iFever: Steve Jobs for TIME’s 2010 Person of the Year?

  • Share
  • Read Later
Steve Jobs

Marco Grob for TIME

Between the arrival of the new iPhone 4 and the debut of the ingenious iPad, Apple exceeded its calendar of avant-garde expectations.

Steve Jobs’ sagacity lies in his ability to pace innovative designs with the growing demands of consumers. But when gadget geeks learned of his latest project — the tablet computer — there was a share of skepticism. With an iPhone in your pocket and a laptop in your bag, how could the iPad distinguish itself as the middle computer child?

(See photos of the unveiling of Apple’s iPad.)

Those tinges of doubt dissipated quite quickly. The device’s first commercial contained no words outside of the lyrics of The Blue Van’s ‘There Goes My Love’ — and that’s exactly what makes Jobs a candidate for TIME’s 2010 Person of the Year. Apple’s authority stayed away from verbal sway, utilizing brief yet explicit imagery of the iPad’s potential, from E-books to email.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R41NNPBqRCk&w=450]

Within a month of its spring release, 1 million iPads were sold. Today, the tablet sales surpass those of basic Mac laptop/desktop platforms, proving that Apple patrons bought into Jobs’ belief. Buy an iPad and you’re bound to be, be the charming type.

(See photos of Steve Jobs’ long, extraordinary career.)

Jobs currently sits as a top-10 vote-getter in TIME’s 2010 Person of the Year poll. Slide over to TIME.com to log your vote for one of our candidates. Or reserve your seat for an early-December meetup to contribute your thoughts to the year-end conversation.

(See the all-TIME 100 gadgets.)