Yesterday I was watching all the tech blogs of the iPhone event in Cupertino and something seemed amiss. Don’t get me wrong, I like Tim Cook and he seems like a smart guy and all but he’s no Steve Jobs.
For all his personal shortcomings and lack of personal interaction skills, Steve was an absolute genius when it comes to technology and marketing and not just Apple technology. Steve changed every business he ever interacted with. After he left Apple in 1985 he went on to create NeXT Computer Corporation that in turn created the object oriented Nextstep operating system the granddaddy of OpenStep and in turn OS X, the operating system on which I am writing this as we speak. Later on he went to acquire the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm Ltd. which he named Pixar and became a company that changed the movie industry with the movie Toy Story. My kids and millions of others enjoy watching every frame of this movie ‘till this day.
Even if you did not own a single Apple product, the fact that you no longer use floppy disks or USB connections and buy your music in a digital format can be attributed in one way or another to Steve Jobs.
I had a boss ones that was an absolute perfectionist and no one liked working for him, but everyone respected him because he was the best at what he did with computers and technology. He thought me a valuable lesson: “It’s OK to be an asshole only if you are the very best at what you do.“ Respect is more valuable than sympathy. The day I go, I want people to say that SOB was really good at what he did.
Well, Steve Jobs was the absolutely very best at what he did and people respected him for it. His vision of technology made Apple devices accessible to people who didn’t even like technology. Now that is true genius, make things simple, but useful. Someone once told me that the best programmers are not those who can write millions of lines of code, but those that can write only a few lines that do one thing right every time.
Om Mailk at Gigaom.com writes “Why doesn’t the world realize that my Elvis is dead!” and I have to agree. Everyone knew that Steve was battling cancer for years, but no one was preparing for his passing. We all wanted to believe that “Teh Steve” will live forever and will keep presenting us with his “magical” vision of technology that changed everyone’s life.
You changed the world Steve and your legacy will live forever!
For all his personal shortcomings and lack of personal interaction skills, Steve was an absolute genius when it comes to technology and marketing and not just Apple technology. Steve changed every business he ever interacted with. After he left Apple in 1985 he went on to create NeXT Computer Corporation that in turn created the object oriented Nextstep operating system the granddaddy of OpenStep and in turn OS X, the operating system on which I am writing this as we speak. Later on he went to acquire the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm Ltd. which he named Pixar and became a company that changed the movie industry with the movie Toy Story. My kids and millions of others enjoy watching every frame of this movie ‘till this day.
Even if you did not own a single Apple product, the fact that you no longer use floppy disks or USB connections and buy your music in a digital format can be attributed in one way or another to Steve Jobs.
I had a boss ones that was an absolute perfectionist and no one liked working for him, but everyone respected him because he was the best at what he did with computers and technology. He thought me a valuable lesson: “It’s OK to be an asshole only if you are the very best at what you do.“ Respect is more valuable than sympathy. The day I go, I want people to say that SOB was really good at what he did.
Well, Steve Jobs was the absolutely very best at what he did and people respected him for it. His vision of technology made Apple devices accessible to people who didn’t even like technology. Now that is true genius, make things simple, but useful. Someone once told me that the best programmers are not those who can write millions of lines of code, but those that can write only a few lines that do one thing right every time.
Om Mailk at Gigaom.com writes “Why doesn’t the world realize that my Elvis is dead!” and I have to agree. Everyone knew that Steve was battling cancer for years, but no one was preparing for his passing. We all wanted to believe that “Teh Steve” will live forever and will keep presenting us with his “magical” vision of technology that changed everyone’s life.
You changed the world Steve and your legacy will live forever!