Thank You, Steve Jobs

While it's rarely fair to equate an entire company's accomplishments with a single individual, there may never have been a case where that feels more right than with Apple and Steve Jobs. His passion for his products and their impact on the world was legendary, and unequaled in the computing industry. From the Apple ][, to the Macintosh, to the iPod, to the iPhone, to the iPad, he continued to create new markets and new business for his company.

Tonight, we lost him......

I am a PC user. But if truth be told, I personally own an Apple ][, a Mac SE, an iPod 4, an iPod Touch, and an iPad. Not to mention the various Apple devices used throughout the house by my wife and kids. Not bad for a non-Apple family. It's clear that no matter who you are, Apple, and Mr. Jobs have touched your life.

I remember my first COLOUR computer. An Apple ][, with its floppy drives and easily accessible inner workings. The Steves (Jobs and Wozniak) had claimed it was the best device to come out of a garage in decades. It was a new thing...called a personal computer. It was exciting!

Then 1984 hit, and the famous Orwellian commercial on the Super Bowl. This new computer...with a mouse, and a friendly interface, would change our expectations of computing systems forever. I remember my friends and I going to the mall and playing with the device in the store window. We could be .... artistic with it. It spoke in fluid curves, not just in columns of characters. It was...almost...human.

When the music industry was just getting turned on to digital MP3 files, the iPod arrived and showed everyone how it was done. Sleek, powerful, with plenty of cool. Everyone had to have one. The other manufacturers immediately became irrelavent. Then the iTunes music store arrived and people stopped burning (and stealing) their own music, and simply clicked to get it, for a low fee. This was a game changer, much more than people realize. The success of the iTunes store now drives much of Apples profits.

When the iPhone and iPod Touch arrived, the world got a new way to deal with hand-held electronics. It became the personal communicator that had since only been written about in science fiction novels. It brought a new multi-touch interaction, personal applications, and such a slick interface. Pinch-to-zoom is iconic, and I expect it everywhere in my life now.

Just when everyone thought the mobile world was getting smaller, it all of a sudden grew again! And the tablet was born. A perfect balance between light-weight and enough screen real estate. It took off like a shot! And it continues to grow beyond the general public, into the enterprise, embedding itself in everything we want from a mid-sized device.

And ALL of these things were carefully nurtured by one man....Steve Jobs. Sure, there were thousands of developers, researchers, design specialists, engineers, testers, marketers, etc. but nobody cares. They were Steve's accomplishments. He brought them to us, as his gift to the technology world. And everyone rejoiced.

On this day, we must celebrate the gifts he brought us. We must recognize his commitment to our user-friendly communion with technology. He made a big difference in our lives. He won't soon be forgotten.

Oh...and just one more thing...

  Thanks Steve!

     Don

Comments

[Craig]

Well put Don.

I'll add:

"He was right more often than he was wrong."

I'm talking about big things - like tablets, phones, app stores, music, video, mobile, wireless and fashion (the last being surprisingly important). Part of Apple's success can be attributed to making big bets at the right time.

Few people in our business seems anywhere as good at betting on big things.