Steve Jobs, the man who, with his inventions, transformed the world of computers, music, mobile phones, died yesterday at the age of 56 of pancreatic cancer, which he had been fighting for seven years.
In a statement, Apple - which Jobs co-founded with Steve Wozniak in 1976 - said that his "brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all our lives." U.S. President Barack Obama called him "brave enough to think differently; bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it... The world has lost a visionary."
The founder of the huge technology company has been praised as a visionary who transformed the lives of millions.
Jobs announced he was suffering from pancreatic cancer in 2004.
Jobs was born on February 24th 1955, but he was adopted and given the name Steve Paul Jobs.
In 1975 he launched Apple, and immediately became a billionaire.
Reports describe how in the 1970s, prior to founding Apple, Steve Jobs travelled to India in search of spiritual enlightenment and came back to the United States as a Buddhist.
In 1985 Apple sent him away, but in 1997 called him back and in 2000 he was once again CEO of the company.
His inventions while he was away from Apple include a new way of making animated films, but it is above all with the iPhone and iPad that he makes his mark, revolutionizing the world of communication.
In 2005, speaking at the inauguration of the academic year at Stanford University, Jobs said “Remembering I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life ... Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - all these things fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."
US President Barack Obama said that with his death, the world had "lost a visionary and that he was brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.
