Apple Visionary Steve Jobs Dies

Steve Jobs, the man known for wearing black turtlenecks and who brought a technological revolution to the world with the Apple Mac, iPhone, iPod and iPad, died Wednesday, the Cupertino, Calif., company said.

He was 56. On the company's website Wednesday evening, there was a black-and-white image of Jobs, who had facial hair, glasses and a knowing look at the camera. Under his name were the years 1955-2011.

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives," officials at Apple said in a statement, which was quoted by CNN. "The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."

Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates expressed his condolences in the following statement: 

I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work.

Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.

The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. 

For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely. 

Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the other Apple co-founder, launched their company in the garage of the Jobs family. The two graduated from Homestead High School in Cupertino.

The Apple Museum noted in its biography of Jobs that he and Wozniak sold a Volkswagen and scientific calculator, respectively, to raise money to help launch Apple.

Jobs later left Apple after John Sculley became its chief executive. He later rejoined the company he started and eventually brought a technological aura of minimalism and cool to its devices.

In August, he stepped down from his role as chief executive. He also launched NeXT computers and Pixar, the award-winning animation studio. He and other Apple executive also kept a sense of humor, especially with Redmond-based Microsoft.

In one famous advertising campaign, there's an image of Apple's Tiger Mac OS X and the words: "Redmond, start your photocopiers."