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I really didn’t expect to think much more of Steve Jobs’ passing than it being a piece of information I came across. I’ve never met him, I’ve never worked for Apple, and I’ve never read a book on Steve Jobs. But…
I worked at Microsoft for nearly four and a half years. I have met Steve Ballmer twice, once when he was completely drunk (in my first couple of months at MS) and I was a table away from Bill Gates when he got an award related to a project I helped deliver. In Bill’s case, he didn’t even come over to the team and congratulate us on what we were delivering, or even just to glad hand, nothing. We could see him for a table or so away, that was it. In Steve’s case, the second time I met him, it was to receive an award with about a dozen other people. I seem to recall him quality posing for a photo with all of us and then being out of there. I know when these guys pass on, I’m not going to feel anything more than I would for any other passing I hear about where I don’t know the person, but Jobs, there’s something there.
Steve’s story is fascinating to me after he was removed as Apple’s CEO. He didn’t allow his view of where things could go to be damaged by that, and those who ever used a Next computer would know just how ahead of its time it was. His work with Pixar changed how we think of the monsters in our closets, what our toys do when we leave the room and so on.
The thing that really gets me is that he seemed to really just not care what other people thought. He wasn’t concerned about shareholder value today, now, stop thinking and give out the money. He just tuned all of that out and did what he felt he could bring about.
When I finally got my first Macbook Pro, after leaving Microsoft, I started from the perspective of someone trying to understand a different language and paradigm. Not programmatically, but conceptually. When I got my iPhone I had already been following Natural User Interface approaches and technologies but as I played with it in the first weeks I remember the point where I realized two key things:
1. It took immense vision to see this far down the road
2. It took tremendous skill, vision and discipline to be able to break that down into steps to be realized. Commercially successful steps especially.
I have pointed out many times to people that Apple is not a software company and is not a hardware company, it is a user company. Microsoft makes all kinds of software, and HP makes all kinds of hardware (for now at least), but Apple? They only the software needed for what they want the user to accomplish and the devices are sculpted to that need.
Steve’s tenacity with the cellphone carriers is legend. His view on design and quality being vital equally so. His intolerance of boot time length is yet another.
He will continue to be inspirational, and hopefully he created through leadership leaders who will continue this irreverent personality, the incredible set of skills, and the wisdom to wield them well.
You inspired, you provoked, and you will be missed.
