Wow, it’s been a weird few days. The week started with iPhone 5 anticipation and ended with the passing of one of the greatest innovators that the world has seen. I’ve read a lot of tributes to him, but felt I needed to write one of my own. I’ll always regret that I never got to see Steve Jobs, let alone meeting him. Today, a day after his passing, two thoughts come to my mind.
The first was when I visited Silicon Valley for the first time when I was in high school. My parents took me there to show me around (beats staying in frosty Canada I suppose). One of the highlights was visiting 1 Infinite Loop. I thought that Steve Jobs is somewhere inside this building right now, and it gave me some weird form of thrill.
The second was when I saw him present the keynote for the first iPhone. I’ve never seen that level of hype before or since. The applause was unbelievable. The day the phone launched in the States, we drove across the border to Buffalo to pick one up. It was $499. I still have that model in my pocket. It’s still my phone. Cracked and dented, it plods along without any fuss. Talks volumes of Apple’s Engineering, I think.
Apple fanboy or not, I think everyone should realize the vacuum created with the passing of Steve Jobs. Apple is a well-oiled machine but 5 years from now, who is going to make the next iPod/iPhone/iPad? Jobs created markets. He made technology simple. Who is going to do that now?