To Infinity And Beyond

I asked my son how he felt about the passing of Steve Jobs. He replied, "I'm sad. But then again, I don't care." I found his honesty refreshing, especially since his ambivalence reflected my own. I appreciate the world of change that Mister Jobs and his company has ushered in over the past thirty years. I might be sitting at this keyboard currently tapping away at my innermost thoughts, but I might not be preparing to ship them off into the blogosphere to share them with the rest of the planet. The way I listen to music has changed forever. The way I buy music has changed even more dramatically.
Steve Jobs didn't invent the technology as much as he made it infinitely more consumable. He made it cute. He made it shiny. And in some cases, he made it affordable. He accomplished something that the makers of other adhesive strips wish that Band-Aids had been able to do. These days, if someone asks if about an iPod, it can be assumed that the mp3 player you carry around is what they are talking about. The fact that he seems to have appropriated the first person pronoun to describe any and all personal electronics suggests marketing genius. He created the Coca-Cola of computing.
He also managed to stay outside of the bubble of CEOs and billionaires who have become detested and despised because of their wealth and machinations. His salary? A dollar a year. That figure didn't include his shares in his own company. Or his shares in Walt Disney's company. Or any other shares of anyone else's company across the globe. Be assured that Steve Jobs didn't die of hunger.
And it reminds me of the best gift that he gave me, personally: Woody and Buzz. Thank you Steve, and good luck on your most recent launch.