By: Jorge Valens/Columnist
We lost a crazy one. A misfit. A rebel. A troublemaker.
Steve Jobs left behind a legacy that will reach far beyond the average lifespan of a human being.
He left a legacy that people hold in their hands, sit in front of and interact with on a daily basis.
From the company’s humble beginnings inside a musty garage in 1976 to his last breath in 2011 Jobs earned a title that is rarely handed out in this industry: visionary.
Throughout his time at Apple, Jobs’ notorious demeanor and fervent dedication to an idea led his company to be one of the most prized possession’s in this country’s portfolio.
Jobs and Apple are some of the few remaining examples of American exceptionalism, an idea that many argue is dead.
To list his successes and the failures that led to them would require a few dozen pages and a small font. But let’s not reminisce. That’s not his style.
Year after year, Jobs rattled our senses by releasing products that made us swoon over glass and plastic. People took days off work and braved the elements standing in line at one of Apple’s iconic and immensely successful retail locations.
Products like the iPhone changed the way we interact with the world around us. It made the phone an extension of ourselves and an indispensable tool. But what made the iPhone and the products that preceded and came after it so compelling is that Jobs discovered how to touch someone emotionally with a product or an idea.
As Joshua Topolsky, editor in chief of The Verge said, they believe in “the story” of Apple.
Jobs is widely credited as the most successful CEO of all time. His triumphant return to the company he founded yielded unprecedented prosperity for the company.
They released products that captured the hearts and minds of consumers the world over.
He made the company about two things: the user and what he thought the user wanted.
Many people, myself included at times, criticized Jobs for this. How can one man tell me what I like?
But that’s a visionary. That’s what visionaries do.
Jobs stood on stage defiantly proclaiming that he knew what consumers wanted and that the only way to make a successful product was to not take shortcuts, design to simplify and create something that he would want to use.
When recruiting then Pepsi Co. President John Sculley to be CEO of Apple, Jobs boldly asked him if he wanted to “sell sugar water for the rest of your life or come with me and change the world?” Jobs did just that. He changed the world.
So as we sit around in a waiting rooms tapping away on our multi-touch smart phones, downloading music on devices or reading something on a tablet know this.
If it weren’t for Steve Jobs those things wouldn’t be what they are today.
A crazy one. A misfit. A rebel. A troublemaker. These are qualities that make up a visionary.
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