Okay, I'll speak the sacred name and get it over with - Steve Jobs! He died. I don't think there's anyone in the world that does not know this yet. And everyone, everywhere is saluting him as one of the greatest human beings that ever lived. Sorry, but I can't join in with that one. Yes, he invented some marvelous products. Yes, he changed the way that a lot of people listen to music. Yes, he helped to make personal computers more accessible to ordinary people, not just techno-geeks. But did he change the world? Puh-LEEZ! No. He didn't change the world. He merely sped up a process that was already underway. He took a technology that was really of interest to only a handful of people, and he made it desirable to a much larger segment of the population, and his invention drove the rest of the industry forward. To be honest, though, I can't say that he changed my life very much at all, and I live right in the middle of the whole technology industry. I don't have any Apple products. Why?
They're too expensive. Let's admit it people, the products that Jobs designed were priced above the reach of a vast majority of the folks in this world. Even the much lauded i-Pod costs more money than I care to spend (although I did buy one for my wife for her birthday). I get by with a much smaller and cheaper mp3 player. And my computer is fairly old school, cuz I do not need a state of the art computing device that's powerful enough to launch moon rockets. Nor do I need an i-phone or an i-pad, because I don't really need to be that connected that much of the time. And here's a big, nasty secret that my own brother would string me up for if he reads this - at least 75% of the people who own i-Phones and i-Pads don't actually NEED them. And here's another big secret for all you Jobs-loving techno-geeks - there are vast swaths of human society that have never even heard of the name Steve Jobs. In other words, he wasn't really as important to the world as people are making him out to be right now. Having said that, I am sorry that he died, as I am sorry for the death of anyone who goes before their time. Jobs was only 56 years old. I'm 51. Puts things into real perspective for you. I've reached that age in life where death has become a reality. People my age die all of the time. People I grew up with are dying. That's just a part of life. I think Steve Jobs died too young. Apparently the Lord, in His infinite wisdom, had other ideas. So I take my hat off to Steve Jobs. You made a great product Steve. Wish I could afford one. Maybe I will before my own time comes. Then again, maybe it just doesn't really matter.
They're too expensive. Let's admit it people, the products that Jobs designed were priced above the reach of a vast majority of the folks in this world. Even the much lauded i-Pod costs more money than I care to spend (although I did buy one for my wife for her birthday). I get by with a much smaller and cheaper mp3 player. And my computer is fairly old school, cuz I do not need a state of the art computing device that's powerful enough to launch moon rockets. Nor do I need an i-phone or an i-pad, because I don't really need to be that connected that much of the time. And here's a big, nasty secret that my own brother would string me up for if he reads this - at least 75% of the people who own i-Phones and i-Pads don't actually NEED them. And here's another big secret for all you Jobs-loving techno-geeks - there are vast swaths of human society that have never even heard of the name Steve Jobs. In other words, he wasn't really as important to the world as people are making him out to be right now. Having said that, I am sorry that he died, as I am sorry for the death of anyone who goes before their time. Jobs was only 56 years old. I'm 51. Puts things into real perspective for you. I've reached that age in life where death has become a reality. People my age die all of the time. People I grew up with are dying. That's just a part of life. I think Steve Jobs died too young. Apparently the Lord, in His infinite wisdom, had other ideas. So I take my hat off to Steve Jobs. You made a great product Steve. Wish I could afford one. Maybe I will before my own time comes. Then again, maybe it just doesn't really matter.
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