My first exposure to personal computers was on a brand new Apple III. That’s not a typo, it was the Apple “Three”. One of Apple's few well recorded flops. A friend and mentor of mine had one, and I can still vividly remember him explaining to me the basic concepts of the systems operating system: Apple SOS (Sophisticated Operating System). As criticized as it was, using that machine was a watershed moment for me. Learning the commands to navigate and display the content of the 5.25” floppy disks of that machine laid the foundation for my understanding of personal computers. I went on to learn to use and understand a myriad of competing computers back in the early 80’s, including the Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Atari ST, and the Amiga. But it was the Macintosh computer that changed my life. I waited a year after they first came out, and bought a Macintosh 512K, the “Fat” Mac in 1985. I quickly realized I needed the secondary external 400K floppy disk drive if I didn’t want to spend hours flipping disks in and out of the internal drive every time I saved a file. Still I fell in love with that computer, and my love for Apple products grew with each succesive revision and upgrade.
I have continued using Apple products both personally and professionally for the last 25 years. They have shaped the way I understand and experience the world, and the way in which I communicate and express myself creatively.
Even if you’ve never touched an Apple product, if you use a computer, listen to digital music, use a smartphone, enjoy computer animated movies, your experience has been shaped by the vision of Steve Jobs. I remain in awe of his clarity of foresight, his demanding minimalist esthetic, and the unbridled enthusiasm with which he brought forth so many amazing products.
The world is a better place because of his efforts. He will be sorely missed. Thank you Mr. Jobs for all you shared with us. When I think of a world without you my heart bleeds in six colors.
