Thanks.
There really isn’t much more to say.
Regardless of how you feel about the man, the companies, the products — there have been few single humans who have had as wide reaching effect on the world as Steve.
I never met Steve, but his impact on my life is immeasurable.
A long time ago, I was one of those kids enamored of the new computer thingers. After cutting my teeth on Z80s and CP/M, I wanted an Apple ][e so bad I could taste it. Instead, I got a second hand IBM PC-XT. But I used Apple’s machine where-ever I encountered it.
Once I was older, I spent an awful lot of my own money buying a Powerbook 520. That machine was art. I know that Steve wasn’t at Apple at the time, and I spent a huge amount of time lusting after a NeXT cube, but I had the next best thing – a tiny b&w screen and the world at my fingertips. I used that machine daily from 1994 until 2001. I checked a few weeks ago and it still cheerfully boots, complains about the date and then quickly stops complaining as it updates via NTP and shows me the glory of the internet via Netscape 4.x. Just worked then – and just works now.
Add a little WhackedMac (thanks again SpaceRogue) and I was well on my way to future fortune and fame.
Later on, I kept buying Macs — because they (still) provide me with the best combination of longevity, utility and “shit just works” compared to other machines. Over my career, I’ve used dozens of machines with the widest variation in operating systems that you can likely imagine. But the machine that I call “mine” — the one that I hug — is the mbp13 that replaced my ibook G4 that (after a short time away from mac) replaced my PB520.
The idea that computers should be simple. That they should be accessible. That they should be trustable. That they should just work. That’s why I keep coming back.
I saw it written today that even if we set aside all that Steve did at the helm of Apple (and acting as a foil and advanced R&D department for Apple) — even with all of that set aside — we still owe Steve for being the kind of guy who was willing to take on any battle – to make movies that enrapture and tell some deep stories – to thumb his nose at anyone who said he couldn’t.
Yes – Steve failed. Sometimes gloriously. But he got up and went right back at it. I’ve tried to emulate this in my professional life – sometimes successful, always taking chances, not afraid of failing.
I’m not even close to being there yet, but I know that it can be done – if I am audacious enough – if I stay hungry and stay foolish – I can get there.
So to Steve – always – thanks.