Steve and me

Photo: Rubenerd

Yesterday Steve Jobs died. 

For some reason this has affected me more than I'd have thought. I didn't know Steve Jobs. But I kind of knew him. If you know what I mean. 


My relationship with Steve started back in 1983, when I first snuck into my high school's fledgling computer room. More of a closet really. Inside, people's faces were illuminated by amber and green glows. The technology was a rag tag mix of 'Poly PCs' (hobby computers built by the local polytechnic), PC clones and a couple of Apple 2es. The longest line was always for the Apple 2es. And it was easy to see why. Castle Wolfenstein was the flavour of the month and the kids thrilled to be chased by sprites shouting 'Halt, SS!' at the tops of their 8-bit lungs.


Whereas the Poly PCs had colour and the Windows clones could be taught tricks, the Apple 2es just worked. And they were cool.


Fast forward a couple of years. I got into gaming and went down the Commodore 64 and Amiga path. Apples didn't have the games so I didn't pay much attention. Occassionally I'd go to my mate's place and fool around on his Apple, mocking it gently as I sat in the high and mighty Amiga world. As I started working, I struggled with clunky desktop PCs running DOS or early generations of Windows. 


The next time I thought about Apple was in 1999. I'd started working for Text 100 PR in Sydney and Apple was my largest client. My 'beats' were K-12, Software and I also looked after some of the design tools. 


On my desk was a brand new candy blue iMac G3 which I hated. It was being forced to run on a PC network and objected. I missed my second mouse button and trust me, there's no pain like running a Windows 95 emulator on a first gen iMac. 


Despite the desktop challenges, I started to warm to Apple the company. While this was certainly pre iPod, iPad and iPhone, they had some very cool kit. I was especially impressed with obsessive fan base and the aura of this guy called Steve Jobs. I remember being transfixed as he had the audience literally in tears during one of the early Macworld 'Stevenotes'. This was the launch of Airport and he wowed the audience by picking up his notebook and walking away from his desk while remaining online. The crowd went wild.


I also recall doing PR for product launches which was a challenge. No one on the client side really knew what they were launching until Steve took the stage at Macworld on the other side of the planet (in the middle of the night Sydney time). So we'd invite the press to 'something', and the executives would sit up all night cramming for the morning's launch.


While this was frustrating, it was unlike any other company I'd worked for. The showmanship was astonishing. And it worked.


Another gap as I moved onto other clients and Apple faded into the background. The next time I crossed paths with Apple was as a consumer. And it was a revelation. I was late to MP3 music players but was happy I waited. The iPod was unlike anything I'd seen before. Elegantly designed and oddly familiar. It just worked. It was like flicking on a switch as I then sought out Apple stuff. iPhones, iPads and AppleTV followed. There's something - to borrow from Steve - magical built into these devices. 


Hard to define but you know when you find it. I bought an HP wi-fi printer a year ago. It took me an hour to configure my home PC (which sat next to it) to talk to it. My iPhone said 'Oh, there's a printer'. And printed.


I've also become fascinated by Steve Jobs the leader. I've devoured Carmine Gallo's The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs and been fascinated by Jay Elliot's The Steve Jobs Way. I obsessively follow Apple through my Podcasts, twitter and blogs. I went on pilgrimages to Apple Stores in San Francisco and New York. A born-again fanboy? You betcha!


This week, the world lost one of our greatest innovators. Thanks for the magic Steve.


-Jeremy

Photo credit: Rubenerd