Steve Jobs

A man who shaped the world has now left it behind.  Steve Jobs has passed.  He was a wizard who took technology and put it in the hands of the common man.  In 1976, he and Steve Wozniak built something called a personal computer in a garage in southern California and in doing so changed everything.  Here is an excellent piece on his life: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44794276/ns/us_news/#.To0HenJENNs.

Wikipedia mentions towards the end of Job’s article – just before the reference section that, “After his resignation as Apple's CEO, Jobs was characterized as the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford of his time.”  Yeah, that’s not a bad description.  Full article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs.  

The 1999 TV film, “The Pirates of Silicon Valley” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168122/) is in serious need of a sequel.  There is so much more to the story then the pre-iPod time period where it ends.  I would humbly implore whoever makes it to please use the same cast and put it onto BIG screens this time.  Hey, it worked for, “The Social Network” and it would work here too.  Really, it is owed to history to do it right.   

I will leave the poetry and the ponderings to better writers than I; however I will leave you with this quote from Mr. Jobs.  "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life," he said. "Because 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."

I never owned an Apple but I wouldn’t be typing this blog on my beat-up old laptop if it weren’t for the visionary that we have just now lost; a man who changed the world and shaped the future.  Some souls make their mark on history and he was a man who helped define our time.

Godspeed, Mr. Jobs

...And the GEEK Shall Inherit the Earth

I’m a firm believer in the truth of that statement. Today, 6/27/08, Mr. Bill Gates stepped down from being the chairman for Microsoft. He will take a part time position with the company and dedicate his full time to running the myriad charities that he and his wife, Melinda support (see: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/default.htm). It’s good work but still Mr. Gates was, understandably, a little weepy at his last press conference as CEO this afternoon.

You know, love him or hate him you’ve got to recognize the fact that this man, literally, changed the world. He had a vision; a dream that spoke to him and told him that every home would eventually have a personal computer in it. He produced the operating system, by hook or by crook, and now Microsoft is a household staple. Windows has become the business standard (something that IBM should have recognized all those many years ago – that ship has sailed; the world has moved on). Oh sure Apple is alive and well, thank you very much but when the prevailing winds from the computer storms blow it fills the sails of Microsoft first.

If you get the chance, Gentle Reader, please track down a copy of the TV movie, “The Pirates of Silicon Valley” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168122/), as is mentioned in the dialogue of the film, “this stuff should be taught in schools”. Very interesting viewing when one considers all that has happened since Jobs and Wazniack constructed a computer in the garage and Gates found a way for them all (computers, that is) to talk to each other and do whatever it is that we want them to do. Put it in your Blockbuster or Netflix cue; gather the kids and family together for a history lesson masked in the guise of entertainment. Yes it is recent history but, lest their be no doubt, it changed the world.

All the best in your semi-retirement Mr. Gates; I sincerely wish you the best in your future endeavors.