I’ve been impressed at how well behaved people have been regarding the death of Steve Jobs. While I knew a great many of us, especially those in the tech industry, would be affected and take the event to heart, I also expected the usual array of trolls to come out and shoot down the importance of Steve Jobs with little regard to his impact.
By now, we’ve all had a chance to think, read and hear about how Steve, and Apple, have impacted life as we know it. They brought us devices that changed the way we interacted, worked and socialized. They found the balance to walk the fine line between beauty, simplicity and functionality, while making devices so intuitive that a 2 year old can pick one up and make it work.
Countless businesses have been built on what Apple started and entire industries changed because of Jobs vision.
But I think that is only half of the story as to why so many people are so taken back by the loss of Steve Jobs.
So for the few dissenting voices, or those who think we’re making too big of a deal about this, I’d like to put into context why his loss is so significant right now.
We live the age of Arthur Andersen, Bernie Ebbers and Bernie Madoff. When companies lay off people by the 10’s of thousands while CEO’s take multi-million dollar bonuses.
We’re inundated by stories of Enron, Lehman Brothers and politicians who vilify corporations while accepting their campaign donations.
Let’s face it, our view of Corporate America is disenchanted at best and downright hated at worst.
Then there was Steve and Apple.
While I’m not so naive to believe that Apple has never done anything questionable, or ruthless (which is often business by it’s very nature), they were in the business of improving our lives through technology and did so in a way most of us have come to strongly appreciate. They gave us devices we love and helped make technology what it should be, a compliment to our lives, not a means to overcomplicate it.
Apple isn’t alone, there are other great companies out there and surely others will rise. But Apple was the shining example and most importantly, gave us something to look forward to.
Apple isn’t perfect, nothing ever is. But in a time when Corporate America is riddled with scandal, distrust and can’t seem to get it right, Apple did, and it was Steve’s vision that got them there.
My business exists largely because of Apple. Everyone I work with at  Livid Lobster (parent company of GeekBeat.tv) is here because of Apple.
How did Apple affect your life?
Robert Moutal says
October 17, 2011 at 4:19 pmGrowing up in Mexico in the 80’s I was fortunate enough to be part of the first experimental classroom in my high school that tested the first Apple IIe’s (and probably one of the first high school students in all of Mexico). Our American-born English teacher along with our Math teacher, got the administrators to spend a small fortune in these new “personal computers” and all of us had to buy our own 5.25″ floppy discs so we could have the OS installed to them.
Needless to say, the experiment was a success. Many of my classmates went on to become Computer Engineers and major geeks. One of my closest friends became the director of Alias Wavefront for Latin America and all of us are still very comfortable around computers.
So, John, when you ask how did Apple change my life, my answer goes way beyond the iPod, iPad, iMac, even the Macintosh Classic. It rushes past the runner hurling the hammer at the “1984” screen and reaches all the way back to 1981, right in the middle of my forming years.
Jenny says
October 14, 2011 at 3:39 amApple without Steve Jobs is unknown.
Scott Ellis says
October 10, 2011 at 10:17 amBen,
Great story!
“We lost a visionary who could act upon those visions and make them reality…” that really summed it up for me too, it’s the execution part that is so notable to me really, much harder to take vision and make it a reality.
I worked on the Apple II (and IIe) back in the day myself making images coded one pixel at a time!
It’s really been an amazing ride.
BTW – If you like to read books with your daughter on the iPad check this out, very cool stuff: The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lesmore
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-fantastic-flying-books/id438052647?mt=8
BenSpark says
October 9, 2011 at 5:52 amAs a kid my first computer was a Ti 994A. I was the only one in the family who could use it because I was the only one who understood it. Then we got an Apple IIC. That was the first Family computer. I’d spend hours creating banners on Print Shop. I’d create animations, play games and I even used AppleWorks database to create a database of all of my Transformers toys. I loved that computer. We then moved on to a PC and I’ve been PC since. The story doesn’t end there though…
I used to travel all over the country and I’d bring book after book with me to read. Then i got an iPod with video. I discovered GeekBrief.tv the predecessor of GeekBeat.tv. I could now hold in my hand more computing power than my first 7 computers combined. I mellowed. I wasn’t as angry or annoyed on my flights because I could enjoy music and video and fun as I flew. I quickly upgraded to an iPod Touch. I bought one for my fiance. A couple of years later I won an Macbook. I already had a laptop but didn’t have an iPad so I traded it in and paid to buy two iPads, one for me and one for my wife.
Now my daughter is 4 and she uses my iPad with me to play games and read books and learn. She’ll never get to use an Apple IIC and could never imagine those early days of Apple. I sat her on my knee and told her about how Steve was an important man because he used his vision and imagination to create things that are part of our life. Yes, Steve mattered and his death matters immensely. We lost a visionary who could act upon those visions and make them reality…
But the story doesn’t end there. I ordered my first iPhone on Friday after Steve’s death. I was planning to do so anyway. Ask me in a year how those phones (one for me and one for my wife) have impacted our lives.
fas says
October 8, 2011 at 3:21 pmHow is LividLobster related to Apple?
Scott Ellis says
October 10, 2011 at 10:13 amfas – LividLobster is the parent company of GeekBeat.TV, which started as a podcast. Podcasting didn’t really come about until the iPod (video at that). So I wasn’t implying a formal relationship, just that the jobs & opportunities created buy Steve & Apple lead to LL, and all the companies that make Apps (as we know them now), etc…