On Wednesday the 5 October, the world saw the passing of Steve Jobs. A visionary, a prophet, a leader, a messiah and genius. The man who co founded Apple changed the world with his vision of what people wanted before they knew what they wanted. The man who brought us the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone and iPad was the best CEO of his generation if not the best CEO of all time turning Apple round from the brink of distinction in 1997 and guiding it to become the largest, most profitable and envyed tech company in the world. Many competitors have tried to imitate not innovate and have never bettered the creations of Steve Jobs.
He made computers and gadgets 'cool' by 'thinking different'. The man, who, in my opinion, should be regarded in the same genius category as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford changed the world in so many ways and affected the lived of billions around the world with his wonderful creations. The Mac, launched in 1984 was the first computer to use a mouse and a Graphical User Interface (GUI) which changed computing forever by bring the personal computer (PC) into the home for the first time, and is still the way we interact with our PC's today. Steve Jobs brought the unloved computer into daily human life by combining utility and beauty in a way that few other technical innovators have achieved, and most never attempted.
Thomas Edison did not care about the aesthetics of the light bulb. Henry Ford transformed modern life by means of the motor car, but insisted that customers could have "any colour, as long as it's black", an attitude that would have him sacked at Apple, but Steve Jobs had a passion for not only how things worked but how his creations were designed. He will be remembered for putting the world in your hand.
The iPod, launched in 2001 transformed the music industry with the integration of iTunes by downloading music digitally and transferring it onto a tiny device allowing you to have your entire music collection in your pocket. iTunes did contribute to the collapse of CD sales, but it was going to happen anyway.
When the iPhone was launched in 2007, it put all other mobile phones to shame. The iPhone's intuitive grid interface, its sleek design and the ability to download different Apps, changing the way we interacted with our phones literally changed the mobile phone industry over night and dragged the smartphone to the mass market and made the 'mobile internet' a reality. The iPad has also created a whole new category of personal computer 'the Tablet'.
Steve Jobs also created Pixar into a animation company among his achievements. Without Steve Jobs, cinemas would be without Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr Potato Head, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc and A Bug's Life.
Jobs and Jonathan Ive both have a Zen-like approach to their work. They think about their products, then think some more. The idea is to arrive at a design that cannot be improved either by taking anything away or adding anything to it. Arthur C. Clarke said that any technology sufficiently advanced was indistinguishable from magic. Steve Jobs's Apple made magic universally available, and the magic came in beautiful boxes. Owning an Apple product is an act of social promotion. An Apple product makes life better and more beautiful. It is the greatest design story of them all.
The world will miss his unique vision, I will miss his brilliance, his genius, his charisma and his wonderful Keynote presentations. I am priviliged to have lived in the 'Steve Jobs Era' to see the invention of the personal computer, the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad and Apple TV. I will miss the man I have admired above all others. The world will be at a huge loss without him, but will be ever grateful for changing the world and our lives.
Where Edison spread the light, and Ford made the motors run, Steve Jobs put the world in your hand. He made beautiful things and made useful things, but more than that, he made the world see itself in a different way. And that, in the end, is the definition of a genius.
RIP
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