iTears
By Thomas Gallant
iTunes > iPod Classic > iPod Classic with Video > iPod Nano > iPod Shuffle > Macbook Pro > Airport Express > iMac > iPod Touch > Apple TV > iPad > iPhone > Airport Extreme
Since sometime around 2004, Apple has been slowly creeping its way in to my collection of computer and entertainment hardware. Unlike Adam, I haven’t been a lifelong fan and perhaps that’s why he is more creative than me. I was a late convert to OS X because I clung to the idea of being able to diagnose and “improve” my Windows machine. Then, one day I realized how much easier life would be if I started buying shit that just worked. I haven’t looked back since.
Steve Jobs designed things with the user in mind and saw through the clutter of conventional production. He made innovative seem synonymous with normal. His products were delivered in beautiful packages that arrived with the first few steps of ownership already taken care of.
However long Steve Jobs has or hasn’t had a direct impact on your life, he has managed to find a way to have an indirect impact on just about everybody. His legacy begins at a time when so many of his disciples use what he created in order to discover how to leave their own mark on society. While not known for philanthropy the way his friend and competitor Bill Gates is, Jobs created tools that allow lives to be improved on a scale that is difficult to measure.
If you haven’t caught the Stanford Commencement video yet (and if you haven’t, where the fuck have you been?), take 15 minutes of your day and watch it. Watch it again in a year. Never let the realization of your own mortality be absent long enough to keep you from doing what you love.
His pride, conviction, and innovation within his industry are unmatched. As a consumer, a shareholder, and marginally creative individual I am thankful for Steve Jobs’ time with us.
-TG
