Spark [Barbara_Sheen]_Steve_Jobs_(People_in_the_News)(Bo | Page 9

Introduction On His Own Terms S teve Jobs has always had extraordinary dreams, which he has never been afraid of pursuing despite the doubts of others. As the cofounder of Apple Company and CEO of Pixar, he helped start a technological and entertainment revolution. Point and click personal computers, razor thin laptops, networked busi- ness computers, touch screen cell phones, portable digital music devices, low priced music downloads, and digitally animated movies might never have come into being or become so popular if not for Jobs’s dreams. Not an Ordinary Person Although Jobs is not the actual inventor of these items, he is the visionary whose boldness, passion for technology and design, and ability to inspire others made their creation possible. A man with many sides, Jobs has been described as charming, egotistical, brilliant, opinionated, charismatic, stubborn, persua- sive, and critical. He is not easy to understand. Many people find him mysterious. But one thing is clear: Steve Jobs is not an ordinary person. In 1976 at age twenty-one, he cofounded the Apple Computer Company in his parents’ garage. Four years later he was worth more than 200 million dollars. By the time 8