Two years ago today, the world lost a legend. A giant of a man. The man who represents the reason that this website exists, and the man responsible for my job, my technology and design sentiments, for shaping numerous industries, and so much more. That man was Steve Jobs.
There’s only so much I can say about Steve. His passing, even two years later, remains very difficult for me to write about. So today, we’ll be taking a break from business as usual. You’ll see no posts or tweets from us today, except for this one – because the memory of Steve Jobs is worth taking a moment to reflect on and remember, distraction free.
Last year, I wrote an essay about Steve Jobs, and the way his life and passing affected me, my life, and my career. An updated version of that essay can be found below. I hope it means something to you – it certainly does to me.
This post is being sent to Twitter and Facebook only once, in the morning, and will be left frozen in time for the day – just like the universe was at that fateful moment. We’ll be back Monday with our regular round of news, reviews, and Apple analysis. Until then, as Steve might say: STAY HUNGRY, STAY FOOLISH.
Life, The Universe, and Steve Jobs: A Tribute to The Crazy One
Steve Jobs’ death two years ago today caused me to look back and reflect more than almost any other event I can recall. I remember exactly where I was – sitting in a restaurant, celebrating my sister’s birthday, when I received a text message with the news. Like many others, those three words stopped me in my tracks: “Steve is gone.”
That single moment, frozen in time, affected me much more deeply than I would ever have imagined just a handful of years prior. I learned how to use a computer on my father’s Apple II – but in the years that followed, I grew apart from Apple, and towards Microsoft and Windows.
It wasn’t long ago that I, a self-employed tech consultant, computer repair and maintenance technician, and Windows guru, looked down my nose at Apple in distaste. Macs were only for artsy types. For fun. Bill Gates and Microsoft had gotten things right, and Apple was desperately trying, and failing, to catch up in the technology world.
That all changed my first year of college. The university had a bargain running on some MacBook Pros from the previous year, and being unable to afford the Windows laptop I really would have wanted, I made the jump. I bought one. And nothing has ever been the same since.
In the years that followed my transition, I purchased an iPhone, and then another about a year later. I upgraded that MacBook Pro a few times. Then came the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and now, an iPhone 5S (and a 5C as a backup). When the first iPad came out, I hesitated – it didn’t run OS X apps, and I was disappointed. Then I tried one for myself, and once again found myself reconsidering what it really meant to create a useful, revolutionary product. Somehow, Apple knew what I, and so many others, wanted – even before they wanted it.
In the midst of this transition, I began writing about technology – first, reviews of Apple-related products and accessories, then later, news and editorials. That eventually resulted in having the job that I have today, which I love and wake up excited for every single morning.
I now stand here in front of a Thunderbolt Display, hooked to an iMac. There are an iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iPad mini, and a 4th-gen iPad on my desk. There’s a Mac Mini living in my basement, a new Mac Pro waiting on my wish list, and I’m sure that whatever Apple next big thing happens to be, that will find a way into my home as well.
Now, eight years later, I look back on my transition from PC to Mac – the way it has completely changed the way I think about technology, and thoroughly transformed my views on computing, design, marketing, and so much more. And today, I pay tribute to the man who made this all possible.
Who would have thought that what Steve Jobs started in 1976 in a garage in California would impact my life so deeply? Who would have imagined that listening to a commencement speech delivered at Stanford University would one day encourage me to break free and live my own life?
Today, in deep reflection, I still feel that deep sadness from the void – the dent in the universe – caused by Steve Jobs’ passing. I still feel the same sadness I felt that very day. Today, I pay tribute to The Crazy One – to the man who rekindled my sense of wonder about technology, about simplicity, about the user experience. A man who revolutionized consumer technology at least four separate times, and the man to whom I owe my livelihood and my passion for design – even at this very moment.
Thank you, Steve Jobs. Today, I raise my glass to you. You said you wanted to leave a dent in the universe, and so you have. You made the world, particularly my world, a far better place. Thanks to you, my universe has changed for the better – and nothing will ever be the same again.
