I have always loved computers.
From the moment I found an old, beige, 166 MHz Windows 95 PC in kindergarten, I’ve always been curious. Who invented it? How does it do math so fast? Open it up, and what do you have? A mess of chips, circuit boards, wires, connectors, …
Put it all back together, and you have magic.
Steve has been the single largest driving force behind the community that’s changed my life. It’s in this community that I’ve made my closest friends, found new career paths, and reaped the greatest rewards. I’m reading the news and writing this reflection on a Macintosh. And I’ve never even met him.
To me, Steve was a man who did his best every day. He didn’t settle for anything less, and he didn’t allow the people around him to do so either. He was never afraid to challenge existing ideas. He taught people to live each day to the fullest.
And he held out for one final product launch. His last mark on the technology industry was the iPhone 4S: the iPhone For Steve.
His vision lives on in hundreds and hundreds of young people. They, too, have made it their life’s work to reduce the barriers between people and the technology they use. The universe has been dented.
Goodbye, sir. Thanks for changing my life.