Throw Back Thursday: The Impact of Steve Jobs

We receive so much valuable content from our customers, partners and internal subject-matter experts. On Thursdays, we thought it would be fun to do a “throw back” and bring back an older post that was valuable to our audience. Today’s throw back is in remembrance of Steve Jobs and his legacy.

Steve Jobs' influence on Skillsoft® Books24x7®

By Pam Boiros

As I use my iPhone® to read through all of the remembrances being posted on the internet for Steve Jobs, I can’t help but reflect on the impact he has had on me – not just personally, but professionally.

I look back on the evolution of the Skillsoft Books24x7 product since I started 10+ years ago and I see so much of Jobs’ impact on our product.  I see his boldness in us when we were so proud to launch a one-of-its-kind product in 2000 – Skillsoft® Books24x7® ITPro™ – that had web capabilities not available in other products.  I see his inspiration in our  social media layer – Skillsoft® inGenius® – which was designed to digitally connect communities of users in an intuitive interface.  And his technical genius continues to influence us as we design our next generation of products.

A search in the Skillsoft Books24x7 ITPro and OfficeEssentials products with the term 'iPhone' and 'iPad' returns no less than 200 titles.  These are full-text books being used by IT professionals and development novices to master the skills of this widely popular technology.  It is not a surprise that ‘iPhone’ and ‘iPad’ have become some of the most popular search terms in our product in the past 12 to 18 months.

The Skillsoft® Books24x7® BusinessPro™ collection includes many titles that explore Jobs’ management techniques and the business success of Apple.   This collection includes full-text books on the presentation secrets, innovation secrets and iLeadership of Steve Jobs.  When we recently added audio books to the collection earlier this year, The Apple Way was one of the most popular titles downloaded by our learners.   And we are very excited to be adding a new biography about Steve in the very near future.

Yes, I have an iPhone, iPad and iPod.  I tweet, text, IM and Facebook.  And like so many others, my day-to-day routine has been profoundly influenced by the visionary genius of Steve Jobs. 

The recent postings since Jobs’ death are comparing him to geniuses like John Lennon, Michelangelo, Leonardo DaVinci and others.  Just as these people have left their indelible mark on society – so too, will the legacy of Steve Jobs influence many generations to come.  For this I am grateful.

I would love to hear how Steve Jobs has influenced you - either personally or professionally?  Share your thoughts with us!