Dear Mr. Jobs, we will miss you
October 6th, 2011 | by Ridhima Suri |
Today Steve Jobs died. He does not need an introduction but let’s just say he was the eyes, ears, brains, and blood of Apple. He was suffering from Pancreatic Cancer for several years. He was 56.
The man will be remembered as a visionary, a legend, a technologist. Books, journals, and scholarly papers have been written on the ‘King of Apple’ for creating what I will call ‘iMagic’. It is difficult to state how dramatically he changed the life of millions of consumers and quite frankly, it is beyond the scope of this blog or for that matter any news report that you will see on the web from here on.
Why I feel so bad? My first memory of Mr. Jobs
It is tough to explain how a person you have never met can touch your life in such a great way. It is tougher to explain why I am feeling so bad!
I am really struggling to find words that would be appropriate for Mr. Jobs. I remember him through his products and gadgets, and my first purchase of the iPod. Problems in the music industry had been bubbling for some time-the devices were clunky, music was not easily accessible to everyone, and there was no world beyond cassettes and CDs. I still remember the day I first set my eyes on the spanking white 60GB iPod. I loved it and I was simply amazed at how simple and chic yet powerful the device was. iPod and iTunes changes the music industry forever.
Like an ordinary consumer I did not know much about Mr. Jobs. I continued to use Apple’s products and listen to my friends talk about Apple stock. Yes, I have seen them banter for hours and fight too (!) when they were torn trying to defend Apple products and trying to debate the company’s moves. iPhone was my first ever smartphone and believe me, it was a big jump from the Motorola Razr I used earlier! The user interface was simple and it was really a very very cool design!
And then you’d listen to him in interviews
Jobs fearlessly led the ‘i’ revolution. He was the harbinger of creativity and innovation. His commitment to tomorrow’s technology needs no justification or validation. He wanted to do it and he did it!
There are more ways in which I remember him. I would see videos of his old interviews and most recently I remember his powerful presentation to the Cupertino City Council for the new Apple campus. So, rightfully I remember Jobs through his work. His work was inspiring and improved the quality of life.
He kept his personal life a mystery. He was ubiquitous as a symbol of rapid innovation and charismatic leadership but very little was known about his personal life.
His death was inevitable but at the back of my mind, I kept thinking that he would battle his illness. He did, but finally completed the circle of life. He once said,“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.(Stanford Commencement address, 2005)”
This is how I knew Mr. Jobs..:-)
Yes I did not know him and the again I did know him-through his work and through his great speeches.
This for you Mr. Jobs ‘A big thumbs up to the glorious life you lived and for the wonderful changes you made to this world! You are no longer with us but your innovation will continue to bridge the communication gap around the world.’
Apple designs and creates iPod and iTunes, Mac laptop and desktop computers, the OS X operating systems and the super amazing iPhone and iPad products. Mr. Jobs did pioneering work at Atari, Pixar, NeXT in addition to his own baby, Apple.
Tags: Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs tribute
One Response to “Dear Mr. Jobs, we will miss you”
By Shilpa on Oct 8, 2011 | Reply
Very well written. What a Legend! We are fortunate to have witnessed and lived in the same era as this great Icon! I so agree with you on how someone we hardly know or met impacted and will continue to impact our lives only because of his relentless passion in “what he loved doing”. I can easily say that he is the most inspiring human being and leader I have seen. He will be terribly missed, but will be remembered for generations to come. Since last week, I have visited Apple website numerous times just to read what is written here..http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/
It’s extremely emotional and extremely powerful and I cannot Thanks this Legend enough for making things happen for us till his last breath. We love you Steve and will always always cherish and remember you. A Salute to you and the life you lived!