Steve Jobs R.I.P. An Icon Passes Away

Steve Jobs is no more. RIP, Steve Jobs.

I am saying this out of awe and admiration for an icon of multi-culturalism, a harbinger of technology. As I tweeted recently "high-technology has made products cheaper but it hasn't ensured customer satisfaction." I think Apple products ensured some levels of customer satisfaction, that's why they are so expensive. I have salivated about an iPod, iPhone, iPad, Mac, but haven't got even one (not yet). Meanwhile, keep salivating, jealous man. All I have are Korean, Finnish, Google, and Microsoft products. Hm. I know somethings are never fated for me.

The whole thingamajig of technology has been deeply understood by one man. Steve Jobs. That's why he made Apple into a giant whose income is more than that of the total income of the U.S.A. Like any true entrepreneur, he has also created jobs throughout the world. This achievement from a man of mixed parentage, who has Caucasian and Arab blood is something fascinating. I have heard that the U.S.A. is a land of immigrants and like the present President Barack Obama Steve was multi-cultural. Therein lies the country's strength.

While I am still mourning the death of my father-in-law, I also mourn the passing away of Steve Jobs. Years ago when I was editor of Ambit (the magazine of the Bombay Management Association) I had written an editorial about Steve Jobs. I don't know if anyone remembers that editorial, or, if there's a copy available anywhere. At that time Steve was this handsome and intellectual-looking youth, a little older than me (I won't state how little!) and was in the prime of his entrepreneurial venture which he started with meagre investment. Recent pictures of him showed him as rather old and prematurely wrinkled. It is said that he disliked buttons. That's the reason he wore turtlenecks. No buttons. That's also the reason iPhone doesn't have buttons but touch technology. Today, in death he has become much more than an icon, worthy of a Nobel, no less.

So, let's sit back and think about where technology has led us. As someone said, "If somebody had told me about the iPad in 1984 I wouldn't have understood what he meant." As a person who did his writing during that time on an old portable remington typewriter, I can feel the difference between that old contraption and latest core2duo computer I am using with high-speed internet. Technology has advanced so far and it will advance further. iPads may even display live television feeds and movies on demand.

But where will all this end? Is it the end of the world as we know it?

Nothing more to add than Steve Jobs R.I.P.

I am @johnwriter on Twitter and John.Matthew on Facebook. I blog here.