Steve Jobs' Leaked Email Offers Rare Glimpse Of His Final Years: 'I Was Helpless'

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs didn’t just shape the tech world with his innovations, he also left a personal yet cryptic email written to himself in 2010 — a year before his demise. The email, shared publicly by his widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, on the Steve Jobs Archive website, sheds light on his thoughts during his final years. The tech legend was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003 and battled the disease for eight long years before passing away at the age of 56 in October 2011. In the email, Jobs shared his thoughts on humanity, his personal struggles and concerns about his health. The entrepreneur had also expressed feeling “helpless to help himself survive.”

Jobs wrote, “I grow little of the food I eat, and of the little I do grow, I did not breed or perfect the seeds. I do not make any of my own clothing. I speak a language I did not invent or refine. I did not discover the mathematics I use. I am protected by freedoms and laws I did not conceive of or legislate, and do not enforce or adjudicate. I am moved by music I did not create myself.”

“When I needed medical attention, I was helpless to help myself survive. I did not invent the transistor, the microprocessor, object oriented programming, or most of the technology I work with. I love and admire my species, living and dead, and am totally dependent on them for my life and well-being,” he added. The email concluded with the classic Apple message, “Sent from my iPad.”

Over the years, several more emails from Steve Jobs have surfaced online, revealing interesting details about his work. Among them was a hint that Apple was once planning to launch a smaller version of their mobile device, known as the iPhone Nano. While going through emails from the Apple vs Epic lawsuit, The Verge found a message where Jobs discussed working on Nano.

The email included a bullet point specifically mentioning the “iPhone nano plan.” It also had two subpoints — one about the cost goals for the device, and another simply stated, “Jony,” referring to Apple’s former Chief Designer Jony Ive, who probably was supposed to present the model or design of the Nano.

Steve Jobs founded Apple with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne on April 1, 1976 in California.