Steve Jobs

October 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Steve Jobs helped create technology that inspired my creativity. I learned to enjoy using computers, in their many forms, through Apple. I use a Mac at work, at home and an iPhone and iPod in between. I use Keynote software for every one of my presentations and Steve Jobs’ example of giving great presentations motivates me to be a better speaker.

I saw Steve Jobs once. It was July 2009, in a parking lot in downtown Palo Alto. He was getting into his car. He was thin and gaunt, but focused. He was recovering from a liver transplant seven months earlier. He still managed to make 7 (or more?) major keynote addresses, while leading his company to become the most valuable in the world, in the next two years.

Yesterday, I re-watched his 2005 commencement address at Stanford University. Although his message applies to people of all ages, in this case he was speaking directly to my generation, on the verge of beginning to make our stamp on the world.

He’s helped me to put a better stamp on the world and few people in recent American history have done more to innovate and inspire so many people.

Thanks Steve, you made the world a better place.

Below are some great pieces that reflect on Steve Jobs’ life and legacy. Also I’ve included a few pictures from the Apple Store in Palo Alto, from last night.

http://daringfireball.net/2011/10/universe_dented_grass_underfoot

http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-tv-appearance-2011-2 

Downtown Palo Alto. Credit: Nick Siekierski

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/business/steve-jobs-of-apple-dies-at-56.html?_r=2&hp

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/10/steve-jobs-february-24-1955—october-5-2011.ars

  

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/10/the-first-time-i-used-an-apple-computer-was.ars

http://arstechnica.com/staff/fatbits/2011/10/steve-jobs-a-personal-remembrance.ars

Filed Under: Apple/Tech Tagged With: , , ,

Steve Jobs and Apple Archives at Stanford

September 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

It looks like the wait is almost over for the iPhone 5, and none too soon since my 3G is almost done, time for an upgrade!

Apple is now competing with Exxon to be the most valuable company in the world. When Apple was founded in 1976, it would have been hard to believe the great success that awaited the company 35 years later.

I read a great article recently about the company records of Apple and Steve Jobs at Stanford University. This is just one of the fascinating collections in the Stanford Silicon Valley Archives. The largest collection of materials on Silicon Valley history in the world.

Over the decades Apple has had its ups and downs, but the driving force behind its success has indisputably been Steve Jobs. His retirement as the CEO of Apple came as huge news in the tech and business world last month and he will be impossible to replace.

In the Apple archive there are company documents from its earliest years. Orders for dozens and hundreds of Mac computers as opposed to the millions of units they are selling today. One letter in the collection comments on Steve’s inexperience. Photos in the collection show Steve as laid back and casual, not wearing shoes at a board meeting in 1988, but we know that he was more driven to succeed than any CEO in the modern era.

As delicious as it looks. Credit: Nick Siekierski

Here is the Youtube video about the article. (look for the Hoover Tower in the first shot)

Also, here is the video of Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement speech in 2005. It’s one of the most inspirational speeches of its type that you’ll ever hear. (Many thanks to a good friend for recommending it to me several years ago.)

It’s Aloha Friday!

 

Filed Under: Apple/Tech, Archives Tagged With: , , , ,