‘Death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the
‘Death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.’
— Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford commencement address, one year after his pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
It’s a story we are all familiar with: A baby boy is born in San Francisco to a young, unwed graduate student and her boyfriend. They place him up for adoption with the condition the he must attend college. He finds a home with an accountant and a machinist.
He graduates from high school and moves to Oregon to attend college.
He drops out after just one semester, but for the next 18 months he drops in on classes he finds interesting. He sleeps on the floor of friends’ dorm rooms and makes money by recycling bottles for five cents. Every now and then, he walks seven miles to a Hare Krishna temple to pick up a free meal.
He travels to India in search of enlightenment and comes back a Buddhist.
At the age of 20, he and a friend create a computer company out of his parents’ garage.
He introduces the world to one of the first computers to use a graphical user interface, but his erratic behavior and quest for perfection drive him out of the very company he built.
In his time away, he starts another company he names NeXT. Soon after, he starts yet another company named Pixar.
In 1996, he sells NeXT to Apple and is brought back into the company he helped to build. He introduces a family of revolutionary digital devices — the iMac, iPod, iTunes, iPhone and iPad.
He builds a cult-like following of people who hang on his every word during his infamous keynote speeches, also known as Stevenotes.
He becomes famous for falsely ending his speeches — thanking the audience before uttering, “There is just one more thing.”
The PowerBook G4, iPod with video, MacBook Pro, the iPod touch, the MacBook Air and FaceTime video calling are all products of “there is just one more thing.”
He was the center of the tech universe. His innovations set the standard for the industry, leaving everyone else sprinting to keep up.
He was bold enough to think differently. He was brazen enough to believe he could revolutionize technology. He was talented enough that he did.
He put the Internet in my pocket, placed 1,000 songs at my fingertips and gave me the satisfaction of using a machine that just worked.
Nothing speaks more about the talent of Steve Jobs than the fact that I learned of his death on the very device he invented.
• Andrea Frainier, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681, ext. 257 or afrainier@ thegardenisland.com.
