Today's the day that Apple unveils the next iteration of its iPhone. Five years on from the premature passing of company visionary and founder Steve Jobs, Apple is still driven by his genius. The world remains beguiled by this enigmatic personality, and his shadow looms over everything Apple continues to do.
Jobs was only 56 when he died - barely older than you are now - but in his lifetime he achieved more than most of us could hope to achieve in six or seven lifetimes. Here are ten inspirational and illuminating photographs of this great man.
Jobs was only 56 when he died - barely older than you are now - but in his lifetime he achieved more than most of us could hope to achieve in six or seven lifetimes. Here are ten inspirational and illuminating photographs of this great man.
Prior to founding Apple, Jobs spent a gap year in Holland, where he worked as a sales representative for a Dutch cablecar company. Jobs would travel from town to town, trying to sell cablecar technology with little success.
However, it gave him plenty of opportunity to dream big, and while sitting in an orchard on his lunch break one day, he was struck by a bolt of inspiration - literally - when a computer fell out of the tree, and smashed him in the head!
Realising the futility of selling cable cars to the Dutch - whose country is almost completely flat - he left, and returned home to form a computer company of his own. All he had to do was come up with a name...
However, it gave him plenty of opportunity to dream big, and while sitting in an orchard on his lunch break one day, he was struck by a bolt of inspiration - literally - when a computer fell out of the tree, and smashed him in the head!
Realising the futility of selling cable cars to the Dutch - whose country is almost completely flat - he left, and returned home to form a computer company of his own. All he had to do was come up with a name...
Here is Jobs with a young Clive Sinclair, explaining to him the concept of the iPhone, decades before the technology to create it was even available. Note the black polo neck worn by Sinclair: a look that the ZX Spectrum creator would later accuse Jobs of stealing from him.
Here's Jobs with another great visionary: Walt Disney. It was Disney who suggested that Jobs call his company Apple - after the Mickey Mouse creator's third or fourth favourite drink, peach-flavour Schnapple.
Here's Jobs preparing for the launch of the first Apple computer, the Apple 1, speaking with a young Bob Geldof (left) and the comedian Les Dawson (centre) who both gave rousing presentations at the event.
Jobs was famously a fan of meditation, and here he can be seen in his personal floatation tank, gathering inspiration for his next project: the Apple Branford 3.
Jobs was a notoriously aggressive eater, and can be seen here with some cutlery he damaged while eating a goujon.
Jobs would stare at his damaged cutlery for hours, wishing he had something else to stare at - like a small screen he could hold in the palm of his hand.
Left to right: Steve Jobs, Tommy Wiseau, Wozniak!, and GamesMaster.
By the early 2000s, Jobs had hit upon his trademark look: a tight black t-shirt, and a piercing gaze. Audiences at Apple launches spoke with reverence of the Jobs stare, stating that they felt like he was peeling back the skin of their souls.
RIP Steve Jobs - 1933 to 2011 or thereabouts.
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