Dream - The man is wearing a long-sleeved high-necked sweater or black turtleneck, which is his trademark. He is wearing jeans of the same color. He is squatting. His right hand is holding a cellphone. He is talking on the phone with someone on the other side. He said, "Bill, thank you. The world will be a better place," said the man. The man is Steve Jobs. The picture of him calling Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, in August 1997, was then captured as the cover of TIME magazine.

The magazine cover is so legendary because Bill Gates agreed to help Apple avoid bankruptcy. When Jobs returned to Apple that year, Apple's condition was indeed very bad. "When I took over, the company only had 90 days before bankruptcy," said Jobs. That year, Apple had been losing money for 18 months. Apple's stock price was also only 85 cents or less than Rp 15 thousand, compared to when Apple's stock was first launched at around $22 or Rp 343 thousand over a decade ago.

With that agreement, Steve Jobs revealed that he had obtained an investment of U$ 150 million or Rp 2.3 trillion (without voting rights) from Microsoft. He also received assurance from Bill Gates that Microsoft would support Microsoft Office products for Mac computers for five years. This investment provided Apple with much-needed cash, and the assurance of Office support proved to be crucial as Microsoft Office software is relied upon by professionals.

Since the purchase of Gates' shares, Apple's shares have started to recover. Since then, Apple has become stronger. The US technology company has now dominated the global market, and Apple is now one of the top five most valuable companies in the US based on stock price. In 2018, Apple's valuation successfully reached $1 trillion or Rp 15,636 trillion. Apple has made history by becoming the first private sector company to surpass a market value or valuation of $1 trillion.

That is approximately equivalent to Indonesia's annual gross domestic product, and more than twice that of Belgium, according to World Bank data from 2016. In December 2022, Apple had a market capitalization of $2.2 trillion or Rp 34,375 trillion! This makes Apple the most valuable company in the world based on market capitalization. ***Apple's history began in 1971.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak first met in 1971, when the development of new computers was still in its early stages. Both Steves were a good match because they shared a passion for technology and computers. It was then that Jobs came up with the idea to integrate hardware and software in computers. This became the premise of Apple. It became an integration between hardware and software. The hardware was designed with consideration for the software, and the software was created for specific hardware.

Translate the following 'Bahasa' text to 'English' while preserving any html tags: "Translating it into today's terms, this is why you might not see a PC running the MacOS operating system or a Samsung phone running iOS. Apple designs and integrates both seamlessly. This is called a closed architecture. So, Jobs and Wozniak started making it. They didn't have money, so Jobs sold his VW Camper Van, and then convinced Wozniak to sell his HP calculator for $500 or Rp 7.8 million!. Around this time, history associates these two Steves with Jobs' famous garage."

Around this time is when history associates these two Steves with Jobs' famous parents' garage. Around this time, Jobs successfully obtained his first investor, Mike Markkula, who invested U$ 250,000 or Rp 3.9 billion and became an important part of the company. Markkula became a one-third shareholder in Apple. Apple II is the first Apple computer that was truly successful. Its interior contains Wozniak's technological sophistication, but its exterior, its shell, is the result of Jobs' obsession with aesthetics. Apple II was a major driver of Apple's early success.

Some of the success is due to the fact that the Apple II is an open architecture computer, which means it is sold to education, small businesses, and the consumer market. These markets are not attractive to IBM, their biggest competitor at the time. Steve Jobs, who had handed over the CEO hat to someone else from the beginning, a man named Michael Scott, took on the future Apple computer project: Lisa. The computer was named after his first daughter. The project was visionary: the first graphical user interface or GUI computer designed for personal business users. This technology was first introduced by Xerox, a photocopier manufacturer.

The project was visionary: a graphical user interface or GUI computer interface that was intended for personal business users. This technology was first introduced by Xerox, a photocopier manufacturer. Apple quickly incorporated these ideas into two new computers: Lisa, released in 1983, and Macintosh, released in 1984 at a lower cost. Jobs himself took over the final project, insisting that the computer should not only be great but also "very great."

In 1983, another important figure in Apple's history joined: John Sculley. Jobs convinced the former CEO of Pepsi with a quote that became quite famous: "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?" Sculley agreed to join. Apple then launched the Macintosh computer. Unlike Lisa, the Macintosh, which was sold at a cheaper price, became a huge success but couldn't overthrow famous brands like IBM, and Windows only recently became a threat. The Macintosh was a closed architecture computer. This means that its market was more limited.

This is part of the philosophical conflict. Steve Jobs believed in the integration of hardware and software. Closed architecture. Sculley believed in open architecture. In 1985, Steve Jobs attempted what can only be described as a coup. He tried to get the Apple board to fire Sculley, but it backfired. The Apple board ended up firing Steve Jobs, who left the company through the back door.

Jobs then sold 6.5 million of his shares in the company, and kept some, so he could still receive company reports and attend shareholder meetings. Apple was a public company in 1985. The sale of 6.5 million Apple shares by Steve Jobs generated approximately $70 million or IDR 1 trillion. He used $5 million or IDR 78 billion to acquire a small visual effects company named Pixar. Then, Jobs started a new company, NEXT.

Steve Wozniak also left Apple around the same time. He did not believe in Apple's new direction and also sold almost all of his shares. With the departure of both, Sculley had freedom at Apple. And it seems he did the right thing initially. This is where Apple's downfall began.

The strongest feature of Apple has always been their GUI: graphical user interface. That's what made them better than IBM at that time. But IBM started catching up in the early 90s, partly because of Windows, an operating system or OS that could run on many computers. Once again, an open architecture. Apple also struggled by launching products that were too similar to each other, and not marketing them well. They became the underdog, so IBM and Sun Microsystems made bids to acquire them. No deal happened. Sculley was eventually fired from Apple around this time.

In 1996, Apple appointed a new CEO. That person was Gil Amelio, a renowned company rehabilitator. He fired many people in an effort to achieve profit, but it was still not enough. While Apple struggled, so did Steve Jobs. Pixar had multiple failures, but later succeeded in making the film "Toy Story" which became a box office hit in 1995. Jobs appeared on the Wall $treet Week PBS program with Louis Rukeyser, who first asked him about Pixar and then asked Jobs what was wrong with Apple.

"Wow. You know I haven't been there for a long time. My perception may not be complete. But from the way I see it, Apple is an innovation-based company. When I left Apple ten years ago, we were ten years ahead of everyone else. Microsoft took ten years to catch up with Windows," said Jobs. "So the way out for Apple is to innovate. That's how Apple achieves its success, and that's how Apple can get back there," he concluded.

The performance of Jobs speaks for itself. Disney purchased Pixar shares for U$ 7.4 billion or Rp 115 trillion, making Jobs the largest shareholder in Disney and giving him a seat on the Disney board of directors. Meanwhile, NEXT focuses on the operating system or OS. The innovative object-oriented OS called NeXTSTEP has had a significant influence on the software we use today. Apple wants to replace the outdated MacOS operating system and aims to acquire third-party companies to do so.

There is little that Apple can do about NeXTSTEP, because by acquiring NeXT there is an additional bonus for Apple, which is bringing Steve Jobs back to Apple. Apple bought NeXT in 1997 for U$429 million or Rp 6.7 trillion and 1.5 million shares of Apple stock. Meanwhile, Amelio, the CEO of Apple at that time, intended to remain CEO after Jobs returned, but the board of directors instead chose Steve Jobs. It is very clear to the board of directors that if Apple wants to be saved, Jobs is the one who can do it.

At the end of that year, Apple incurred losses of $867 million or Rp 13.5 trillion and its total stock value was less than $3 billion or Rp 46 trillion. Jobs, who is still synonymous with the Apple brand, finally returned to the company he founded. Focus on simplicity became Apple's characteristic, from the way Jobs dressed – jeans and a black turtleneck sweater became his sort of uniform – to the way its products operate and the final appearance of its retail stores.

In 1998, Apple introduced the iMac, an all-in-one desktop computer that was round and full of color. It immediately became a hit. Apple began to regain confidence. The revitalization of the company was confirmed with the arrival of the iPod, a portable music player that soon changed consumers' relationship with music. According to the film "Jobs," the creation of the iPod began because Jobs was annoyed seeing his daughter, Lisa, using a large Walkman everywhere to listen to music. "I will create something simpler and more straightforward," Jobs said to his daughter, Lisa.

IPod, which made its debut in 2001 and sold over 400 million units, shows that Apple is not just a computer company. The device is paired with iTunes, the company's music store, which will help revolutionize the recording industry. ***One of Jobs' most revolutionary inventions after the personal computer era is the iPhone. The iPhone changed the way society interacts with technology and quickly became one of the best-selling products ever: over 1.4 billion have been sold since its introduction in 2007.

However, there is no product or decision that is more important for Apple's rise to a $1 trillion company than the iPhone. When Jobs first announced the iPhone in 2007, Apple was still valued at $73.4 billion or Rp 1.146 trillion. Former employees and analysts say that while Jobs deserves praise for overseeing the company's reimagined vision and innovation, his successor, Timothy D. Cook, also played a crucial role in changing course by revamping how Apple builds its products.

Cook, as the Chief Operating Officer under Jobs, transformed Apple's distribution channels to heavily rely on labor in China, which provided flexibility, cost savings, and scale to build such a large business. As the replacement Chief Executive Officer for Jobs, Cook has also overseen much of Apple's increase in value. The total value of the company's stocks is $346 billion or Rp 5.406 trillion when Cook took over Apple in August 2011.

Cook has become a stable, if not flashy, CEO, building the iPhone into a big business, including sales of accessories and services from it. At that time, the iPhone contributed 40% of Apple's revenue. In 2022, the iPhone contributed 52% of Apple's revenue. Now, with Apple reaching a historic milestone as a $1 trillion-valued company in 2018 when the iPhone turned 11, the pressure is likely to increase for the company to develop new successful products.

There are other popular devices, such as the iPad, Apple Watch, and regularly updated versions of Apple's personal computers. But none come close to the success of the iPhone. Apple is a living legend because of it. Starting from Steve Jobs' garage, Apple grew rapidly in the early 90s. However, Jobs was later fired. After Jobs' departure, Apple struggled and suffered significant losses. Steve Jobs' return to Apple saved the company from bankruptcy.

Through relentless innovation, Apple has managed to avoid bankruptcy and continue to dominate the market, with its valuation reaching $2.2 trillion or Rp 34,375 trillion in December 2022! However, the fate of its workers in China and India remains dire. Far from prosperous. Ironical! (eha)Source: TIME, The Wired, CNBC, CNN Money, Guardian, Britannica, New York Times, Endgadget, Inc,