Steve Jobs has passed away. He’s singing with the heavenly choir. He’s doing the Moonwalk with Michael Jackson. He’s the founder of Apple. Dead from cancer at 56. Poor little dude.
I wouldn’t be typing this if not for Apple. I also wouldn’t be typing this if I didn’t have fingers. Luckily I have both.
I’ve read some articles comparing his death to that of John Lennon or Elvis. Really? People, please… I never saw Steve Jobs do karate chops onstage … he also never slept in a bed for days to promote peace with his diminutive Japanese lover. He just made cool shit that everybody and their dog seems to enjoy using.
However, he did start Apple in a garage, kinda like a rock band.
I have certain grievances with iPhones, Blackberries and the like because I have noticed that people seem to be really bad at face-to-face communication because they’re so sucked into their little devices. Kids constantly texting each other. Friends of mine texting friends when we’re hanging out. Stuff like that…
However, I do also see the usefulness… such as having a phone with music-recording applications, virtual guitars etc etc… I’ve been mighty impressed with what you can do with some of these gadgets.
Steve had battled cancer before and had a liver transplant in ’04. Seems like he wasn’t quite out of the woods… obviously, because he just died.
And hey, he also use to work for Atari. Remember Atari, everyone?
A couple of things I really like about this story. Firstoff, Jobs was a buddhist. Did you know that? I didn’t. Secondly, he really understood the poignancy of his upcoming death.
Six years ago, Jobs had talked about how a sense of his mortality was a major driver behind that vision.
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life,” Jobs said during a Stanford commencement ceremony in 2005.
“Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
stephenpaultaylor 