Thursday, October 6, 2011

A Debt of Thanks

I'm going to delay what I was going to post today until Monday, because  today I want to talk about the passing of Steve Jobs.
I heard about the news Thursday morning, and my first reaction was a bit of backlash. Everyone was just gushing over the man which is understandable, but I thought it might have been a little overdone, especially when one of my twitter followers put him in the same class as DaVinci and Edison.
Now I'm pretty much a die hard Microsoft and Android guy, but even I recognize the tremendous impact Steve Jobs had on our society. So many of us learned of his death on the very devices he created. Not many people can say they changed the world. Steve Jobs did.
But let's slow down a little bit before we put him in that pantheon okay?
But what really struck me as I though about Jobs and Apple was the realization that my very first interaction with a computer came thanks to Mr. Jobs. I was in 3rd grade, and we were taken down to the library.  When we got there we saw 12 shiny Apple //e computers set up.
After getting familiar with the device, we were taught a programming language called Turtle Talk. We wrote programs that made this little turtle move around the screen and draw pictures. 
Today, as I sit here typing this blog, I am a professional computer programmer. That's my 'day job'. In large part, it's because of the passion and love for computers and technology that was born way back in 1980.
I pretty much define myself as as geek. Part of that comes from my love of Sci-Fi, but part of that comes from a love of technology in general and computers in particular. Steve Job’s invention was a big part of that.
Thanks, Steve. R.I.P.

2 comments:

Rhab said...

In the information age where Jobs and Apple has changed the way we live, comparisons to Edison aren't farfetched. I'm not an apple guy, I had an iPhone and felt dirty when I bought it, and I'd go so far as to say, I'd never buy anything outside of that iPhone. No ipods, no ipads, or macs or whatever, but Jobs has changed the way we live.

Of course, he also tried to control the masses with an incredibly rigid do it my way or GTFO. Do you remember when he changed the volume toggling on ipad after it shipped and didn't give a shit if you had gotten used to and liked the way it shipped?

My comparisons to Davinci and Edison are appropriate because he changed the way we live. I'll stand by that even if I wasn't remotely close to being his biggest fan.

Steve said...

I stop a little short on comparisons to Edison and da Vinci. That's because Steve Jobs was more of an idea guy than an actual inventor/creator.

The original Apple computer was built by Steve Wozniak. The iMac, iPod, etc were all designed by Jonathan Ive and design teams at Apple.

Jobs was a visionary and an inspiration, but he greatly benefited by attracting talented people who could make his visions a reality.