When I heard that Steve Jobs passed this week, I went numb.
As much as we all knew it was inevitable, I wanted to believe it was not true.
I was at our company’s leadership conference when I received the message on my iPhone. At the time my CEO was speaking about Steve – and talking about his role in leading Apple to all the great success it has achieved through visionary leadership, collaboration and insanely-great innovation.
Sometime during our CEO’s speech, the world lost Steve Jobs.
This was the man who created the Apple IIe, the first computer I ever used. Steve brought the world WYSIWYG publishing with the Lisa – the precursor to the Macintosh – an idea sparked when he dropped-out to take a calligraphy class in college.
He revolutionised animated film and built a PDA in the 80′s that was decades ahead of it’s time – the Apple Newton. The Newton’s younger cousin, the iPad is now turning the publishing industry upside down with ebooks and digital newspapers all at the swipe of a finger.
Steve Jobs took a $1 salary from Apple, and should have taken a trademark out on the black skivvy.
He transformed mobile phone ownership with the iPhone, and of course I am writing this post on my lightweight MacBook Air.
But above all of this – and perhaps most importantly for me as a podcaster – is the fine work Steve did to open podcasting to everyone. Apple under his leadership created the awesome tools for podcasting that are used every day to create great original content. And in the process he allowed everyone to experience the joy of having an audience, as well as being a fan!
I witnessed Steve Jobs change my world, while I was watching.
Steve Jobs… you have been shaping my experience of life for nearly as long as I can remember.
I will miss you, the world will miss you.
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