A Sad Day!
I’ve known for some time that Steve Jobs has been sick, but last night I was totally shocked to see on the news that he had died. Today the shock has waned and sadness has grabbed my heart and caused a lump in my throat. While sitting here thinking about how Mr. Jobs has affected my life, I pulled up Apple’s website to see what they had posted about the longtime leader of their company. What I saw has caught me completely off guard – the homepage has his name, years he lived and his picture - nothing else. Normally I’m not an emotional person, but I couldn’t help but just sit at my desk and cry. Why am I crying? I didn’t know Mr. Jobs. I’ve never been a real fan of Apple computers. I don’t own an iPhone, iPod, or iPad. Maybe it’s not just because Steve Jobs has died, maybe it’s about me, maybe I’m a selfish prat and I’m crying because his death will affect me, my family and my son’s future family.
Steve Jobs was an innovator. He changed the lives not only of people around him but around the world. He changed my life. Mr. Jobs didn’t react to a problem and invent a solution; he envisioned things that improved our lives in ways we didn’t even know we needed or wanted. Like every entrepreneur there were ups and downs, the Lisa computer never really took off and the Newton was just ahead of its time. Mr. Jobs didn’t originate the idea of the iPod, but he had that special gift that saw the possibilities and had built a company that could take ideas like the iPod and turn it into a revolutionary world changing device.
Mr. Jobs not only inspired those people that worked with him and for him, he inspired his competitors, he inspired people in other industries outside his own, and I think in some way he inspired me. There are not many people like Mr. Jobs I can think of, who touched so many people in so many ways. Thomas Edison comes to mind with his telegraph transmitter, phonograph (and early iPod), the telephone and so much more. Of course there were the Wright brothers and their airplane and Mr. Ford and his ideas on Mass Production. But Mr. Jobs wasn’t 100 years ago; he was our generation’s inspiration. This makes it more personal.
There are not enough Steve Jobs in the world who not only see outside the box but actually make a new box to live in. There have been scores of inventors and engineers who see a problem and create a solution. But there are not many people like Mr. Jobs. Steve Jobs was unique and I cry because the world has lost a friend. I cry for his wife, his children, and yes, I cry for me.