Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

By now the rest of the net has already beaten this story like a dead horse and there really isn't the need for another blog post mourning Steve Jobs, but I'm going to anyway.

When it was announced that Jobs was stepping down as CEO, I really didn't think much of it. I thought we were still going to be seeing a lot of Steve Jobs, but I had no idea of his health problems. I just don't follow that kind of thing, having better ways to spend my time than worry about what celebrity has cancer or what-have-you.

But the sudden announcement of Jobs' death last night actually saddened me. I was sitting on the couch with my wife watching TV and checking email on the iPad when I saw the announcement on Geeks of Doom. How fitting that I should learn about Jobs' death on a device that he ushered in.

Though I've used PCs for the past thirteen years or so, I grew up in an Apple household. When I was little we owned an Apple IIe. You remember those, right? Black screen and green text? Oh, I played many an hour of Oregon Trail and Space Invaders on that puppy. I remember typing out reports for school when the rest of my classmates were still writing them out by hand. The average household just didn't have a computer back then. They weren't the sources of entertainment and information they are today. The old beast still runs, too. It lives in my parents' basement, though I don't think they've fired it up in a couple years.

After that it was various Mac models, including the very first Mac laptop that my dad used for work. We ran Macs up until System 7 and then, for whatever reason, we changed to Windows 95. I don't know why we did it, and I remember absolutely hating Windows. I had no idea what I was doing and I wanted Mac OS 8, dammit.

When I moved out and got my own computer for my apartment, I couldn't afford a Mac, so I got a Windows 98 machine. After that, I guess, it was just downhill. I haven't touched a Mac since I borrowed my dad's Macbook in 2005 to upload pictures of Logan when he was born. And I was utterly lost. I had to reacquaint myself with how to use the thing, having fallen prey to the Cult of Gates.

Three years ago I bought my first piece of Apple hardware: a used second generation 4GB iPod Nano. This was my first MP3 player and I wasn't sure I would like it, but I took to it instantly. The following Christmas, my wife bought me a 120GB iPod Classic, which I still use to this day. My entire collection of music, audiobooks, and old time radio episodes are loaded onto this beast and it is ALWAYS in my pocket when I leave the house. I don't go anywhere without it, even outside in the yard. We now have four iPods in our house: my Classic, Jess and Zavier's 16GB Nanos, and my original 4GB Nano which now belongs to Logan.

Let's go back to the Windows issue for a second. I HATE Windows. I hate it with a passion. It's a glitchy, disobedient little bitch. And how many Windows machines from ten (or even five in some cases) years ago are still running? Not too fucking many. Meanwhile, my old Apple IIe is still chugging away in my parents' basement. I want an Apple machine. I want to take Justin Long's advice and switch back to Mac. The problem is I can't afford the price tag at the moment.

Well, last year I got the chance to dip my toes into Apple's pool and test the water. I bought an iPad. And it was the best investment I've made in years! On the very first day it proved its worth by allowing me to submit my homework while I struggled to repair my crippled PC with Norton Utilities. That put the arguments of all the naysayers to rest. That clenched it for me. As soon as I can scrape together the cash, I'm kicking my Acer to the curb and buying myself a Mac. I'm leaving the Cult of Gates and rejoining the Cult of the Turtleneck.

Now flame me all you want. I'm not a techie and don't know the first thing about hardware. What I know is what I can see. And what I see is a basement full of old Apple computers still humming away, even though they've been outmoded into oblivion, and a Windows machine that acts like Hal 9000 every time I want to open a fucking Word document and listen to Metallica at the same time.

I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.

I'm not Dave, you pile of convoluted scrap!

Now, back to Steve Jobs. As I lay in bed last night, working on my latest novel on the iPad while listening to Blackmore's Night on my iPod, I sent a silent 'thank you' to Steve, where ever he may be. He honestly made my life better, albeit in a small way, but it really is the little things that count.

Goodbye, Steve. You will be missed.