Age:
Middle School
Reading Level: 5.8
Chapter One: Who Was Steve Jobs?
Do you use an iPhone? Do you listen to iTunes? Do you own a laptop to do your homework? Do you watch animated movies like Toy Story?
Then thank Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs started Apple, Inc. and Pixar, the companies that made these things possible.
Chapter Two: The First Apple Computer
In 1976, Steve Jobs became a college dropout. He lived in his parents' garage in Los Altos, California.
Steve and his friend, Steve Wozniak, had invented a way to make free phone calls. Their first business sold "blue boxes," which allowed free phone calls to be made.
Wozniak had also developed a small, personal computer. Their friends called it "the apple."
At that time, computers couldn't be used by regular people at home. They were as big as a room, so they were only used in businesses.
Steve Wozniak had the technical smarts. Steve Jobs had the idea that a computer should be used by people in their homes.
Steve Jobs was bold. He was good at getting people to invest in their new company (give money). He was great at selling their computers.
Both Steves believed that making personal computers available would give people more power and control in their lives.
They called their business Apple Computers.
Chapter Three: Success at a Young Age
By the time Steve Jobs was 23, Apple Computers was a major success. Steve himself was worth one million dollars. By the time he was 25 years old, he was worth $100 million.
Steve knew how to market and sell Apple's computers. He knew that people would want a computer that was easy to use in their homes. People wanted computers that did not require special knowledge of technology to use them.
Steve said, "I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz [Steve Wozniak] and I started Apple in my parents' garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4,000 employees."
