Legacy of Steve Jobs
Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 11:41 PM in Culture I was going to write about my Disneyland trip, or maybe about the iPhone 4S and Siri, but on Wednesday, an icon, a tech hero died. This you know, of course, because Steve Jobs was that important. Millions of lives have been made better by his inventions, and his passion brought technology to market that has reshaped the world. We operate differently because of iDevices, whether you own one or not. Multitouch displays, app stores... MP3 players replacing CD players. The iPad saved tablets from obscurity, and Steve proved that you can defy the status quo and succeed against opposition.
And then there's Pixar. A generation of children grew up watching their computer animated films, and the success of those movies has reshaped Disney — and perhaps storytelling, in general.
I can imagine some of the great things Steve Jobs could have accomplished with more time, but one of the most amazing things about him is that he created things we can't imagine. As a child, I never dreamed that one day, I might have a Star Trek device in my pocket. If you think about what the iPhone 4 is compared to the first iPhone, and compare that to the Palm Treo and other "smartphones" that preceded it, you can see how far things have come.
For me, the iPhone and iPad have been life-changing. Both devices enhance what I do in such simple yet amazing ways, and both are so intuitive and natural, they seem like extensions of thought, or extra limbs. The iPad has replaced my desktop and notebook computers — it does just about everything that I need to do. I also use it as a notebook, sketchbook and journal. And with the iPhone 4S and Siri, I'll have a phone that's one step away from sentience. I was thinking about getting the Infiniti Personal Assistant service, but in a few weeks, I'll have something just as good, built into the handset.
Of course, much of the brilliance of iOS belongs to the software itself and app developers, but having spoken to many app creators, I know that iOS was built to be powerful and easy to create for. iTunes and the App Store are both brilliant tools. iTunes has done amazing things for musicians, authors and programmers.
Steve Jobs created a company that makes my life better, and more fun. He influenced me more than any movie star, storyteller or US President. I've never loved a phone or tablet until I bought one made by Apple.
It's hard to know where to begin or end this. I'll have to add more thoughts later. I'm often compared to Vulcans, but news of Steve's death made me teary-eyed after the initial shock and disbelief. I suppose I'm still trying to process the loss. That's incredible by itself.
