When a person’s alive, it seems almost ludicrous to count him among the Michelangelos or Da vincis of the world.
Then, he dies.
Today, now that he’s gone, it seems completely rational for me to say that Steve Jobs has been as much of an influence on the world than any of those other legendary people. I also find it a bit strange for feeling such a profound sense of loss for someone I didn’t even really know.
It’s not like we had a relationship or anything. Or did we?
Now that I think about it, I suppose we did have a relationship, but it was very lopsided. Sure, I gave him (a lot of) money, but he’s given me countless things. Here’s a few off top of my head.
He gave me my space back. My home is no longer cluttered with CDs, DVDs and photographs. The photographs that once adorned the inside of storage boxes in my attic are now unleashed in digital picture frames, computers, tablets and Apple TVs throughout my home. My ugly paper calendar is off my kitchen wall and in my pocket (where I actually need it). What he’s managed to put into my home has been elegant and beautiful.
He demonstrated what can happen when you focus business, product and design. Consumers have now learned to expect product design excellence, and businesses have taken notice and are demanding designers like me. He made it so that designers, product managers and technology executives no longer have an excuse for why things can’t be insanely great. We think to ourselves, “If Apple can put the entire library of congress, my collection of MP3s and every photograph and video I’ve every taken in my pocket, how hard is it really for us to code things properly in HTML5? He showed the business community what a turnaround really looks like– going from a distant second or third to being alone in the category you made for yourself. The turnaround will serve as a model for what can happen when you have decisive leadership, great intuition and fantastic sense of style.
He gave our country a bright spot. In these challenging times when so many of the things we used to do are being done in other parts of the world, he’s given people our country something to be proud of. Things are now designed in California. Oh, and he managed to accumulate more cash than the federal government.
He changed the technology landscape forever. Is it me, or is it really eerie how many MacBooks you see in companies nowadays? Compare that with five years ago. He’s given headaches to every Windows-based IT administrator I know. If someone in 1984 were to tell you that in 2011 you would be able to compose a piece of writing in a car in traffic on phone using dictation software, people would have thought you were nuts.
In the spirit of minimalism and simplicity, I’ll end this seemingly endless list here.
Mr. Jobs– rest well, knowing that you’ve successfully delivered that ding in the universe that you so often promised. You’ve managed to give technology a soul.
(Photo by Stephen D Luke)
