I was saddened to hear that Steve Jobs died today, October 5th, 2011.
Passionate Visionary
Whether you agreed or disagreed with him it is clear that Steve Jobs was always passionate about what he was doing. Right from the get go, when he founded Apple with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, Jobs’s approach to personal computer was much different from other companies, including Microsoft. His goal was always to simplify the computer, make it fit the users’ needs, instead of making users fit the computer’s needs.
When he came back to Apple in 1996, after a hiatus of more than a decade, he quickly established the importance of design and elegance in Apple’s products. When the first iMac was released in 1998 it was a reinvention of the personal computer. Gone were the archaic floppy disk and serial ports. Instead the aim was on a computer that was ready to go out of the box (which included built-in internet connectivity) and minimized the need for any further additions and extension.
Nowhere however, the desire to create elegant and simple products, was more obvious than with the introduction of the iPod in 2001. The iPod of course is the best selling MP3 player in the world, and it is even often used as a way to refer to any MP3 player. With it Apple started on the road to revolutionize not just the PC industry but also the music industry and ultimately the entire consumer space.
Of course the biggest revolution has yet to come. The iPhone came out in 2007, and whatever you may think of it now, it is undoubtedly completely revolutionized the industry, not just the cellphone industry but the entire tech industry. Here was a product unlike anything seen before. Yes there were personal digital assistants before it, in particular Palm (remember them?) had a very successful lines of PDAs, and there was the Windows Phone, but they weren’t even in the same league as the iPhone. The iPhone was the first true smartphone. Operated almost entirely by touch, with a beautiful and sleek interface, it was a high-tech device that even your grandma could use.
All these amazing products were the vision of Steve Jobs. Undoubtedly Apple as a company, as well as people like Jonathan Ive were integral to the success of these products, but they were all driven by the singular vision and passion of Steve Jobs.
Those who follow my posts know that I’m not a huge fan of Apple. I always felt a certain level of hubris coming off the company and Steve Jobs himself. Having said that however, there is no doubt in my mind that Steve Jobs changed the face of the tech industry and for the better, much better. Without him and Apple we’d still be buying songs on pieces of plastics, books on dead trees, there wouldn’t be Android, and maybe not even smartphones. He was a passionate individual with a singular vision and the ability to inspire people to help him achieve this vision.
I think it’s pretty much a universal truth that all of us wish to leave this world having left some impact on it and Steve Jobs certainly have done that.
Rest In Peace.
