The Valley of the Locust

10/6/11

10/6/11

Today is the day after the father of our world’s technology has died. Not every generation gets a visionary as strong as a Thomas Edison, someone with such vivid thought as Jules Verne, but what Steve Jobs gave to the world was just as important as the contributions of the inventors and creators that came before him. This isn’t all about Jobs, but rather, how his life and death has impacted me.

I spent a lot of time between when I was old enough to understand technology and now, intrigued, and baffled by Apple. I remember when I was very young, like 4 years old, playing with the Macintosh II, not really knowing anything about it other than the fact that it was a computer, had cool colors, and that I could make it type in so many fonts. Oh, and that I had NO idea how to play chess. It was 1990. It was irrelevant to me that Steve Jobs had been fired by Apple 5 years prior and had moved on to start NeXT already, a year before I was even born, or the advancements that Jobs had pushed forth on technology. All I saw was colors.

Fast forward to 1998, and those commercials that implored you to “Think Different.” Those cool colored computer monitors dancing across my screen. I was 12 years old, and these commercials are the first time I remember ever seeing a computer advertised on TV. I didn’t know at the time that those “monitors” were the whole computer. I also didn’t know that this was Apple’s first major release with Jobs back at the helm, or that this product was the first to use the NeXTSTEP inspired Mac OS 8 operating system, which quickly gave way to OS 9 and OS X. All of this was moot to me. I was young, and the marketing worked. All I saw was colors.

Lets jump again, to January of 2007. One of my best friends Bill (@olswizzletip) had been using an Apple Power Mac G5 for some time already to start on his path of recording and editing video. This isn’t about that though. This is about the night that he talked me and another one of our best friends, Gary (@gwoolfe), into watching a keynote speech by Jobs. What felt like an eternity at the time, yet never boring, this was the first time I was ever seeing Steve Jobs. Of course, Like everyone else, I noticed the mock turtleneck, the glasses; and maybe something else no one ever notices, the sheer enthusiasm about his products. I remember the beginning of this speech, the introduction of 3 new services. The widescreen iPod with touch controls. The mobile phone. The new internet communicator. Finally, that is was all the same device. This time, there were no colors. It was black, and it was the new thing that would “destroy” Apple Computers. It was the iPhone. This was the first time in my life that I remember such a clear cut in the masses over this company, and it sure wouldn’t be the last.

As I mentioned, my friend Bill had been using a Power Mac G5 for some time before that night. He had spent countless hours teaching himself Final Cut, and we spent comparable hours shooting skits, projects, even a set for a local band, and I remember sitting with him during much of his editing process, these being my first times in my adulthood being face to face with a Mac. I’d be lying if I said i wasn’t intrigued, or that i didn’t have tons of questions about it. Same with the iPhone. Bill was, and still is, one of my closest friends, and someone who always had an answer to questions I had about these revolutionary devices. He is definitely one of the people in my life who showed me what Apple Inc. is all about, and because of the things I learned from playing with his toys, I felt comfortable enough to make my own switch to Apple products recently.

Theres something scary about a company that could put something as strong as a dual core A5 processor in something as small as an iPhone. Wait, let me rephrase that. Its intimidating. Its also very intimidating that they’ve made that same iPhone now talk to you. The scary thing is the people who, in the roughly 24 hours between when that phone was announced, and the announcement that Jobs had died, called these new advancements, be them only 2 of a long list, a disappointment. I know we all aren’t into Apple, and Im new to this game, but come on. We are so concerned at this point with that NEW NEW (thanks CuDi), and I mean, the next thing AFTER whatever is new, that we marginally disregard major advancements in technology on the grounds that they are insufficient upgrades weighed against the amount of time we have had to wait for them? Thats a slap in the face to everyone, including the person who made the remark. Especially when the wait was a little over a year. Its not like we had to wait a decade.

In the short time I’ve been using Apple products, and for even longer beforehand, I’ve been researching these products. Why should I make the switch? So many people seem SO against Apple. What I uncovered is a lot of people arguing personal preference against fact. We all know that Apple didn’t create the touchscreen phone, but the fact is that its major competition at the time of release was the LG Venus (LG VX8800), and I don’t know if you’ve ever seen that thing, but it’s hideous, a standard “dumbphone,” and about the farthest that any of these companies seemed to be coming at the time in 2007. We also know that Apple didn’t create the app, but its impossible to deny what they did for even the WORD “app.” Its wasn’t their initial sell point, but by 2008, the app was one of the driving forces behind the purchase of the iPhone, and now, behind almost EVERY phone. Of course this paragraph has largely been one piece of a larger argument, but the people who’s main focal point in the battle is Android vs. iOS are missing the bigger and broader technological picture. The GUI that Apple introduced was the first of its kind, and today, has become second to none. The fundamental groundwork Jobs and Wozniak laid in the ’80s carried this company to what they have become, and the innovation they showed initially has shined through in every product that they have made.

I received word of Steve Jobs’ death from my girlfriend (@kelleymajor) last night while I was at work. I immediately took it to twitter to confirm, and saw that this seemed like the real story, everyone saying things like “holy shit. apple.com” so I clicked the link and saw the picture of Steve, 1955-2011 next to it. I did all of this from an iPhone. It was because of Jobs’ vision, I was able to learn about his death, and read the world’s reactions to it, as the world was FORMING their reactions. This goes father than who is winning the technology race, far beyond what operating system for your PC or cell. Its about what the man gave to the world. It doesn’t really matter if you use an iPhone, or a droid, or even a Palm or Windows phone. It has to do with where it started. The world is far more connected because of the iPhone. Thats a fact. The iPhone saw development because of the success of Apple as a company. Thats a fact as well. Apple isn’t the only company, but to deny it as the standard and the bar by which technology is created, or used in virtually every industry, is sheer ignorance.

I strongly believe that had Steve Jobs not been ousted from Apple in 1985, the world would be singing a far different iTune about computers and technology. What took this “groundbreaking” company in the ’80s, to the commercially flopping money hemorrhaging thing that it became until Jobs’ return in 1997, was largely due to the unrealistic strategies and expectations of then CEO John Sculley, who’s major experience in business prior to this was being president of PepsiCo. Although, I guess it should be noted that under Sculley, the Newton MessagePad 100 saw release in 1993, which was one of the first PDA’s ever; and System 7. But, I digress,  the PC game was revolutionized by Steve Jobs, and I’m not writing about every technical advancement that Apple has ever made. The point is that this was what made people question Apple Computers where they were previously heralding them. This was their fall from grace, and I guess no doubt where much of todays animosity towards them was seeded.

Steve Jobs and his company have changed my life. Theres no way to argue that for me anymore. I recently purchased my first MacBook, and I haven’t looked back. Its very much a departure from what Im used to, but, like almost every product Apple has released, very native feeling as well. I still have no idea how to play chess, but the product, as well as myself, have matured much farther than that. At any point in my day, I can get up, plug in my turntables or my guitar, and record some music, mix and master it, make a video of me doing it, edit it, and share it all, right from my computer, on strong, reliable applications that came WITH my computer. I strongly believe that these products have been made by free thinkers for free thinkers, people who aren’t about the norm but whats best for them. Where your product has been filtered through 3 or 4 companies, Apple users had a face and a name, to praise or hold accountable. While it hasn’t always been for the better, it sure as shit was never for the worse. Its sad that Steve Jobs will not be giving anything else to the world, but through his visions, his company can keep innovating for years to come. You’d be a fool to not realize how the technology YOU use has not been made better by being forced to compete with Apple every step of the way, now more than ever.

Thank you, Based Jobs. Rest in Power.

Typed and shared from my MacBook.

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A Year Later…

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