iSad- Steve Jobs RIP

There are simply no superlatives that could possibly describe the achievements of  Steve Jobs. As a technologist, he was JFK, Michael Jordan and Jimmy Hendrix in a black tee shirt.

Perhaps his most indelible mark was that he made us “think differently” about the most fundental things; the way we learn, make home movies, communicate, and listen to music. The Apple revolution has been about creativity, learning, sharing and social responsibility.  Steve Jobs innovated innovation.

He proved what a cancer survivor was capable of.  In a bitter irony, his chronic health problems may have played a part in his genius. At a Stanford University commencement address he said “If you live each day like it will be your last, some day you will certainly be right.”  “Remembering that I will be dead soon is the most important tool I have ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.”

His big choices included enormous gambles that represented leaps in technology. In a world becoming more complex by the day, he combined design and function into simple elegance. His products were beautiful and useful.  He made us more productive while having fun.  Steve Jobs’ Apple has set the bar for every new product design and technology.  Tools we use can be convenient and modular, and they can “just work”. It wasn’t just the iProducts that were extraordinary, he built powerful service delivery platforms in The App Store and iTunes that have paved the way for e-commerce.

The loss of Steve Jobs is resonating like the deaths of Marilyn Monroe and Princess Di, amazing for any business person, much less a geek from Cupertino. Perhaps it is because he made us love inanimate objects in a way we couldn’t have otherwise. How is it that we love our computers and our phones so much? As the President said last night, he was “brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world and talented enough to do it.”

Along the way, Steve Jobs built the 2nd most valuable company on the planet.  It is rare that a man creates such a lasting legacy, that it is not even defined at his death.  One gets the sense that  the platform for innovation that he built will continue to create gadgets and technologies that we can’t even imagine.

I have unique perspective on this, having just moved to 100% MAC about a month ago.  So, like so many others, I am a disciple of a man who changed the world and I am saddened for our loss. I am proud to say, I am a MAC.

Featured Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/centralasian/

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