero-fixed.jpg)
[source](https://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/large/public/field/image/2015/08/history-iphone-original-hero-fixed.jpg?itok=C79XWKP0)</center>

Now i have only ever owned an iPhone once and i hated it... however, life is not about me.  40% of all mobile phone in the United States are made by Apple.  When you consider how many other brands their are and the fact that the 2nd place brand, Samsung, has a mere 27% market-share.  I think it is safe to say that the iPhone is a truly wonderful idea in Jobs' stash of great ideas.  

Steve Jobs died on October 5th, 2011, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.  Despite his medical issues he continued to turn up to work for Apple until he resigned in August, 2011.  How's that for dedication?  If I have a bit of a runny nose, i call in sick. 

In 2015 Apple became the most valuable company in the world and remained at that point until they were unseated by Amazon on June 11th of this year.  

So although I don't use Apple products, it is very difficult to argue with Steve Jobs' legacy.  He took a company that was constantly on the brink of insolvency and turned it into what is / was generally regarded as one of the most important and innovative companies in the history of time.  Imagine how different the computing world could have been if he had never been let go in the first place.