The untimely passing of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has given many of us pause to reflect on what he has brought us all over the years. Today from the President of the United States to this lowly blogger, people are praising not so much the virtues of the man himself but what he created and how that in turn changed the world.
I make no comment on his personal life, his personality or his business practices.
I would sum up his legacy as the guy that brought rock ’n’ roll to computing and putting truly user friendly, personally empowering computing technology in the hands of millions. I can only speak for myself but one of the defining moments of my life was the day I got an iPod. I had resisted the iPod for months, I thought it was a gimmicky, overhyped device for people who weren’t ‘real’ music fans. So when I eventually got one and spent all night uploading my entire music collection to a device that could fit in my pocket I was gradually seduced by its simplicity, its design and the sheer awesomeness of being able to have my music collection with me wherever I am 24 hours a day for the rest of my life.
The iPod changed the way people listened to music, have access to music and the way we share music. In many ways it democratise music while at the same time smashing the business model of the music industry and providing artists with access to a world-wide audience at the click of a mouse.
Of course we’ve had many other revelations from the dream factory that is Apple since then and many have been just as compelling. The key to Apple’s rejuvenation that has made the company America’s largest, is that it understands the human form and what motivates people’s use of technology. It means that people young and old have access to the world at their fingertips. A world where people can connect and share with each other in ways that we could not have thought imaginable even a decade ago.
In the end the mark of someone’s life is whether they left the world a better place than when they came into it, in Steve Jobs case, we can resoundingly say yes, the world is a better place for having Steve Jobs around and it will be a little less exciting without him.
Rest in peace Steve Jobs.
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