The End of an Era

Steve Jobs

I have a heavy heart this week for several reasons. I lost a dear friend in an argument, a close family member’s marriage is falling apart (leaving him in a legal battle just to see the faces of his own children), I got passed over for a job I interviewed for that was a perfect fit for me, and then last night, piling on the heartbreak, we got the news I’d been dreading: Steve Jobs had lost his battle with cancer.

I don’t want to sound melodramatic. Life goes on. Perhaps it is stupid to feel such intense sadness over the death of a man I never even met in person. I’ve been around celebrities most of my life and tend to roll my eyes at most celebrity worship that I witness. I nevertheless greatly admired Steve Jobs. He was one of the few people I hold in awe and crave the opportunity to shake his hand. Call me juvenile if you want, but he and Steven Spielberg are two of my heroes — men who share my first name and have accomplished truly great things.

I’ve been a Mac Fanboy since I got my first MacIntosh computer in 1990 or thereabouts. I remember seeing it in the store and thinking that even though other personal computers cost far less, this was the one for me. The graphical user interface, the sleek design of it and simplicity of use made it an intuitive instrument for creativity to flow forth (Before this, I wrote using a bulky text processor with big pixelated green words on a black screen, so a computer that looked more like a TV set than a toaster was a huge evolutionary step). I’ve always prided myself on being adventurous with technology and adopting things early on. I was a Mac guy before the iPod, App Stores and all of that.

There are millions of people who join me today in the sentiment that Steve Jobs and Apple rescued us from a world of blah computing, making it exciting with hardware and software that is, to quote the man himself, “insanely great.” The triumph of the Apple brand is a tribute to innovation, marketing and product design. The face and driving force behind all of that was Steve Jobs, so you can see why I greatly admired and respected the man. Like an amputee incorporating a prosthetic leg to become a marathon runner, I’ve deeply integrated Apple products into my daily life and workflow.

After I heard the news of Jobs’ death last night, I watched YouTube clips of him giving those wonderful Apple presentations. What an amazing showman and presenter he was. Whenever I heard there would be an upcoming program, I’d think, now there’s something to anticipate. He rarely disappointed and usually went above and beyond to produce technology that made life more simple, enjoyable and opened new doors.

I know Jobs did not produce these wonderful machines alone. And I have no doubt Apple will continue to churn out amazing devices under the direction of fellow Auburn alum Tim Cook and people like Jonathan Ives. Mr. Cook has big shoes to fill, but he does so with great momentum pushing Apple forward and runs a company full of people who share the vision going forward. Apple is one of the companies I’d jump at the chance to work for.

It makes me very sad that I’ll never again get to look forward to those presentations and feel that tinge of excitement when Steve Jobs the rock star came out on the stage in his trademark black shirt and jeans, giving me what I wanted and then adding “one more thing.”