Steve Jobs was never one to leave anything to chance. He even timed his own ascension to a higher plane to fall on the day after the 5th generation iPhone was publicly unveiled.
Mr. Jobs will be missed. The kind of biological problems that shortened his life span are no way to go for a tech god. If only medicine had developed at the same pace that he furthered the digital lifestyle, then I am sure we would have lived longer. But alas the working of miracles is still only the domain of iOS devices and Macs.
I never met the genius Jobs in person. I only walked past him once in the lobby of the Apple campus without noticing him. Only to be nudged afterwards “Did you see Steve? He was sitting with Jony Ive”. I saw him later at his last public appearance, the WWDC 2011 keynote. Back home whenever somebody asked me “he didn’t look good, did he” I enthusiastically defended him claiming that I thought he looked ok, just to keep this cherished memory untainted.
Jobs’ influence in our lives was so much more than another star would have just by acting a role and existing. Yes, I am trying to copy his approach to things, to designing, to iterating, to improving your products. But if he wouldn’t have set his mind to creating the iPad then he would never have taken the detour to creating the iPhone. Which in turn was the reason why I started developing iOS apps in late 2008 in the first place. Now I am doing that full time since 2010 and the entirety of my livelihood depends on the ecosystem that he and Apple have created.
Isn’t it a weird coincidence that the authorized biography (amazon.com, amazon.de, iBookstore) will also be available a mere month after today? Perfect timing. Food for those of us lusting to get closer to this brilliant person, something we never could due to his looking out for his and his family’s privacy. Here’s to hoping that some molecules of brilliance might find their way from Steve’s essence via this book into our own humble brains.
If it weren’t for Steve Jobs then I would still be a grumpy Windows desktop support engineer at Amdocs. Or maybe Linux system administrator. Steve’s legacy is what allows me to live a life that I control, that is fun, with a job that I can be proud in. We have not a single Windows machine in our house (but 5 Macs, 4 iPhones, 3 iPods, 2 iPads). Thank you Steve!
I shall wear black today. Though I don’t have a mock turtleneck, a black T-Shirt will do. I have a choice between one with an Apple logo and one stating “I visited the Apple Campus, but that’s all I’m allowed to say”. Speaking of controlling your secrets…
Enlightened meditators are said to be able to control the time when they let their soul leave their body through the third eye. While we will never learn the specific circumstances of Steve’s EOL let us assume that this was his last executive decision: To leave on his own terms.
Thus Steve Jobs launched himself onto iCloud Number 9, the all-encompassing Backup system for the soul.
Steve, may the Force be with you
Categories: Apple
