There are no second acts in American lives, wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald. Steve Jobs proves how wrong he was.
In a terse, 150-word notice, Jobs told the executive board of Apple and company staff he had to quit as chief executive as he could no longer fulfil his duties. Thus ends one of the most extraordinary corporate comebacks in modern times and the epic career of a true American visionary. It is believed his cancer has returned.
If Bill Gates helped to put a computer on every desk in every home, Jobs freed it from such physical confines and allowed us to take computing wherever we go. In doing so, he has helped drag industries such as music, movies, news media and consumer electronics - kicking and screaming - into the 21st century.
Ousted, after a power struggle, from the company he cofounded, Jobs was called back to the helm to rescue a floundering Apple in the late 1990s. Not only did he turn the company around, under his direction Apple has transformed the world - in the way people communicate with each other, listen to music, read newspapers, perform office tasks and arrange their daily routines. Its platform for 'apps' has infinite possibilities. The hi-tech tablet may not be as transformative as the clay tablets used by our ancestors for writing, but it may be close.
At a time when most American corporations are busy downsizing and laying off people, Jobs created jobs. The United States and the world are still recovering from the crisis brought on by dodgy financial engineering with its phantom profits and dubious economic theories, but Apple contributes to the real global economy.
The icon of the post-PC age, Jobs proves how America can still be number one.
