Steve Jobs – The Real Big Apple October 6, 2011
Posted by alwaysjan in Food for Thought, Personal.Tags: Apple as a Religion, I bleed in six colors, Personal, Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs Death
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On Facebook, my “religion” is listed as “Apple – I bleed in six colors” I wasn’t always a “Mac person.” In the 1980s in NYC, I flailed away on a huge blah gray IBM trying to remember the alpha-numeric code that made it all happen – and not a lot happened at that time. The computer seemed like a glorified calculator and one step up from the IBM Selectric typewriter that allowed you to retype over misspelled words with that magic white correction tape. Now THAT was innovation!
When my neighbor showed me her new Apple computer with all of the excitement of a mother with her newborn, I was clueless. It was one of those early all-in-one chunk models, and I so didn’t get what this “computer for the rest of us” was all about. (To learn about the history of Apple – the logo, what a dogcow is, and lots of other weird facts, go to TAM (The Apple Museum).
But my husband, a film editor, quickly took to the the Mac. As I write this, I believe there are seven Apple computers under my roof. Add to those three iPhones and three iPods and you have my iHome (and to my thinking) a little bit of iHeaven.
I got fed up with the ancient PCs at my school – they were basically boat anchors with a cord. I instituted an Apple-only computer policy in my classroom as Apples will go the distance. Yes, we’ve got some funky bright blue and green ones donated, but I was able to upgrade the memory on these mules. They hum along even though they’re 100 plus in dog years. There’s no right click-left click in my room – that’s like goose-stepping to my artistic ears.
One of my favorite posts that I read on The Critical Thinker was Apple as a Religion, which was taken from The Varieties of Religious Experience: How Apple Stays Divine. I’d sing in the choir, but those who know me, know that when I sing, dogs howl.
It was only last weekend that I was thinking of writing a post about Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos. I remember thinking that if Steve Jobs HAD died, I’d put his picture on my ofrenda (alter). Then it occurred to me that if Steve Jobs were to die soon, one of my students could play him at the History Wax Museum for Open House. Now, I feel like the person who didn’t forward the chain letter, and so that’s why JFK was shot.
As the news was breaking earlier today, I came across the Gizmodo. Way cool. The ad people encouraged Jobs to do the voice over, but in the commercial that aired, Jobs opted for a voiceover by Richard Dreyfuss, so this is the version that didn’t air.
Steve Jobs was a true visionary, and he sure accomplished a hell of a lot for a guy who didn’t drink coffee.
planetjan 
iSad
http://xkcd.com/961/
And he was younger than my parents. Amazing to see how much of an impact one person can have on the world. He will be missed… as I type on my MacBook.
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I know how you love your Apple products! Steve Jobs was an amazing guy. I was fascinated by his personal story, too, including the fact that his brother-in-law, a writer for The Simpsons, used Jobs’ sister Mona Simpson’s last name for the iconic cartoon family. And Steve Jobs’ didn’t drink coffee? Wow.
My son belongs to the Apple religion. I feel like a heathen and perhaps even a troglodyte. I use a computer every day, but I’m never close to the cutting edge. I owned only one Apple product, the Apple III computer, which was kind of like the boat anchor you described, but for the time (1980) it was pretty whiz-bang. We couldn’t afford a printer. Printers were hugely expensive, yet still crappy. By the time we could afford a printer, our Apple III computer was outdated. http://oldcomputers.net/appleiii.html
Here’s a blog post I wrote about my technology journey.
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I’m a late bloomer to the world of Apple. My boss gave me an iPod Touch as a bonus. I had always resisted the world of handheld electronics, but I had to admit. That thing in genius. Pure genius.
I always droned along in the Windows world thinking that I had to. I had nothing against Macs, but I figured the change would be too much for me.
Then I had to use a Mac at work and I took to it like a fish out of water. An old command line guy, I love the built in Unix.
The GUI on a Mac isn’t perfect, but there are many advantages to Windows, so I made the switch at home and I’ve been very happy with the decision.
I’ve even made a couple purchases on iTunes. Wow. Who knew? 🙂
Even I understand the wave of sentiment that most seem to have for Steve Jobs. His enthusiasm for technology was infectious.
Shout,
Hey, I just bought my first songs on iTunes too. A parent gave an iTunes gift card, no doubt because she thought I was so hip. HAHAHA. I then how to figure out how to download them. Who knew is right!
As the proud parent of an iPhone, I loved the comment in New Scientist on The legacy of Steve Jobs. ‘”Fifty years ago, Arthur C. Clarke wrote: “The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.”‘…..”Take his iPhone. (That’s not Arthur talking anymore.)”The smartphone pushed back the boundaries of the possible for everyone-but it wasn’t just the touchscreen or apps. Before Apple came along, phone signal carriers would dictate the cost, design and features of phones. As a result, smartphones were unimpressive. Instead, Jobs wanted a beautifully designed object with seamless internet and powerful computing.
His clever (and ruthless) negotiations persuaded the carriers to loosen their grip, ushering in a new era of personal gadgets. With the iPhone, one was reminded of Clarke’s suggestion that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” The world has lost a great wizard.'”
BTW, I’m sure I’ve ventured beyond the limits of the possible trying with all of those quotation marks. Jan
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