BBC Learning English
Words in the News
29

th

August 2011

What's a Jobs worth?

Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2011

Page 1 of 2

bbclearningenglish.com

Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple but does this mean bad news for the company? This

report is from Mark Gregory.

Steve Jobs leaving the top at Apple, a company he set up with a friend in his parent's garage

35 years ago is being seen as a turning point moment.

The world's largest technology company is losing its visionary founder. But investors don't

seem worried for the short term. There was little element of surprise. Mr Jobs had a liver

transplant two years ago and has been on medical leave for undisclosed reasons since early

this year.

The company's succession plan has rolled into place with Tim Cook, chief operating officer,

widely seen as a safe pair of hands, set to take over.

The secret of Steve Jobs success, according to the writer, comedian and tech guru Stephen

Fry, has been his ability to produce gadgets that are likeable as well as functional.

Stephen Fry

"He understood that the object you hold in your hand, that connects you to people, isn't just

the sum of its functions. It's something that should make you smile, that you should cradle,

that you should have an emotional relationship with. And if people think that's pretentious

then, um, the success of Apple is in a sense how wrong they are."

Mr Jobs has ridden several waves of technology change, with Apple pioneering the personal

computer and then years later mobile platforms like the iPhone and iPad. Investors are betting

that he's embedded his skills to the point where now the company can do without him.

Mark Gregory, BBC News

Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2011

Page 2 of 2

bbclearningenglish.com

Vocabulary and definitions

visionary

an original thinker with intelligence and imagination

undisclosed

not made public

succession plan

strategy for dealing with the change of leadership of the

company

a safe pair of hands

someone who is reliable and believed to be good for the

job

tech guru

a person whose knowledge and opinion on technology is

respected

gadgets

small devices that do useful things, often electronic

cradle

hold gently in your hands, almost as if keeping a baby safe

pretentious

trying to appear to be important or special in order to

impress other people

pioneering

leading the development of

embedded his skills

made his way of working and thinking part of the culture

of the company

More on this topic:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14664226

Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2011/08/110829_witn_apple.shtml