"The year was 1996. That is when I co-developed the Barnes & Noble (BKS) store in my hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina. The 25,000 square foot “big box” store had everything to offer and when the store opened customers were lined up; out the door to get a firsthand glimpse of the incredible “everything’s paper” superstore. Back then, Steve Jobs had just returned from his eleven year absence at Apple (AAPL) when he became the company’s interim CEO and was later credited for launching many innovative new Apple products, starting with the original iMac in 1998, the iPod in 2001, and iTunes in 2003."