To steal a line from Stanley Wolpert about the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, I would like to quote a line that explains what Steve Jobs meant to the field of computing.
"Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still create a groundbreaking technology. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating an industry. Steven Paul Jobs did all three."
Most people know Steve Jobs and recognize him as the “Apple Guy” or the guy who made the iPod, iPhone or iPad. That’s most people for you with their general description of even the most iconic of figures.
But I recognize Steve Jobs for something else. I recognize Steve Jobs as the man who basically took an idea that he had and changed the world as we know it.
I recognize Steve Jobs as someone so passionate that he infects others with the passion for his work. Nowhere else have I seen people lining up for days in front of a store to buy a newly launched phone! Nowhere else have I seen people line up for days to buy a touch screen computer which by technological standards was more than ten years old! Nowhere have I seen users of products literally fight with users of other products over a discussion of who has the better product (Mac v PC)!
Nowhere have I seen normally sane and sophisticated people behaving like perspiring teenagers in a technology conference to the arrival of a company’s CEO!
Nowhere have I seen the resignation of one man from one of the largest companies in the world to lead to a 5% drop in share prices!
Incredible you may say. I say it is iNcredible.
That is Steve Jobs at work.
Love him or hate him, Steve Jobs will always be irreplaceable. He brought that charisma, that passion and that special “Jobs” factor to the table. Everything intangible in him brought tangible gains to his company and an unprecedented change in the perception of people towards entertainment, communications and computing. That in itself was revolutionary.
Now, Steve also had a nasty side like his over bearing nature towards subordinates when it came to perfection and performance. His overemphasis on positioning Apple products as superior and premium to everyday run of the mill products made Apple stay a tiny player in the personal computer market.
But in the end he did prove to everyone that he stood for what he said and preached – Think Different.
Apple, today is different from the rest and probably the best at what it does due to one man – Steven Paul Jobs.
Thank You Steve.
Mitul Choksi
Ahmedabad, Republic of India
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