I was 8 years old when I received my first computer: a Commodore VIC-20. My display was a gigantic Magnavox console TV located in the living room and my computing time was squeezed-in between my Mom's soap opera and my Dad's football/baseball/basketball viewing.
I adored that VIC-20 (and the C-64 I received shortly thereafter), but one of my good friends owned an Apple II and I coveted that system. Simple. Elegant. Versatile. It stood as a stark contrast to any other system available to consumers and was responsible for days on end lost to gaming and learning. Those computers - laughably underpowered by today's standards - ignited a lifelong passion for technology that burns even stronger today.
During the roughly 30 years since those days, I have owned countless computers, PDAs and other gadgets, but none have been so utterly transformative as those which sprang from the mind of Steve Jobs.
Mr. Jobs has been the subject of significant speculation and admiration, particularly during the past several years. Now that he's left us, I'm sure much will continue to be written about his contributions to business, the company he created and the revolutions he began. But I believe his true legacy lies not within the accomplishments of the past, but in the wondrous things which future generations will create, sparked by the genius of his work.
My youngest child, a rather precocious three-year-old, is in love with our iPads. During his rare moments of calm and focus, we'll grant his repeated request to use the tablet and one of my greatest joys is watching him interact with the device. He unlocks the home screen, swipes to find his folder of applications and begins to explore. I watch his face as he completes a puzzle or reads a book — his favorite is 'Cars', yet another creation touched by the hand of Jobs — and marvel at the sheer joy and excitement he gets from playing. The technology itself is almost transparent... a far cry from the clunky keyboards and arcane boot commands necessary when using the systems of my youth. It simply works.
Steve helped to tear down down the barriers between the physical and the virtual. He didn't just break the rules of technology, of commerce, of industrial design... he made his own rules. From the whimsy of Pixar to the elegance of OSX to the myriad iDevices so many of us have in our homes and in our pockets, he has woven technology into our day-to-day lives in ways few could have imagined.
So today, on the day of his passing, I offer my condolences to his family — both blood relatives and the family he created at One Infinite Loop. He challenged us all to 'think different' and the world is a better place for it.
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