I have always had an Apple computer, from the Apple IIe my father had when I was a kid to the new Macbook Pro that’s on its way to my door. While I’m an Apple fan, I don’t buy every product Apple releases or agree with everything they’ve done. I’ve always admired Apple, and especially Steve, for doing things differently, and, for more importantly, thinking about the needs of the user first — for building tools that free people to create.
I remember fondly that Apple IIe, on which I learned my first programming and gaming. It sat in my father’s office in the basement of our house in Michigan. It had two disk drives, two paddle joysticks and a monochrome green monitor. On it, my sisters and I played games like Pong, Zork & Moonpatrol. I remember learning how to program in BASIC and the little programs I’d write to do silly things like make ascii graphics. The Apple IIe was easy enough for any of us to use and it made using a computer fun.
It’s maybe those first enjoyable moments on an Apple computer that led me to pursue a computer engineering degree. In college, I was the only one of our friends using a Mac. Apple was basically being left for dead — it’s stock was at an all time low (something like $4). But Steve Jobs had come back to the company and there was hope. And I thought that going to work at Apple would be awesome.
I never did go to work for Apple. The web had become more popular while I was at college and it caught my attention as a new way to communicate and do business. I went my own way, eventually starting the business that I’m happily running today.
Steve was an inspiration as someone who, not only thought different, but did different. He had big dreams and ideas, but he worked hard to see them come to fruition. He sought others opinions, but didn’t let them derail him. That’s what I aspire to. To have big ideas, and to have the courage and persistance to see them materialize.
When someone as amazing as Steve Jobs dies at age 56, we’re understandably saddened. It’s not only a reminder of our own mortality, but it’s a disappointment in all that could of been. Yet, all that Steve accomplished in those 56 years is an inspiration to change the world in our own way, however large or small that may be. As Steve so eloquently put it, “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”
Thank you, Steve. For being such an amazing inspiration and living life on your own terms. You will be missed.