Today we lost the king of innovations, Steve Jobs. Some of us are old enough to remember when he
and Steve Wozniak built the first Apple in a garage. I knew who Jobs and Wozniak were long before
I used their products. In the late 80’s –
thanks to my now husband Russ - I entered the world of MUG – Mac User Group. When we married, we had an Apple II GS. Actually we still have it…along with the dot
matrix printer...and a box of software (and everything in their original boxes).
Russ and I worked on the Honolulu MUG magazine – learned desk top publishing on
a Mac. We have a box of “Lisa” stuff
(die-hards will know what I mean). We
also have a bit of a shrine to the two Steve’s. Although forced to also use PCs, we always
have a couple of Macs floating around. No,
we don’t have iPhone or iPads, but that has much more to do with funds and
dislike of providers. Regardless, we
have drunk the kool-aid and we are Apple fans.
Some of you may remember the fight between Jobs and John Sculley
in 1985. The power struggle led to Jobs
resignation. As sad as that day was,
without it we would not have Pixar. How
many of you knew Steve Jobs is the creative genius behind one of the most
innovative animation studios? So we can thank him for the Toy Story and Cars
movies.
Apple naturally suffered with one inadequate CEO after
another until 1997 when Jobs again helmed his company. In the last 13 years, Apple has again
returned to the front of innovation and become the undisputed leader of
technology. This time Steve seemed to
delegate better. As it became clear a
few years ago that he was ill, Jobs has hand-picked successors lined up and
found other like him to continue the creative stream Apple had renewed. His slow decline broke the hearts of
millions. Even if Apple lives on…it will
never be the same.
You have given this world much in your short 56 years. So
Steve, rest in peace.
