Sometimes I still can’t believe it happened. But today marks the second anniversary of the passing of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Inc. No one can ever replace someone like Steve and my Thank You continues forward.
Steve appointed Tim Cook as Apple CEO shortly before his death. Since then, the leadership team at Apple has brought forth iOS 7, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPad mini and record breaking sales. Yesterday Cook issued the following letter to his staff:
Team-
Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of Steve’s death. I hope everyone will reflect on what he meant to all of us and to the world. Steve was an amazing human being and left the world a better place. I think of him often and find enormous strength in memories of his friendship, vision and leadership. He left behind a company that only he could have built and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple. We will continue to honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to the work he loved so much. There is no higher tribute to his memory. I know that he would be proud of all of you.
Best,
Tim
Also, The New York Times published a piece regarding the time leading up to the famous introduction of the original iPhone back at MacWorld 2007.
The impact has been not only economic but also cultural. Apple’s innovations have set off an entire rethinking of how humans interact with machines. It’s not simply that we use our fingers now instead of a mouse. Smartphones, in particular, have become extensions of our brains. They have fundamentally changed the way people receive and process information. Ponder the individual impacts of the book, the newspaper, the telephone, the radio, the tape recorder, the camera, the video camera, the compass, the television, the VCR and the DVD, the personal computer, the cellphone, the video game and the iPod. The smartphone is all those things, and it fits in your pocket. Its technology is changing the way we learn in school, the way doctors treat patients, the way we travel and explore. Entertainment and media are accessed and experienced in entirely new ways.
I wanted to find something special that showed off the genius of Jobs. And I ended up watching a clip I’ve never seen before. This is a 20-minute documentary-style video observing how Jobs brainstormed with his team at NeXT, the company he started after getting fired from Apple.
And what surprised me was that under his light blue untucked dress shirt lies the notorious black turtleneck. In this video, I was intrigued at the 17:40 mark when he talks about not looking too much at the “smaller battles”, but to focus on the war at large.
Personally, Apple made an impact on my life as I clearly remember the first video game that I ever loved. It was a game called Treasure Mountain that I played on a Macintosh in grade school.
Again, thanks for everything you contributed to us Steve.