Ode to Steve Jobs

I remember this perfectly. I was 21 years old at San Jose State University, and I was taking a public relations class as part of my degree program. In the class, which I don't remember the name of it, we had to create our own brochures. The instructor told us we had to design the brochures on boards, which seems insane to me today. He demonstrated how we could create headlines on this new beige box called the Mac. Of course, I had seen computers, but the Mac was new and looked different. It was this small box with a tiny screen. You could use a piece of software called PageMaker to create limited graphics using fonts. I was impressed and intimidated all at once. About three years later, I worked for a publishing company and what did I have sitting on my new desk? A little Mac SE. For the next four years, I abused my Mac SE writing hundreds of articles for the now defunct California Computer News. The Mac SE, unfortunately got replaced with a PC (groan), and I had been marched to the infamous "Dark Side" as all techies liked to call Microsoft Windows. Years went by. I missed my Mac. After I started 3L Publishing and four broken PCs later, I decided to treat myself to the "Cadillac" of computing and buy a brand-new Mac to "decorate" my desk, because let's face it. The Mac is pretty. I completely rebelled at that point, and now my technology is completely Apple-driven. I have an iPhone, Macbook Air, an old Mac laptop for my kids, and an iPad. The technology, as all Apple products tend to be, is elegant. Photos artfully float and slide into place in your email. It all just seems to "glide" about the screen. Now that the great visionary Steve Jobs has passed, I wonder what will become of my elegant company. Yes, he and Steve Wozniak invented the first Apple Computer, but it was Jobs, who long after "Woz" left the company, continued to bring his far-reaching vision to this graceful, beautiful technology. Of course, I never met this amazing man, and last year when I spotted photos of how rail thin he looked, I sensed his days were number. Now I imagine the great Steve Jobs in heaven -- the eternal innovator. If we're going to have heros and people to admire in this culture, Jobs is one of them. He deserves our hero worship! Ah, Mr. Jobs you will be missed!