Steve Jobs died yesterday. I remember the first time I was introduced to an Apple Macintosh while working for the IT department of a now defunct but at one time very popular shoe company. It seemed too simple to catch on, especially when compared with the big box mainframes and cutting edge first generation personal computers I was learning to use and program. While I was busy learning DOS and BASIC and COBOL, my boss was pulling out and plugging in his new Macintosh. From the first happy chirp I knew it was something special.
Jobs was more than a visionary. He personified an ethic not to let other people dictate who or what you are. Don't accept other's limitations as you own, but keep working until your dreams become your reality. Sometimes the world will be with you and a lot of time they will be against you but don't let that matter. He was possessed of a healthy blessing of the creative spirit and exhibited the dare to dream initiative that so many in the world are missing in this troubled times.
He also faced his impending death with grace. Can any of us say we would be the same? I don't think I would. Tomorrow is my birthday. Not THE birthday, but the last one of my 'youth'. I remember my grandmother telling me that fifty was the end of the world, now that's me. How did the time go by so fast? How much time do I have left? Or would I want to know if that information were available.
There is a new movie coming out soon whose premise is based on everyone being allotted only twenty-four years. A counter on your arm exacts the moments needed for each of life's experiences. Could you imagine how hopeless and beaten a pre-measured world would be? Would you trade any experience for more time?
I wonder if Steve Job would have traded any moment of his life, all his accomplishments for just a few more years. Somehow, I don't think he would.
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