this makes me so sad, but i have never even been in the same city as him. i think it just says something about how much of himself is in everything he's worked for. steve jobs has been responsible for a massive part of my communication, my livelihood, and even my life, ever since my mother stayed home and did freelance design when i was a baby.
i've got this half-baked philosophy of the computer as a soul, that my macbooks know me in each moment as well or better than anybody, and that all my thoughts and energy and work don't bounce off a shiny screen but filter in and dwell in the machine, making something alive and holy. apple computers have been a part of my life since i can remember, and as crazy as it may sound, i think that feels like family.
i think steve jobs walked at the forefront of something incredible, straight into the incomprehensible, solving problems nobody had ever asked and making things that are not just enriching, or even necessary, but, when used to their fullest potential, literally extensions of ourselves. just as i have an external hard drive for when i need to drain some of the chaos from the top of my macbook, my macbook is there to back up my hopes and dreams and passions and all the rest. it's like an external hard drive for your soul.
insane, right? but it makes a little bit of sense, to people who live like me, not tied to but sometimes cradled in a computer. somebody made that. somebody made that possible. made it possible to carry your soundtrack, the soundtrack for your whole life, with months straight of your favourite music, in your pocket. made it possible to see and hear and touch and interact with things we might never get close to otherwise. things that might never have even had a visual form otherwise! things that might never even have existed otherwise.
steve jobs didn't change the world for people my age. we have no frame of reference. he was instrumental in making our world what it is. i'm so grateful for everything he's made possible. i think we all are. i just hope he knew that, how so many people owe him so much about themselves, who they are, what they do, where, how, and why. everything will keep moving forward, apple included. but steve jobs is going down in history as a man with his hands shaping the right now.
“almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. remembering that you are going to die is the best way i know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. you are already naked. there is no reason not to follow your heart.” steve jobs
“almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. remembering that you are going to die is the best way i know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. you are already naked. there is no reason not to follow your heart.” steve jobs
this made me cry. well-said, amigo.
ReplyDeletejessi, lots of great thoughts here. thanks for sharing them.
ReplyDeletejobs' vision has indeed shaped the core attributes of how many of us live and work these days and it is truly amazing, particularly when i think of my pasted-up design mechanicals from college and my excessive cassette tape collection. but beyond technological changes, he was a primary contributor to the general public's appreciation of design's value and power. he has certainly pushed the envelope over the decades and our lives are more interesting because of it.
i love the quote at the end, hard as it is to live by.
great post.
ReplyDeletei'm also struck by the role steve has played in facilitating collaboration in our visual field. his work significantly helped to break down the idea of the "sole genius artist" and allow us to come together in making, sharing, thinking, changing.
in this article, Alice Twemlow, design writer and critic, states: "Jobs contributed to a complete reconfiguration of our social architecture."
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/the-job-jobs-did/
You are so right. Our technology has shaped the way we think, create, and communicate with others. We are like no generation before us, and part of that was because of him.
ReplyDeletethank you jrw. much truth and wisdom in his quote. peace.
ReplyDelete