BOOM!

Apple!

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What was the first thought you had after reading the word? Sir Isaac Newton? Or the pearly white, brand new Ipod/Iphone/Imac? I know, I know it’s the “Or” for most of you. See what I mean? No, No; I don’t mean to say that Sir Newton’s discovery was inferior. What I am trying to portray here is the sheer brilliance of an individual who totally inspires me, and could easily inspire anyone, irrespective of his walk of life. Yepo, the one and only - Steve Jobs. Or rather, in his own style, BOOM!

A guy who dropped out of graduation school when he was 17, started his own company at the age of 20, was thrown out of his own company at the age of 30. Would you believe that these are the milestones in the life of Apple’s CEO? And surprisingly, he claims that he found them very invaluable. Steve dropped out of graduation school (Reed College) at the age of 17, because he couldn’t see where this was leading to. And the course was too expensive. He used to travel 7 miles every weekend to a Hare Krishna temple to enjoy a good meal. Sleeping on the ground in his friend’s places, 5 cents on returning coke bottles used to sponsor his food. But he took up a course in calligraphy at this age, only because he found it interesting.

And then it all came back to him...all the wonderful knowledge of calligraphy came back to him one day, ten years later while designing the first IMac. The IMac was the first computer in the world to possess beautiful typography. And today, we all enjoy those wonderful fonts, thanks to this one calligraphy class! Hence, knowledge gained is always, ALWAYS valuable. You never know when it might change your life. Or change the world!

Moving on to recent events, we all know what a stir Iphone created. And it’s not surprising, looking at the device that Apple introduced to us. It’s nothing short of magic, I daresay! My mouth was wide open as feature after feature (all stunning) revealed themselves on the exclusive Iphone video.(check it out here). It’s just fabulous, that magical device. Think of it, and it’s all there…pictures, internet, GPS, mp3, everything! And at the flick of your finger!

But now comes the best part. Apple apparently does NOT manufacture any of these devices on its own- it outsources the entire manufacturing and assembly process. Then where does Apple earn? Design. That’s it. Apple earns around 80U.S$ on every 299U.S.$ Ipod sold to the world. Brilliant, eh? The various parts that compose the Ipod are manufactured at nations across the world. In this way, no single company knows the entire secret recipe to the wonderful device. On the other hand, Apple has benefited so many companies. This fact has gone to such extents; many of you won’t believe the next fact now. The very day I-phone was released; people bought it home and tore it open only to note the various companies that had manufactured the parts. Why? Because these companies would experience a shoot-up in their share market prices. And therefore, it was the right time to invest in them.

Anyways, Steve leaves us with a beautiful thought. Think different. And be inspired. BOOM!

PLEASE NOTE: For those of you who are puzzled by “BOOM”, kindly go to youtube.com and watch a video called “Steve Jobs-Boom – 1.01 minutes”. To read Steve Job’s fantastic graduation speech, go search for it on Scribd. To go to Scribd, click on the link in “my all time favorite websites” on the right side of this page, and BOOM! Cheers!

PLEASE, PLEASE NOTE: The author, till this day, dreams of owning an Iphone…and yes, sponsors are most delightfully welcome!