Text and Photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
I had just landed in Toronto's Pearson International Airport hours ago when I heard the sad news. Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder and driving innovative force had passed away. I was completely stunned as the reports and feeds piled on. Steve was really gone, he was only 56.
I'm still in that place between disbelief and denial. Apple computers have played an important part in my life since I was very young. Jobs' focus on bridging art and technology was a big inspiration to me when I started my own technology solutions and design company 10 years ago.
As a technology journalist, I've covered Apple and Jobs constantly since his return after the acquisition by Apple of NeXT Computers in the mid-90's. My regular The Apple Beat column here in Canadianreviewer.com covers the company, its principals, products and ever-expanding ecosystem as well as how the rest of the industry reacts and competes with Apple.
Having attended what was to be his final keynote during last June's MacWorld, I felt extremely fortunate to have had the chance to see Steve unveil the iCloud and discuss the technology he so loved surrounded by the community he created. His passion for customers, their experiences and the how products could be used to transform the way we work and play was simply unparalleled.
Steve Jobs was a modern day Thomas Edison or Alexander Graham Bell. A man whose very nature helped create various products and innovations that did not only change his industry as a whole, but set off the slowly transform the world and how we live and work.
His obsession with the small details in every step of interaction with technology will be sorely missed.
Apple products have always offered a number of surprising design touches, seemingly insignificant details and refinements that all together make for exceptional experiences because someone thought about putting them there and probably fought hard to defend each of those features.
It is hard to imagine what the world will be like without this fiery, focused and exceptional spirit.
He left Apple at the time it was the most valuable company in the world in a period of great global economical and financial turmoil.
Apple is now in the best position to continue to create winning products, services and new directions but it is so hard and sad to imagine Apple without Steve Jobs.
The game changer is gone
It is also hard to imagine that this consumer technology juggernaut was the same company Jobs helped rescue in the 90's. Steve Jobs hired the right people and had them work on the right products at the right time. He was not the type of leader to shy away from making tough decisions, he was also one who openly admitted to failure when it happened.
Jobs was behind the release of some initially unpopular products that have evolved into icons of design and in some cases completely dominate the competition in market share and revenues. The iMac, the iPod, the iPhone, the MacBook Air and the iPad are just a few of the products that received scorn and ridicule from both the tech press and various detractors and competitors.
“We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?” -Steve Jobs. 1955-2011.
These are very same products that saved Apple, that propelled front and center into our collective consciousness. These are the same products that are met with lines and lines of anxious customers waiting for hours just to be one of the first to own the devices.
Talk about a legacy. Even in the crowded airport, I couldn't help but notice the multitudes of iPhones, iPads and Mac notebooks in use. They were everywhere. A far cry from the early 90s where Macs were used mostly by layout artists and graphic designers. Even then, they had superior technology but they were niche products and so much more expensive than the competition.
A Steve Jobs Apple keynote had the energy and excitement of both a magic show and a rock concert. Steve Jobs changed how new products are presented, he forced competing CEO's to get up on stage and rally the troops. But he had a gift that many others simply don't. His love for innovation and exuberance showed through and the build up to the "One More Thing..." slam dunk revelation will be so missed.
Two weeks ago, I covered SWIFT's Sibos 2011 banking conference in Toronto and was floored to see many of the world's bank managers and executives using iPads as their main computing and note-taking devices.
It was quite amazing to see all these middle-aged executives in bespoke suits poring over their iPads, swiping back and forth through charts,reports and presentations and relying on them for valuable, business critical information.
I had to rub my eyes a few times to realize it but these people weren't using the devices because they had to, they were using them because they wanted to.
If that isn't changing the world, I don't know what is.
The passing of Steve Jobs is an end of an era, that is for sure. It can also mean the start of a new beginning.
The man, his work and contribution to the consumer electronics, technology and computer industry have set am incredibly high bar and a stunning example that many can hopefully follow. Never settle, stay hungry, be a perfectionist.
Below is Steve Jobs' Commencement Speech for Stanford University in 2005 where he talks his ideas and beliefs on how life should be lived. This is how we best remember him.
Apple is asking people to share their thoughts on Steve Jobs.
If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com