This is my second article about Steve. I didn't know I'd end up writing about him for LifestyleBohol, so I wrote one on the day he died--the entry posted right before this. If you haven't read that one, don't bother. This one is inarguably much, much better. The content is essentially the same except that this has a more human tone and it gives a few details about Mr. Jobs' life rather than the sarcasm that the previous one has.
Enjoy!
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It came as almost no surprise when everyone on Twitter started screaming iCry, and iSad last Thursday morning. It was kind of obvious to me and I didn’t need to jump to Google and Wikipedia to verify information. What was expected many years ago finally happened. The great Steve Jobs had left the physical plane.
It’s interesting to note, though, that on repeated occasions after Steve’s resignation as CEO of Apple Inc., several hoaxes “informing” the world of his supposed death circulated rapidly throughout the internet. They were, of course, most likely initiated by Mac haters, but the reason those false rumors managed to spread quite broadly despite the lack of verification was the fact that most people who knew who Steve was knew that he was greatly suffering and that it was only a matter of time before he left the Earth. It was almost as if the tech world had already braced itself for his imminent demise.
I am personally not a huge fan of Apple Inc. I don’t use Mac computers; I don’t have an iPhone; and I’ve made a decision to steer clear of the iPad. I’m not going to explain why, though. This article isn’t about me; it’s about Steve. After all, the title does bear his name.
Despite not being a fan of Apple products, I do know a significant deal about Steve. One of my best friends, Kristina Farrah, a writer and Tech Blogger for SiliconAngle.com, considers him to be her greatest inspiration and each Saturday evening when we go out for a cup of coffee, she never fails to drill a bit about Mr. Jobs in my head. At first, I took very little interest and I thought the only thing I needed to know was the fact that he was one of Apple Inc’s founders. However, I realized that the mountain I had to climb to make my best friend shut up about him was as lofty and perilous as the one that she faced each time I talked about Lea Salonga and musical theater. And with that in mind, I knew I had to start doing my homework so I dove into cyberspace and began reading to keep myself from going blank each time Farrah would start ranting.
In summary, this is what I learned about Steve: He was born out of wedlock to a Syrian father and a Swiss-German mother on February 24th, 1955. He was put up for adoption and was taken in by Paul and Clara Jobs of Mountain View, California. In 1972, he enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon and dropped out soon after, but continued auditing classes while sleeping on the floors of friends’ rooms and surviving by selling scrap bottles and getting free meals at the local Hare Krishna temple.
In mid 1974, Steve traveled to India in search of spiritual enlightenment. Such endeavor made him decide to convert to Buddhism. He went back to the states and, in 1976, founded Apple computer together with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. In 1985, after an internal struggle within Apple, Steve Jobs was fired by his own protégé. Following that, he went on to establish NeXt Computer and Pixar Studios, which we now know to be Disney Pixar, famous for films such as the “Toy Story” series. In 1996, Apple bought NeXT, which marked Steve’s return to the company. For you, he produced the iPod, iPhone, iPad, and several Mac computers. In such process, he became one of the world’s biggest moguls. And more than that, he was also a visionary, a passionate artist, and an engineer like no other.
Things took an unexpected pivot in 2004 when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The illness then became the cause of his eventual resignation from Apple in August 24th, 2011. Following the release of the iPhone 4s, he died in the morning of October 5th, which was Thursday of our timezone.
One particularly peculiar thing that happened a few hours prior to the announcement of Steve’s death was when Farrah and I had a conversation about getting our heroes’ autographs. I let her take the stage since I already had Lea Salonga’s. Farrah said no matter how much Steve would brush her off, she would persist in making him sign her iPhone. Somehow, however, I had a strong gut feeling that it was never going to happen. The next morning, it was announced that Steve had gone away. Imagine my feeling! I wasn’t surprised, but because of the memory of the previous night’s conversation, I was left dumbfounded and I didn’t take any measures to see how true it was. Deep inside, I knew.
I felt a bit sad, but my biggest worry was how devastated Farrah would be. As it turned out, the piece of news was the very thing that woke her up. She called in a fit of aggravated grief and my heart sank as she unloaded her sentiments. It was then that I realized how much Steve truly meant to her. It made me ponder on the amount of anguish I’d be in if I were ever to lose a living hero of my own—even if he/she lives across the world.
Steve, you may not have been on my list of personal heroes, but I feel for the millions all over the world who mourn your passing. So, to all those grieving, this goes out to you: iLove, iMourn, iWeep.
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Seen on Print:
Seen on Print:
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| Part 1 CLICK to ENLARGE |
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| Part 2 CLICK to ENLARGE |
