RIP: Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

6th October 2011

Hi, I’m a Mac.

I have not always been a Macintosh user, in fact, for a long period of my life I didn’t really even know Apple was still around. In my early teenage years, PC really was the only option. At home and at school, everything was Microsoft. Not that this was a problem, it was just to my mind, there was no other option. However in 2001, Apple made it’s presence known to my existence, loud and clear. I can remember watching the news and seeing this tall and skinny bald man talk in front of hundreds of people holding a tiny device. This thing in his hands looked like a skinny white Gameboy. He called it the iPod and he declared that it was going to change everything. And indeed, it did. iPods became common place in the schoolyard, and later it was hard to get into someone’s car without seeing one hooked up to the stereo or having one supply the background music to a party. As someone who had only recently received a CD-Walkman, I was impressed to say the least.

Later I would be introduced to the iMac. In my first year at the Australian Catholic University, the library had recently received four brand new and shiny iMacs. They were slick, fast, easy to use, and they were just so much fun. Everything about them was a delight to the eyes and with only four available people were fighting tooth and nail to use them. Then the iPhone was released and they started popping up all over campus. I watched people use them, doing everything by hand, flicking and pressing their fingers to the screen. It was so simple and just so creative at the same time. It made me wonder, “What hadn’t I thought of that?” Later, I got one for my very own. Granted, it was the 3G model and the iPhone 4 had just been released, so it was a litter slower and more limited, but compared to what I had before, it was like reaching nirvana.

However, what confirmed my jump to Apple was the release of the iPad. My laptop had died around Christmas time and I was heading back to study without anything to use. I was considering just getting another cheap laptop to use, but I wanted something that would last. I didn’t trust anything in the market and within my price range would. Yet, I took a walk to the Apple Store in Chermside to take a look. I was greeted warmly and openly by the people working there. They were honest about my situation and they pointed me in the direction of the iPad. I played around with it and from the moment my fingers touched the screen, I knew it was for me. I waited in line for the release of the iPad 2, waiting for nearly eight hours on the shopping center floor. Yet it was a thrill to be surrounded by so many people, who soaking up each others passion and love for everything Apple.

Of course, it wouldn’t be enough. I needed something for home and decided to form an Apple family. The morning I went in for my iMac, I felt like a kid at Christmas. Once all the sells stuff had been handled, I was asked, “Do you want the clap?” And I couldn’t help but say yes. Everyone cheered on my change of pace, and even some stranger spoke to me and said, “You’ve done the right thing!”. It was almost like a shamanic experience. He said what I was thinking and feeling and from the home I turned it on at home… I knew I could proudly say, “I’m a Mac.”

A few weeks after I got my iMac, I decided to watch some of Apple’s conferences and conventions from over the years. I wanted to know what I was apart of in more detail, I wanted to see Apple in action. I watched what was history in the making with the release of the iPod and later the iPhone. Looking back, they really were something from the future. Something I had seen in science-fiction, which Jobs brought to life on stage. He was a delight to listen to. His face, his expressions, and his tone told you everything, he loved talking to you about these products. If there is something I have noticed from these presentations, some of the presenters seem to be selling you a product, trying to convince you that this is the best thing in the market. Jobs on the other hand came off as a excitable friend, someone who had discovered something wonderful and wanted to share it with you. Best of all was always his catch-phrase at the end, “There’s one more thing…” I loved how people delighted in hearing what else was in store and I loved watching Steve Jobs deliver the good news.

I watched his on air discussion with Bill Gates, and listened to the pair exchange humble complements and playful criticisms. They both made some excellent points about the state of technology in the world, and they both shared the drive for even more and exciting revolutions on the horizon, what was waiting just beyond the corner. I watched his address at Standford University, recounting his early struggles and insights as well as his first major breakthroughs. And I will never forget the words of advice he gave to the students, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

His passion was inspiring, and his love for creations was clear. Sitting there watching it on my computer screen, I felt proud to have an iMac, an iPad, and an iPhone. It was clear that to this man, it wasn’t all about the profits and the bottom dollar. It was about getting people expect, want, and use the best the world had to offer and every time people thought that it had become as good as it gets, to stand by and say, “Good, but what’s next?”. Steve Jobs helped change people’s lives. Perhaps in the most simplest and most unnoticeable ways, but they were changed. The way people call and text each other, the way people listen to music, the way people use and think about computers, and just the way people think about a piece of technology.

Millions of people never knew Steve Jobs in life, but I think we all did in spirit.

Rest in Peace Steve. May your passion and love for quality technology flourish, may your creative genius inspire others, and your challenge to think about the “what’s next” never leave.

R.I.P.

Steve Jobs

(1955 – 2011)

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

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