Steve Jobs Remembered

There are a million blogs or more that have covered Steve Jobs’ passing and his impact on the industry. Still, I’d like to add to them and make it just one more, even if I am No. 1,000,001.

My first-ever hands-on with a personal computer was the Apple IIe my dad purchased back in the early ’80s. While that period of junior high and high school was a relatively bleak chapter in my life, the Mac provided an outlet and a glimpse of opportunity on the other side. What I didn’t realize back then was how much my life would be transformed by that early exposure and experience. Little did I know just how important technology would become in the economy and the world we live in today -- or that it would end up being my career path.

We really do have people like Jobs to thank for where PCs, smartphones and tablets are today. While I realize he wasn’t acting in a vacuum, he definitely was a leader in the early years of personal computing devices and he’s been continually at the forefront of that charge ever since. The competition bar and the pace he set in this space have been very, very good for consumers. PCs and Macs were critical in putting the technologies we enjoy today, like the Internet and smartphones, into the hands of consumers. Thank you for accelerating and empowering us, Jobs!

If you’ve never seen Jobs’ Stanford University commencement speech, I highly recommend watching it.

You will be missed. Thank you for being an inspiration. Godspeed and rest in peace, Steve.