Steve Jobs
I just learned that Steve Jobs died. I know that Apple, and thus by extension Steve Jobs, and I have had a rocky last few years together. But I think I can say that without a doubt that Apple has helped shape who I am today, and especially who I am as a programmer. Which is what I do to make a living, and what I do to express my self, and what I do anytime I'm not outside doing something active. And even when I'm out being active, I'm thinking about programming. I live to program, and Apple has helped make that happen.
When I bought my first Mac in 2005, it was the first time that I felt like I was apart of a worldwide community of programmers. Up until then I was someone who mostly programmed alone at night, and sometimes with my friend Omer. After I got my first Mac I remember talking to anyone and everyone that owned an Apple laptop about how much they loved their computer and how they used their computer. I would seek them out. It is through bonding over our Apple computers that I have made many great friends, in particular one of my best friends, Peter.
Sometime in 2005 I also started following programmers online and reading their blogs. This was the way that I taught myself how to program; By reading what the best and smartest people I could find in the web development world were doing. I don't think it would be any exaggeration to say that 90% of the developers and people I found constructive to follow were using Macs. I know that the percentage of Mac users out there is small, even if you look at just the personal computing sector, but when I come across a developer who isn't using a Mac it is weird. I know this isn't the case everywhere, Omer tells me that at Google it is nothing like that. But in particular, among the open source programming communities that I have fallen in love with, Ruby, Rails, Django, Node, the Macs are practically standard. In short the people I have looked up to, the people who are my programming heroes have all used Apple computers (or were when I started following them, I'm not the only one who has been switching lately).
And this is to say nothing about the Apple philosophy that is also my philosophy. I don't think this is what everyone would describe as Apple's philosophy, but this is what it has meant to me: Everything is art. There is no separation between the way something looks (art) and the way it works. Everything we do, we have a chance to do beautifully. I used to think that art was dumb. Paintings and sculptures and photos and design was all boring. Until I realized that in the things I do, I value beauty, elegance, creativity and so many other artistic qualities. And look at the things Apple creates. It tries to make beautiful things both in how they look but in how they work. When that is your fundamental philosophy, how can you not make great things?
And I think it has been fairly well established that Apple would be nothing like what it is today without Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs shaped the company. Steve Jobs shaped the philosophy.
Steve Jobs had another quality I greatly admire. Stubbornness would be one way to put it, but I would call it an inability to settle. If you know what you want, do everything you can to achieve that goal.
When I learned that Steve had died, it brought tears to my eyes. Steve Jobs was a man who I think has to be greatly admired for his philosophy and his work. He wasn't necessarily the nicest, but I for one am thankful for what he has done and how I feel it has affected me. The one thing I keep wondering about was whether or not Steve Jobs was happy. He seemed like the kind of person to me that was always looking for the next thing. Always planning ahead, never quite satisfied. I hope in his final days he looked back on his life and felt happy with what he accomplished and what his legacy is.
I'm not sure how to wrap this up. I guess I'll say this, I didn't like Steve Jobs as a person, the stories people tell make him sound like an ass hole, but I miss him now that he has gone for what he did and what he taught me. Pursue your dreams, and do it beautifully.
6 October 2011 01:32am UTC • 94 views • 3 comments
Tagged with Apple, stevejobs, death
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3 comments
Dread Pirate Benjamin
6 October 2011 01:42am UTC
Some other people's reactions that I've related to:
Duncan Davidson:
"It’s pretty amazing that the first computer that I used as a child—an Apple ][+ with 48K of RAM and two floppy drives—and the computing devices I use every day today thirty-some odd years later were made under the watch of the same man. Well, he didn’t so much watch over them as he willed them into being by challenging everyone who worked on them to make something amazing. Sure, he built on the shoulders of giants and a lot of other people worked with him—and against him—during his years to shape our computing world. But his legacy is unique. Thank you, Steve, for pushing on the world in your own way."
Marco Arment:
"I didn’t know Steve. I never met him. I never worked for him. I never even got one of his famous one-liner email responses.
But it feels like someone close to me has died. He was so intimately involved in his company and its products (which have become critical parts of my career and hobby life), and he has publicly injected so much vision, personality, and care into our entire industry for so long, that I do feel like I knew him, even though I really didn’t."
And here is the text of the famous Apple ad campaign from the 90s that people are passing around:
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
Seamonster Mom
6 October 2011 05:44am UTC
From New York Times online tonight http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/business/steve-jobs-of-apple-dies-at-56.html?pagewanted=5&partner=rss&emc=rss
'...If he (Steve Jobs) had a motto, it may have come from “The Whole Earth Catalog,” which he said had deeply influenced him as a young man. The book, he said in his commencement address at Stanford in 2005, ends with the admonition “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”
“I have always wished that for myself,” he said.'
Interesting combination of attributes that might lead to amazing creativity.
Dread Pirate Benjamin
6 October 2011 08:39pm UTC
Devour is posting non-stop Steve Jobs videos today, and all of them are very interesting.
What I wrote above was my initial reactions to hearing of his death. One thing I didn't touch on was how surprised I was by how sad I felt.
Now having read more about Steve, I'm wondering if I was perhaps too harsh on him in my last paragraph. I'm not sure though, I don't think being smart or being right or being in a position of power is an excuse to treat people the way he reportedly did. But based off of the many stories that are floating around today, he was undoubtedly a very good person to very many people.
When someone dies, and in the glorification that usually results, I often wonder if the person was really as amazing as all the stories make them seem. Where does the truth lie in the stories, in the memories, in the loving recollections? My guess is that when it comes to Steve, the truth is probably pretty close to what we're hearing.