I Just Can't Help Being Touched By Reflecting On the Life of This Man

Though Glenn and Joyce opted for the Commodore 64 Computer in the early 1980's, my childhood connection to Apple is two-fold.

1) In 1987 I got in trouble for affixing the rainbow-striped Apple sticker to the back of the driver's seat head rest in our '85 Honda Civic Hatchback.  I wasn't an avid Apple supporter; I just thought the sticker was so pretty.  Years after said sticker's removal, the remaining Apple goo-silhouette never quite disappeared.

2) Hours of playing Lemonade Stand and doing god-knows-what in ELP at Chapel Christian.

I will never claim the title of Technology Buff.  I long for the days of my original-version i-pod mini, am terrified of twitter, bewildered by touch screens.  But for this Gen-X-er, Steve Jobs ... [beat] ... Wow.  I admire him for the technology, for sure, but more for who he was, the things he saw, his insight into humanity, candor, ability to empower and create.

I could select any number of quotes to include, but these below struck me this morning.  Thank you, Playboy Magazine for your serious, hard-hitting journalism.

"I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard on something, but working on Macintosh was the neatest experience of my life. Almost everyone who worked on it will say that. None of us wanted to release it at the end. It was as though we knew that once it was out of our hands, it wouldn’t be ours anymore. When we finally presented it at the shareholders’ meeting, everyone in the auditorium gave it a five-minute ovation. What was incredible to me was that I could see the Mac team in the first few rows. It was as though none of us could believe we’d actually finished it. Everyone started crying."  [Playboy, Feb. 1, 1985]

“The most compelling reason for most people to buy a computer for the home will be to link it to a nationwide communications network. We’re just in the beginning stages of what will be a truly remarkable breakthrough for most people––as remarkable as the telephone.” [Playboy, Feb. 1, 1985]


What a legacy, sir.


It's well worth taking a few minutes to read through more Steve Jobs perspective, inspiration at the Wall Street Journal http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/08/24/steve-jobss-best-quotes/