Steve Jobs, the Apple founder and
former CEO who invented and masterfully marketed ever-sleeker gadgets
that transformed everyday technology, from the personal computer to the
iPod and iPhone, has died.
He was 56. Apple announced his death without giving a specific cause.
"We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," the company said in a brief statement.
"Steve's
brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations
that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably
better because of Steve."
Jobs
had battled cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant in 2009
after taking a leave of absence for unspecified health problems.
He took another leave of absence in January "his third since his health problems began" and officially resigned in August.
Jobs
started Apple with a high school friend in a Silicon Valley garage in
1976, was forced out a decade later and returned in 1997 to rescue the
company.
During his second stint, it grew into the most valuable technology company in the world.
Cultivating
Apple's countercultural sensibility and a minimalist design ethic, Jobs
rolled out one sensational product after another, even in the face of
the late-2000s recession and his own failing health.
He
helped change computers from a geeky hobbyist's obsession to a
necessity of modern life at work and home, and in the process he upended
not just personal technology but the cellphone and music industries.
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