I was taking a nap and thought about how ubiquitous smartphones are. Granted he didn't invent the technology but he did make them palatable to the public in a way that no one could figure out how to do before.

Like our 70+ year old parents use smartphones like our 4 year old children / nieces / nephews.

And he also did the same, although in smaller numbers, when he presented the Macintosh. I still remember that day in 3rd grade when I got a chance to see one up close. You felt you were looking at some creation that was in some science fiction movie. The impact the Macintosh had on personal computing, bringing computing mainstream in a way no other company had done before. And it also brought creatives a new medium which led to desktop publishing and graphic design advances not to mention music and other fields.

The iMac didn't have the impact on tech that the other two products did but it was the sign that Apple was back and made computing fashionable and accessible in a way that hadn't been done since the OG Mac.

Apple printing money isn't a tech invention but to take a company from a garage to one that was worth $300B at the time of his death and now worth $900B is something Horatio Alger wouldn't have the bravery to write.

Taking the time element out of the decision, I'd have to say the iPhone was the most impactful invention of his run.

Poll result (9 votes) Macintosh (0 votes) Vote iMac (0 votes) Vote iPhone (7 votes) Vote Turning Apple into the most profitable company in history (0 votes) Vote And of course, RDF (1 votes) Vote Other (1 votes) Vote