Life’s Change Agent
Steve Jobs is dead.
It’s strange to get the news now; Jobs was practically eulogized when he stepped down as Apple’s CEO. His passing away seems like a formality.
Jobs’ presence was definitely missed at the iPhone 4S launch yesterday. Tim Cook, Apple’s current CEO, has been an able and affable leader during his short tenure but he lacks the effortless star power of his predecessor. The ads showing off the new iPhone’s digital assistant technology are pure Apple, technology made easy and accessible. This is definitely Job’s influence still at work and one hopes that this vision guides the company for years to come.
Not long after Jobs began his second term at running after, a made-for-tv movie came out regarding the rivalry between himself and Bill Gates. At the time, Gates’s shadow loomed over the tech industry and Job’s influence was considered to be barely a blip. Yet Jobs was the focus of the biopic. The reason was obvious; Jobs has simply lived a more interesting life, even when placed next to the world’s richest man (at the time). Gates is another iconic figure, but Jobs always has had a knack for upstaging people.
I have a small feeling of loss, not deep or crushing, not really what you would call grief, but loss nonetheless. The last time I felt this way was when Jim Henson died.
I typed this post in my iPad.
You know that Jim Henson remark you made? I was telling people the very same thing.
It’s interesting that both the Henson Company and Pixar ended up at Disney. Also; remember Apple’s “Think Different” campaign back when Jobs first returned to Apple in the late 90′s? Subjects included Gandhi, Einstein and… Jim Henson. It’s probably wishful thinking on my part, but I like to think that Jobs had tremendous respect for Henson’s left-field approach to entertainment.