“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
"It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."
~Steve Jobs [BusinessWeek, May 25, 1998]
People call us a techie family.
Correction: We are an Apple family.
(Jeremy would be soooo proud that I'm saying this.)
We have one lone PC remaining and that poor HP sits lonely and idly around the house most days. I've lost count of the number of iPods we had and have had. Apple plays our music, our TV shows, and keeps us connected to our faraway family and friends. My four-year-old can make a call unassisted with my iPhone to anyone in my contacts list.
For someone I've never met, Steve Jobs changed my life in a way I'd never have imagined.
The creativity and ingenuity he brought to technology is legendary. He was the Walt Disney or the Willie Wonka of our adult lives where dreams of infinite amounts of candy and magical stories were replaced by the unleashing of our productivity, connectedness and creativity through exceptional technology and tools. He led us into a world where the impossible became possible. The things we never knew we wanted were things we simply had to have. As Guy Kawasaki, who worked closely with Steve in the Macintosh division for many years, said it... "Apple is the most enchanting company."
I never dreamed that one day I'd be able to:
wake up to any song I that want to
on an alarm clock
on my telephone
that goes everywhere with me,
that currently houses 27 versions of the Bible
and multiple other books,
that tells me the forecast,
and the news,
that keeps me connected
face-to-face, like we're sitting in the same room,
and through all types social media,
and text messages and instant messages,
and keeps my entire family's calendars up-to-date and completely in sync,
and manage tasks, projects, and priorities for my work and personal life,
not to mention, takes and edits photos and video,
creates shopping and to do lists that instantly share with Jeremy,
and gets me where I need to go with turn-by-turn directions, even on public transportation!
or tracks my run distances, speed, maps, etc. (when I'm actually doing it!)
and tracks all kinds of aspects of my health,
and manages my [lousy] Fantasy Football team,
and keeps my toddler occupied while waiting in quiet places
and keeps me entertained [and sometimes even productive!] when I'm riding the commuter bus,
and lets me surf the internet,
where I can do virtually anything
like...
find a recipe, put it in my menu planner, and have it automatically sync it to my iCal with a link to the recipe
or book plane tickets
or buy gifts to be delivered to my doorstep in a day
or make dinner reservations and order take out
or find a valid coupon to a store as I stand in the check out line
or learn the meaning of a word or phrase I don't know
or sign my attendance card at church
or check my account balances and transfer funds
or play word games with my friends across the country
or choose a movie at the best theatre with the best time and buy the tickets if I want to
or watch tv and movies
and even blog!
And I'm sure I've only touched the tip of the iceberg of what it's capable of....
Steve Jobs, you left a wondeful mark on this planet or as you put it, you truly did put a "ding on this universe" and your fingerprints are all over my happy, Uncontainable Life. I want to thank you for all that you created that makes it possible for me to manage this wonderful life that is mine. I owe a lot to you and your merry band of pirates who set out to change the world. You have changed my world!
"What have I done today that is wonderful?"
~Steve Jobs
