Knew him well! You didn’t know that?!! …….No, not really. But I’d like to have know him. I’ve kind of had a fascination for Steve Jobs for about ten years, or so, now. Not sure why that started except maybe when I first bought a Mac computer I started to pay attention to whoever it was that headed up the Apple organization.
I was needing a new cell phone just about the time the first iPhone came out….but the Blackberry was the ‘going thing’, at the time. So, I bought a Blackberry. Julie took a chance on the iPhone. I played with her phone for 5 minutes and hated the Blackberry from then on! (the Blackberry doesn’t even exist anymore!) I was so impressed with their products (still am!) as compared to anything else out there that it seemed obvious that someone, somewhere really had an edge in the technology industry.
I’m far from being a high-tech person (I’m past low-tech; I guess you could say I’m, mid-tech, lol) …..but I really appreciate it. I’m fascinated by technology, always have been….ever since I got my first little transistor radio for Christmas when I was just little kid in grade school. But Steve Jobs is, in my opinion, in a class all by himself. You’d have to consider Bill Gates, I guess. But as far as I’m concerned…they’re not even close. In fact all of Apple’s competitors have been playing ‘catch-up’ for several years now. There’s several competitor versions of the iPhone, and iPad out there….but Apple still leads the pack. *(by the end of 2010 Apple had amassed over $76 billion in cash reserves!) Not bad for a business/company that was started in a garage!
When Steve Jobs’ book (click to see) was released….I bought it that day and literally read straight through it. What an interesting guy; Quirky, driven, extremely hard to work for, visionary, incredibly intolerable of anything other than outright excellence, reclusive, very hard on employees, ruthless negotiator. Steve Jobs had a dream a generation ago that everyone on the planet needed a laptop computer…..before there was even such a thing!! One of my favorite stories in the book involved John Sculley, CEO of Pepsi Cola. Steve wanted to hire John to head up Apple. As was his custom Steve would walk with people in his extremely affluent neighborhood (barefooted) and talk business. After a long walk Sculley was unmoved in leaving Pepsi and coming to Apple. Steve closed the deal by saying to him, “Well, John, you need to decide if you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water…..or changing the world.” Sculley left Pepsi for Apple!! You should read the book!
Steve Jobs, whether you admire him or not, is one of the most influential figures of our lifetime. In the final analysis he will need to be compared to men like Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. He has affected your life in some way whether you choose to accept it or not. That’s why I consider Steve Jobs a VIP!
PS-I have a dream somewhat like Steve Jobs. One of these days I’ll tell you about it.
*Check out other VIP Blog*Read them all by going to the “Archives”:
VIP’s #10 – Cliff & Charlene Taylor
Andy Taylor 