Tonight cancer has taken someone who has already been hailed many times as a genius and a visionary. Tonight Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer, lost the battle with pancreatic cancer.
Whatever opinion you hold about Jobs, and I've held nearly every possible opinion over the years, his impact on American life can't be questioned. This is the man who assembled a secret development team within his own company to design and build the "insanely great" Macintosh, the computer that changed everything (according to the subtitle of Steven Levy's book).
This is the man who recruited John Sculley away from Pepsi to be the CEO of Apple by asking, "Do you really want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life?" Of course Sculley was the man who forced Jobs out of his own company.
But Steve Jobs is also the man who founded Pixar Studios, regained control of Apple, and pushed development of the iPod, iPhone and iPad. i-i-i-i-i-i ... I've written before about the Cult of Apple and criticized it. One thing is certain, though: Few people have had the same impact on American life over the last 50 as Steve Jobs has.
He was insanely great. Cancer once again diminishes us all.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
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