I figured it was time to write down a few words about Steve Jobs and his recent passing. It was clear from the published photos of him back on August 29th that he was indeed a very sick man with only a short time left to live, yet of course we all hoped against the evidence that he would pull through once again. Sadly it was not to be and he finally succumbed to the cancer that had afflicted him for years.
I doubt very much if he was at all ‘ready’ to go, but he has of course left an immeasurable legacy behind him, and one that it will be virtually impossible for anyone else to replicate or surpass. Apart from his success as a technological wizard with the release of the early Apple computers, we have to applaud his creation of the (for their time) quite incredible NeXT line of computers after his dismissal from his own company, and then the development of what has been the most innovative animation company to date, i.e. Pixar. Regardless of the fact that he personally couldn’t possibly have developed all the products he is associated with, it remains fact that he was at the helm of some of the most successful companies of recent times!!
I’ve never been an ‘Apple Fanboi’ as such, to begin with I could never afford the inflated prices the company charged. By the time my income had risen and their costs had reduced to a point where I *could* have afforded them, I was too deeply committed to the ‘Wintel’ systems be be able to change horses easily. Nevertheless, I have never doubted for a second the genius of the man or the magnificence of the products Apple produced… they just aren’t for me.
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs legacy really lies of course in that he was one of those valiant few who forced a paradigm shift onto the world, albeit a world that was actually waiting for the shift. True eventually those changes would probably have come anyway, but it’s possible that the development of that shift may well have gone in an entirely different direction without Steve being there pushing his own vision of that future world. Essentially, the technological revolution he was a part of entirely changed our world in ways we haven’t yet fully come to terms with let alone explored and whatever comes after will be built entirely on the shoulders of Steve and his peer group.
That he did amazing things in his first incarnation with Apple is without question. That after his ‘second coming’ he inspired changes in his company that signalled a revolution in both marketing and design is also beyond doubt. Yes it’s east to say that those devices released under his guidance were already in existence, but they were most certainly not in a form that made them particularly user friendly. Nor were the majority particularly well designed either in form or function! Apple might have a limited product range compared to other companies producing similar devices, but the impact of each release still sends shockwaves through the industry as each upgrade is released.
From Steve’s perspective I suppose if he had to have a time to leave forced on him, then perhaps being made to leave whilst at the top of his game was a good a place to leave as any. He’ll drift into history (and probably hyperbole!) as the inspiration of a thousand imitators, but I doubt our world will ever see the likes of Steve Jobs again, and I’m certain even if one eventually arrives I’ll not be around to see it!
Rest in peace Steve – the world was a richer place for your existence and is a poorer one for your passing.
It’s got an NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 ( 1.00GHz ) running Honeycomb (Android 3.1). It’s got 1 GB 800Mhz DDR2 RAM and a 32 Gb HDD. The display is larger than I personally favour, i.e. it has a 10.1″ Multitouch Capacitive Display, Gorilla Glass and two cameras; the inward 2MP and the outward camera 5MP but it will suit the purpose as a note-taking business machine!
Recent Comments