Yes, I admit it. On the day Steve Jobs died, I cried.
I didn’t know Steve Jobs. I never received an email from him signed ‘Sent from my iPad’. He never swore at me, or sent me chocolates. I just didn’t know the man.
Did Steve Jobs change my life? He invented a few products, but people more anonymous have changed my life in more obvious ways. We have an iPod (a really old one) – we could live without it if we had to. We have mobile phones; Steve didn’t invent them.We have laptops, but they owe more to Michael Dell. We support Macintosh computers on a regular basis, but we’re not in love with them. We’re definitely not Apple fanboys.
So, Steve is dead. (iGone?). Why did I cry? Well, certainly not because of him.
On the day Steve Jobs died, my wife told me about an accident. One of her friend’s relatives was driving with her two year old son in the back of her car. He managed to open the door, fell out, and was killed (http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=17531284). When we found out, we cried. Yes, we didn’t know that little chap either, but his life was ended before we did get the chance to know him. He might have been the next Steve Jobs; he may just have been the next Mr Nobody. But he didn’t get the opportunity, the chances, or the breaks, due to that unfortunate accident.
Yes, we cried. And why not? His life was worth crying over. Sorry Steve, but your death didn’t touch us anywhere near as much.