Wednesday, October 5, 2011

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post...

I had intended to post something different tonight. But it can wait. Because one of the icons of our generation has passed on, and it is only appropriate to pause...and mourn...and pay our respects.

Some 25 years ago I was thinking of buying a personal computer - a radical idea at the time. I walked into the house of my friends Sam and Steve (twins) and they showed me their computer - a product of the company founded by Steve Jobs. Apple.

It was a cool device with all sorts of graphical capabilities, but I ultimately decided to get a PC. I think it was mostly because of the spreadsheet program, something outdated called Symphony. While PC's served me well over the years, there was something missing; I think was at least partially the "cool" factor.

Over the next few years Apple got its butt kicked by Microsoft, until the early 2000s when Mr. Jobs got involved again and the world has not been the same. When I got my first iPod, I had never - never - owned a device as cool as that. All my music with me...al the time. You know the rest...music, videos, downloaded movies, the iPhone, and most recently the iPad.

And yes, after years of owning PCs, I finally got a Macbook, I would not go back for anything.

So as I sit here typing this post on said Macbook, I think back a few hours to when I got the news of Steve Jobs' death...on my iPhone. President Obama said it very well earlier this evening:
And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.
Like I did.

Goodbye Steve Jobs. We are grateful and we will miss you.

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