Death was a strongly recurrent theme in Steve Jobs life. He lived by it and of course, died by it too. He referred to death as life’s change agent. It was possibly the sole factor that drove him from a relatively humble background to the hallowed portals of fame. Today he shares that hall with the likes of Edison and Ford.
So what was it about this extraordinary man that made him a legend in his own lifetime? And a lifetime that was too short to have explored the full potentiality of his genius maybe. He was no inventor in the real sense of the term. It was the innovator in him that made him achieve stratospheric heights and not just in the tech world alone.
It was his string of successful cool and user friendly gadgets: the iPod media player, iPhone Smartphone and iPad tablet computer, that made him a much revered and widely worshipped man to millions of technology buffs. And even the ones who were not exactly gizmo freaks were taken in by the simplicity in functionality mixed with the slickness in style of his products.
It was also the life of the man himself, as much as what he made, that added to his charm. An adopted son whose biological parents insisted, unsuccessfully, on him being adopted only by a graduate couple. A college drop-out who started the now iconic Apple in his parent’s garage. And the founder who was thrown out of his own company only to come back and save it from floundering. The stories are legion.
It is not as though he was perfect. But then who is? He was known to be a complete control freak who insisted on having things his way. His high-handed and condescending attitude towards other employees at Apple has been well documented in books and movies. But that cannot be used as an excuse to deny the man his genius. Because even if he wasn’t anything else, a genius he surely was. Wozniak may have been the man behind the technology but it was the magical marketing ability of Jobs that has brought Apple to where it is today.
Steve has gone to his new “next” world, but as someone rightly, has made this world dominated by technology far more beautiful by his touch. Thanks. A job well done indeed!
