Almost five years later, he underwent a liver transplant and in January this year Jobs announced he was going on medical leave with no set duration.
As recently as late August, Jobs resigned as Apple chief executive officer, because he could no longer meet his duties and expectations. And yet, when the news of his death came through, it still seemed as sudden as it did shocking.
Growing up, Apple was always something of an oddity to me.
Everyone, myself included, had IBM personal computers - those kids whose parents used Apple Macintosh machines were seen as just a little a bit out there, a bit strange, a bit removed from the mainstream.
But then came the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone and most recently, the iPad.
It's often claimed the rise of mp3s played a huge part in moving the music industry away from a model that relied heavily on physical album sales.
But it was the iPod that popularised mobile digital music.
It seems everyone has a smartphone these days - but again, even as the smartphone market becomes increasingly crowded, those that innovate and create in the mobile phone field are still just treading in the footprint left behind by Jobs and his Apple ilk.
In more recent times, the iPad has change the way we look at mobile computing.
All of a sudden that little company from outside the mainstream has become the mainstream, and what's more, it isn't so little any more.
Jobs would be too modest to claim sole responsibility for the rise of Apple.
But the constant stream of tributes that have inundated the internet since news broke of his death tell a very different story.
For so long Jobs has been the face of Apple, and thus, the face of innovation.
He has made technology approachable, user-friendly and chic.
His innovations have helped bring the world closer together, and will continue to do so for years to come.
That will be his legacy.
Feedback: editor@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
