It felt like I’d been slapped in the face. There it was: On Twitter. In my email. On a phone call. Steve Jobs, the tech industry’s one true icon, was gone — taken from us far too soon, at the age of 56.
Say what you will about the dynamic maverick who built and rebuilt Apple over the course of four decades, but Steve Jobs was a visionary. A maker of things. A doer who intimately understood the excitement of a new product. How the interchange of 1s and 0s could produce a sublime piece of software. Steve Jobs got all this. We admired him for it. Some loved him for it. None of us will forget him for it.
On Stage
I had the privilege of attending many Apple product launches where I witnessed the master in action. Jobs may have ruled the boardroom, product meetings and led Apple’s strategy behind the scenes, but first and foremost he ruled the stage. He was a magnetic figure. No, Steve’s voice didn’t boom. Sometimes he sounded and looked like the nerd he was. Yet he knew when to pause, when to push, when to point to the right highlight — and when to stop, almost walk off stage, then produce that “one more thing” from his back pocket.
Jobs relished the stage, I think, because it was the place where he could share his delight in the new. I always believed Steve Jobs was truly in love with his own products. When he unveiled the iPad, Jobs was smiling from ear to ear. Granted, he had some really good stuff to show off. To this day, no other tablet has surpassed (or even come close) to the iPad — or its market share.
Steve Jobs taught an entire industry that product experience didn’t begin or end with the hardware or application. It started on stage, continued in the store, and was ultimately realized when an Apple customer opened the product packaging. Unboxing stories were invented because of Apple, and thus because of Jobs. Obviously, not every Apple idea sprung fully formed from his mind. But like any good leader, he surrounded himself with exceptional professionals who helped create the world we know know as the Apple ecosystem.
A Deep Loss
Jobs’ death comes less than 24 hours after Tim Cook took the stage for the first time as CEO and unveiled theiPhone 4s. It was an oddly subdued affair that felt like a change of direction for Apple. Cook is not Steve Jobs. He will do things his own way, and it was important for him to set a new tone. In hindsight, Tuesday felt like the beginning of the mourning process. I can’t guess whether or not Cook and other top Apple execs knew what was coming — but if they did, yesterday’s mood makes sense.
Having followed his career and products for so long — I was using an Mac SE in 1985 (and owned an Apple IIe before that) — I feel as if I’ve lost a relative. I simply cannot believe that Steve Jobs will not appear one more time on an Apple stage. Yes, he got thinner and weaker with each passing year (he battled cancer for almost seven years), but his energy on stage was unstoppable. The last time I saw him, it felt as if he had sucked up all the energy from the room, swallowed it and then sent it back out for the iOS 5 introduction. It was inspirational.
The Master
I am no Apple fanboy. I eventually gave up for Mac for a Windows PC. This was during the early 1990s, when Apple went through its darkest hour. Jobs was pushed out of the company in 1985, and Apple lost its way. When Jobs returned in 1997, he seemed more mature. He accelerated Apple’s product development, setting up a decade-long run of innovation rarely seen in any industry. One iconic product followed another, all with Jobs’ fingerprints on them. He leaves behind a strong of accomplishments and a legacy of products that will be remembered for decades to come.
In the coming days and weeks much will be said of the life of Steve Jobs. Eventually, the talk will turn to what’s next for Apple, and how Steve’s absence will affects the company he built. But for now, I will remember Steve Jobs on stage pausing just a moment, smiling wryly at the crowd, saying “and one more thing.” One more thing that will never pass this way again.
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