Why was Steve Jobs important?

Steve Jobs is important because he recognized that artistic vision can complement technological advancement. 

Steve Jobs is important because of his place in the history of computer design. Along with Steve Wozniak, Jobs established the Apple computer company. This was significant because both men were pioneers in the field. We now see the computer as common. However, Jobs was important because he saw transformative nature of the computer before many others.  Jobs was able to anticipate how the computer would and could drive the future.  He is significant because he was at the starting point of a computer revolution that changed the way we live our lives. 

While he made his living as a computer designer, Jobs is important because he understood that technical acumen was only one part of a larger picture. Jobs was different than most others in the computer field.  His business did not function like the corporate hierarchy of companies like IBM or Compaq. Jobs sought to be "different."  He recognized that people will flock to the new field of computer technology. However, he felt that there could be a way to channel such migration.  Jobs was important because he connected technological advancement with the personal identity of the consumer.  Jobs sought to personalize computing.  For example, Jobs was not content to simply create a new computer in the Apple Macintosh.  There was nothing fundamentally new in a personal computer.  Jobs wanted to create a product whose graphical user interface was personable, and could connect to the user.  Jobs forged the connection between the Macintosh and artistic realms such as desktop publishing.  Even the variety of fonts that Macintosh featured accentuated individual preference and choice.  The Macintosh personal computer was an example of how Jobs's vision coupled computer technical advancement with artistic vision.

Jobs again demonstrated this penchant for combining technical acumen with individuality in his development of the iPod listening device.  As with Macintosh, there was nothing necessarily new with personalized music gadgets. However, Jobs wanted to create a device that the consumer would actually desire.  The result was a streamlined, aesthetically pleasing instrument that people coveted.  As with Macintosh, the iPod was linked to individual identity, and served as an example of how technology could be marketed as an extension of self. Jobs is important because he recognized that technology's benefits could be complemented with an appeal to the consumer psychology.  Jobs did not simply develop products that were useful, but sought to create works of technological art that "people don't just want, but love." Being able to infuse such emotion in the emotionally detached world of computer technology is why Steve Jobs is important.