A Visionary Untouched 2 #4

I remember that car ride home.  My water polo team had just destroyed Mercer Island’s team 17 to 6.  It was an awesome game I probably had 7 goals 3 or 4 steals and a couple field-blocks, I was on cloud nine after the game.  It was late in the evening, freezing cold, and pouring down rain. The last thing I wanted to do after a win like that was get out of the cozy pool into the frigid air wearing nothing but a speedo.  Full of adrenalin I hopped out, grabbed my towel, dried off, and jumped into my deck coat.  After a quick meeting with my coach I scurried to my car, cranked up the heat, and turned on some tunes. That was the first time I heard the news.  Steve Jobs was dead.  It had been six hours since the news broke out, and I was just hearing it for the first time.  I sat there for a few minutes reflecting on how his innovations change the world of technology forever.  He was a visionary who revolutionized the music industry, the cell phone industry, and the personal computer industry. 

Along with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, Steve Jobs pioneered the first personal computer in 1976.  Apple I was the first product of Apple Inc.  In the following years Apple released the Apple II, Apple III, and the Apple Lisa.  After much success with the Apple II and Apple III, Apple hired John Sculley as CEO for his business background to improve advertising and profit margins.  In 1985 Jobs was ousted by the board of directors and sold his share of Apple.  Years later he started a new computer company called NeXT.  Apple eventually bought the company bringing Jobs back into Apple’s management. After a decade of poor management and the company turning to a multibillion-dollar loss, Steve Jobs became the CEO. Thus began the “Steve Jobs Era.”  Jobs began restructuring the company.  Just before the company almost went under, Jobs struck an investment deal with Microsoft.  The Apple revolution has begun. 

 

We all love our music.  I remember getting my first iPod. It was the coolest thing ever.  It could hold 1,000 songs at one time. This was a big step up from my SONY Walkman.  The iPod had a color screen and it even had games.  This great piece of technology revolutionized the music experience.  People didn’t have to use CD’s anymore.  I could just go to iTunes and buy any song I wanted.  For better or worse Steve Jobs revolutionized the music industry.  The iPod was one of a kind and everyone had to have one. It’s what put Apple on the technology map. 

With the iPod leading the way, people started to take notice of Apple, and their version of a personal computer.  The iMac was unique to its features.  It was the only computer to be all in one.  The idea of a computer built into the screen was a major selling point for Apple.  Eventually the new iMac became the best selling PC on the market. Apple continued to update and remodel the iMac with the newest technology, but computers weren’t the main event in Palo Alto. 

Jobs always had something brewing in the background.  In January of 2007, Apple introduced one of it’s most famous of products.  There was no phone like the iPhone. It was truly revolutionary.  It introduced touch-screen technology on mobile devices.  The iPhone also created a brand new idea.  Apps are a major part of daily life.  There is an app for everything.  Nobody could match the iPhone’s capabilities. I sat at my computer jaw dropped as I watched the keynote speech from Jobs.  I though it was the coolest thing ever!! 

Steve Jobs was a visionary, and no one can argue with that statement.  Today there are many products competing with Apple products, but these followers can’t say they were the first.  Steve Jobs was the first.  On October 5^th, 2011 at 3:00pm in his home Steve lost his last battle with pancreatic cancer.  He had been battling cancer since October 2003, but he never let the battle affect his mind. He would keep coming up with the latest and greatest.  He was such an iconic person in the modern world and in my life. He gave me my love for technology.  I guess I thought he would live forever.  I released my parking brake, popped my truck into first gear, and silently drove home.