I’m not one to get carried away with remembrances of those I’ve never met. And there are those who could say more about Steve Jobs than I ever could. But bear with me.
The early days of personal computing were pretty wild when you look at it today. You had Commodore, with their one-two punch: the Vic-20 and the Commodore 64, and IBM with their PC and PCjr.
And then there was Apple, offering a little box of a computer, with a single button mouse, called the Macintosh. Very beige, very boxy, nothing that would help it stand out on a shelf. But it came with a wealth of software, including MacPaint and HyperCard, an application that gave consumers their first taste of programming. The Macintosh stepped beyond the bounds of what was accepted in personal computing by encouraging folks to create, to play and to explore.
Because of the Macintosh, those ordinary folks discovered the power of technology. Some of them became extraordinary, the first generation of hackers and tinkerers. It’s folks like them that went on to build Google, WordPress, Facebook…the list goes on and on.
Yes, the devices are wonderful. I have two within arms reach and another in the closet. And yes, Apple is truly a company worthy of envy. But those are just temporary.
Steve’s lasting legacy is his commitment to one thing: we could all be adventurers.