I was attending ‘back to school’ evening at my son’s school and I had my iPhone on silent/vibrate mode. Suddenly, the all familiar vibration tickled in my pocket, indicating that I had received a message or some other update.
It was with somewhat confusion and disbelief that I read the breaking news item, which had popped up on the screen. The message told me that Steve Jobs passed away, at only 56. He lost the battle with cancer.
To be honest, I rarely get emotionally involved when celebrities pass away. It’s sad to hear the news and I feel sorry for their families, but I do not get emotional. Why would I? I don’t know these individuals personally and I have only seen their performance in the spotlight – which is probably not even their real personality.
But for some reason, when this message appeared on my iPhone, it was like being told someone close to you had passed away. I know it sounds very strange, given that Steve Jobs has never heard of me and I have never met him.
However, I admired Steve Jobs for what he accomplished within Apple and outside Apple. You could probably say that he is my John Lennon.
When you then see the outpour of support and grief throughout the World, as the news circled the Globe, one can only begin to understand how many people he touched. Wonderful pictures of people showing their sadness, almost brought tears to my eyes, all very personal and filled with sorrow.
Here’s a man who through his company developed so many amazing and utterly wonderful creations. He changed the way we use music, the way we use phones, the way we can access information anywhere. He introduced simple and yet powerful software and not to forget truly beautiful designs.
He did not only raise the bar for the technology – he was raising the game beyond the grasp of the competition. The competitors could only copy what he created and rarely come close to what his products delivered.
Furthermore, he inspired young and old people around the World, by showing them that anything is possible if you dare to chase your dream.
Personally, he has changed my life, the way I approach technology and the way we interact with technology in our family. You can call me a mac-anatic. I’ll only be proud if you do.
When we bought the first Mac, almost 6 years ago, we were able to suddenly create wonderful DVDs for our families, allowing them to see snapshots of our family. We created nice web sites and organized ALL our pictures, videos and music files.
As if that wasn’t enough, we got our hands on the AppleTV, which allowed us to amaze our friends and relatives with streaming media. It also saved us money on replacing DVDs as the kids used them for skating. Now we simply imported them into iTunes and then onto the AppleTV.
iPhones delivered us into the smartphone era and soon we were online everywhere, syncing our iPhones with our calendar, contacts, bookmarks, music, etc. We even had access to the internet.
The iPad helped our son who is born with Down syndrome. It gave him wings. It helped him reach new heights and elevated his ability to learn. Thanks to Steve Jobs our son showed us that he had the abilities that we in society assume he has not and cannot attain. He is a computer wiz now thanks to Steve Jobs and we cannot thank him enough for that gift.
Our house is proud to say we own; iMac, MacBook, MacBook Air, AppleTV, iPod Touch iPhone, Nano, MacBook Pro … and hundred of Apple USB cables. Our lives have been touched and changed by Steve Jobs.
It is with sadness in my heart that I bid you farewell Steve. I hope your family stays strong and understands that they have the support of millions around the Globe.
Have a safe crossing … please say hi to my dad in the iCloud.