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Recently I had the opportunity to read the biography of Steve Jobs, which upon its release in November of last year (shortly after Jobs’ passing) quickly became the best selling book of the year.

I’ve been an Apple fan for several years, and have long been intrigued by Jobs as a luminary figure.  His product launches (which are actually in some ways quite similar to the movie pitches that producers put together) are legendary.  To get a sense of this, just watch on Youtube Jobs’ original announcement for the iPod from 2001 (I’ve embedded the video to this below, linked from Youtube).  Even though the iPod and its impact are “old news” to us now, it’s still as amazing as ever to listen to him talk about the wonder of having “your entire music library in your pocket.”

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What surprised me most upon reading about his life centered not on his work with Apple, but with Pixar.  Jobs saved the company by buying it out when it was still in its infancy, and over the course of five years he sunk $50 million of his own fortune into it to keep it going, well before the first Toy Story movie hit and landed it a profit.  Eventually, as Pixar continued to create hit movies and Disney (its chief partner and rival in the animation realm) suffered a long rough patch, Disney bought out Pixar.  This was the deal that would reinvigorate Disney, and make Jobs a billionaire.

How did Jobs manage to transform the world of animated feature films?  By focusing on the same core qualities that brought him so much success at Apple: he created and supported in Pixar films a fusion between art and technology, excellent design and a friendly personality.  When Toy Story was released, it was the most beautiful and technologically advanced animated film in existence.  The leading edge is always where Jobs’ work thrived.

With Jobs’ passing, the world lost one of the great innovators of our time.  His focus brought technology and art down to earth, making it simple, personable, and user-friendly.  He’s someone innovators in any field stand to learn from.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN0SVBCJqLs[/youtube]