Steve Jobs Named FT's Person of the Year

Steve Jobs has had quite a year with the launch of the iPad and the iPhone 4 (and its antenna), and some of those achievements by Apple have convinced the Financial Times to name the Apple CEO as its person of the year.

Although Mark Zuckerberg grabbed Time Magazine's person of the year, it was the Apple leader who was awarded with the Financial Times' accolade.

A rebuttal of F. Scott Fitzgerald's much-quoted aphorism that there are no second acts in American life does not come more decisively than this. When Steven Paul Jobs first hit the headlines, he was younger even than Mark Zuckerberg is now. Long before it was cool to be a nerd, his formative role in popularising the personal computer, and Apple's initial public offering on Wall Street - which came when Mr Jobs was still only 25 - made him the tech industry's first rock star. Now, three decades on, he has secured his place in the foremost ranks of the West Coast tech titans who have done so much to shape the world around the turn of the millennium.…The iPad is the culmination of an approach that he has seemingly been perfecting for his entire career. Those who have laboured under him describe him as a stern taskmaster who understands the art of the possible, rather than a long-range visionary. That means pushing relentlessly forward rather than milking old successes – even ones as significant as the iPod.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
  • bavman
    No one cares :D
    Reply
  • stingstang
    I understand that there are some articles you...'have' to do, Marcus.
    Reply
  • ohseus
    bavmanNo one cares
    Yet you took the time to follow the link and comment? The man is an amazing CEO and a bit of a tech visionary. Deal with it.

    Millions of Apple share holders care as well.
    Reply
  • oneblackened
    Is it just me or does he look very appropriately evil in that pic?

    Also, Ohseus... From what I've heard the guy is a huge D-bag.
    Reply
  • puerilemeanderings
    Shouldn't the person of the year be limited to the modern Homo Sapien subspecies?

    "He's more iPhone than human now, jailbroken and unlocked."
    Reply
  • rpgplayer
    ohseusYet you took the time to follow the link and comment? The man is an amazing CEO and a bit of a tech visionary. Deal with it. Millions of Apple share holders care as well.
    he's not a visionary, he just takes available tech and puts it in a shiny package. nothing visionary about that.
    Reply
  • jskilnyk
    I bet with his kind of personality he fits in with the people on Walstreet...
    Reply
  • t33lo
    I'd say it's more successful marketing than innovation.
    Reply
  • chickenhoagie
    and he still wears that dirty black turtleneck..
    Reply
  • Blessedman
    rpgplayerhe's not a visionary, he just takes available tech and puts it in a shiny package. nothing visionary about that.
    As much as I dislike Apple, I cannot dismiss his dominating influence in every market he is in.
    Reply