The motif of adoption is particularly significant in the life of Steve Jobs, whose birth parents insisted that his adoptive parents be college educated so that they could provide a good life to their child. While this precondition for adoption was not actually met, Jobs’s adoptive parents took the responsibility seriously, giving Jobs every opportunity possible—within their limited means—to pursue his dreams. Throughout his life, the interplay between adoption, belonging, and family would cycle through various stages of Jobs’s personal journey, including in his relationship with his own children.

As arguably the most influential device of the 21st century, the iPhone holds symbolic significance not only in Steve Jobs’s life but for virtually every person in the modern, technology-driven world. For Jobs, the iPhone represents the culmination of his professional and personal achievements, a piece of technology that cemented his status into the pantheon of the world’s great innovators for all time. After the exorbitant success of the iPod, the iPhone was the next step towards hegemony for Apple, which is in itself an extension of Steve Jobs himself.