PCMag.Com - Steve Jobs may be leaving his position as CEO of the most valuable tech company in the world, but he’s also leaving a legacy that changed the shape of technology – literally. Under Jobs, Apple has introduced, and in some cases removed, both functional features and beautifying design elements, and the company has done so just ahead of the tech industry on the whole. The designs have become iconic, the changes have sparked design trends in and out of the computer industry, and the technology you use every day has benefitted from it.
From the computer on your desk to the phone in your pocket, Apple has tweaked, polished, and perfected everything from case design to user interfaces. They’ve added new features, like the super-fast Thunderbolt interface, but removed others, like the optical drive. Even internally, dealing with the nitty-gritty of hard drives and storage, the team from Cupertino has pared down and prettied up every facet of the personal computer.
It’s not much of a stretch to say that without Apple’s influence, the tech world would look very, very different. Jobs may have been at the helm for many of these decisions, but a captain needs a good crew, and the good ship Apple has had some talented people all along the way. Well the refreshing designs and forward thinking technology continue after Jobs’ departure? For the short term, definitely. In the long term, however, only time will tell.
Check out our slideshow to see some of the big changes that came out of Apple’s tiny details.
