As the world wonders what will happen to the company that this man has left behind, I take a moment to reflect on the legacy he has left behind. There are few words to describe it adequately. Hours after the news of the passing of this visionary, I watched a documentary clip on CNN that showed Steve Jobs in 1984, unveiling the Macintosh, which, for the first time ever, showed human beings how to view graphics on a computer screen, and that it was possible to have computing power in an "elegant" little box that you could carry around, instead of on impossibly huge and clunky mainframe type device. Couldn't help smiling when I saw the Mac, think typical 80's style boxy style computer....a ridiculously far cry from what Apple has come up with in the last few years. But how apt, that it was Jobs who revolutionized computers and the idea of computing devices even back in 1984. There he was, not yet thirty years old, young and fit, head full of hair, radiating energy and that creative spark which we have all seen so well time and again in the last decade.
No doubt Apple has some of the world's smartest engineers and marketers. No doubt the day-to-day operations are conducted by unbelievably talented and hard working folks who have helped make Apple the success it is today. Yet, it can be argued that this man singularly made the company into the icon of the century in the last couple of decades. One reads about all the criticism he has received as a CEO, as a billionaire, as a legend, as a man, even...and one realizes that even icons cannot and will not be perfect. However, the one thing Steve Jobs has done probably better than anyone else one can think of in the last several decades is having created this legacy of Apple. The Mac, the iPod, the iPhone, iTunes, iPad...just amazing. Yes, this man has overcome doubts of giants like Microsoft eating Apple for lunch, overcome speculations of competitors chopping market share in no time, and banished altogether the notion that it is impossible for a single brand to consume sweeping sections of the world's population in cult-like fashion.
What more would he have achieved if he was given more time, and health? And how will his successor begin to fill his shoes? What expectations can the heart-broken fans have from this company going forward? Time will tell. For now, one can only be in awe of the man who chased his dream, and made it come true.
Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs.
No doubt Apple has some of the world's smartest engineers and marketers. No doubt the day-to-day operations are conducted by unbelievably talented and hard working folks who have helped make Apple the success it is today. Yet, it can be argued that this man singularly made the company into the icon of the century in the last couple of decades. One reads about all the criticism he has received as a CEO, as a billionaire, as a legend, as a man, even...and one realizes that even icons cannot and will not be perfect. However, the one thing Steve Jobs has done probably better than anyone else one can think of in the last several decades is having created this legacy of Apple. The Mac, the iPod, the iPhone, iTunes, iPad...just amazing. Yes, this man has overcome doubts of giants like Microsoft eating Apple for lunch, overcome speculations of competitors chopping market share in no time, and banished altogether the notion that it is impossible for a single brand to consume sweeping sections of the world's population in cult-like fashion.
What more would he have achieved if he was given more time, and health? And how will his successor begin to fill his shoes? What expectations can the heart-broken fans have from this company going forward? Time will tell. For now, one can only be in awe of the man who chased his dream, and made it come true.
Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs.
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