We are usually a house divided when it comes to Apple, but differences aside, Dan and I were both greatly saddened today to hear about the passing of Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs was one of the greatest innovators of our time, and a true visionary. After I heard the tragic news, I reflected back on my first encounters with a computer in elementary school, a Macintosh Classic… as well as the first computer our father bought for my brother and I to use — also a Mac Classic. And then I stared at the glistening 27″ iMac I get to use at work, and now at my own trusty 17″ MacBook Pro that I use at home, that I use regularly to type up blogs like this one. I have witnessed this incredible evolution of computers and the Macintosh operating system in my lifetime, and it amazes me that Steve Jobs really took it from fruition to the enormous success that the Mac OS is today. And on top of that, he is also the creative genius behind the iPhone and the iPod, all products that I love and use every day. (And of course the iPad, which I have been lusting after for quite some time now.) He even founded Pixar — a fact I only recently discovered — which has of course churned out some of my favorite animated films.
Steve Jobs and his innovations have made such an impact on people’s lives, and mine is definitely not an exception. I learned the skills of my trade throughout college on a Mac, and have never looked back since — all my design work and coding is all done on Macs. He was a revolutionary that really paved the way designers and artists work in the creative field. He has done so much for our industry in his lifetime, and because of him, the world has been forever changed for the better. His legacy will live on for generations to come.
There are many profound words that Steve Jobs has shared in the past, but I think the following quote from his 2005 Commencement speech at Stanford University is one that I can particularly appreciate today:
‎”No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
– Steve Jobs
Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs. Thank you for thinking different and being a source of inspiration to so many. You will be missed.
I personally am not sure how I feel about Michael Jackson, even to this day. He was at the height of his success when I was still a baby, so all I remember while growing up was seeing the gradual fall from that glory. I was continually perplexed by the bizarre behavior characteristic of his downward spiral, and honestly just saw him as a former superstar who had lost his marbles. Still, there’s no denying the incredible influence he has had in music. I remember going to Disney World as an 8-year old and seeing the Thriller music video played on the big screen–it was probably the first music video I’d ever seen, and I remember it clearly to this day because everything about it was just so exciting and new. Just one year ago, Dan and I broke out into a surprise dance with The Way You Make Me Feel during the first dance at our wedding reception.