Me and Steve Jobs

Apple's Homepage on the announcement of Steve Jobs death

I cried (and still having a few burst of tears since yesterday).

The news of Steve Jobs passing away was not a shock to me but more on regret because it was too soon for him to die at 56. But seeing him present his “Stevenotes” with a drastic change of his physique somehow tells me he is really sick and he is fighting and surviving it.

But actually I was in denial. And in fear.

Denial because I don’t want him to go. I’m worried of what will Apple become when he’s not the CEO anymore. I fear for him and for his family and friends that he’ll be leaving behind.

I am affected by Steve Jobs.

He is the only stranger that I shed my tears this much (up till now while I’m writing this) second to but more than the time when Pope John Paul II died. He’s not my father, not my uncle, not even a friend nor a neighbor. He is far from where I live and where I am. I’ve never met him. But he’s one of the famous and remarkable people I dream to meet but for sure I’ll be tongue-tied and star struck if that did happen. I’m not even close to his fans that know his story, his achievements and waiting in the wee hours of the day just to watch him present the new innovations of Apple. But I’ll say it again, I am affected.

I tried to keep the emotion since yesterday. I was trying to keep it to myself. I was late in going to work. A colleague was brave enough to raise that we were strangely quiet almost the whole day in the office. I tried to work normally but it was really tough.

But the show must go on.

Wired.com homepage on the announcement of his passing

While I was on my way home last night, I was pondering why my reaction to his death was like this. It could be because I have lived more than half my life away from my family and lived by myself. There has always at least an Apple device with me after college. My work has always been in the field of arts and design. I’ve set my hands on the “candy” iMac to its present, really powerful and beautifully designed version. I’ve saved up to have my first and own personal Mac which was the TiBook and now I’m writing this with the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro. I bought the very first iPod Mini a couple of years after I had my TiBook and it took years for that iPod to be replaced by a blue 3rd Gen Nano as a Christmas present. I am not well off. I just have enough to support myself and I get by every paycheck. But as a designer, Apple is my Louis Vuitton. (I had to give credit to Mommy Ria, my colleague and friend for saying that yesterday.)

So you see, Apple has always been beside me and with me everyday: from the moment I wake up, I listen to the radio through iRadio attached to Bluwee, the blue 3rd Gen Nano. I read quick news via Twitter and see what’s new with my friends through Facebook with Sparkee, my MBP. I go to work, answer emails, create and submit designs with the assigned iMac to me. Then I go home and again write or read blogs, check if there’s something interesting to pin from Pinterest or watch a movie or TV series online.

Boring to some, but that’s my life. Simple but it has Apple. I know that there are innovators and other geniuses that worked with Steve Jobs as these people are blabbing, that too much credit is being given to him. Well, he just had led a fallen company back up that’s just one. He just innovated personal computers. He just revolutionized portable devices. He just changed how people can listen to music, use their mobile phones, use the net while on the go and document their lives. He just opened up a new industry and new businesses when Apple came out with the MacBooks, iPod, iPhone and iPad. He just eased some of our daily lives and live it in style. I will not deny that owning an Apple device is like a badge of achievement to me. It’s an honor. (And a bragging factor, of course)

Even if I missed my chance of meeting and shaking Steve Jobs hand, I feel everyday he is with me. Each morning I’m listening to him and day after day, I’m working with him. Steve Jobs will not be forgotten. Steve Jobs will be remembered.

Steve Jobs leans against his wife, Laurene Powell Jobs (Image by Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle/Corbis)

As I write this, like to anyone we love who’ve left us and went ahead, we have to say goodbye or do something as closure. Steve Jobs has contributed a lot and made his point. He fought for what he believed in. He fought his disease and survived the first battle. And I believe he fought hard. He too gets tired like anyone of us. And now it’s time for him to rest.

 

To Steve Jobs…

Sir,

Wherever you are, whether you’re on the (i)Cloud or somewhere else, up until now I don’t know what to say. They’ve said a lot already to you and to honor and remember you. You know what you’ve done because you believed it can be done. You believe that anything can be made great. Thank you for giving and sharing to us what you’ve believed in. Thank you for making our lives now easier and yes, cooler thanks to your Apple devices. I’ll definitely miss the “Stevenotes”, the only presentation that’s exciting to watch and not boring. Thank you for making the child in us laugh and cry with your Pixar movies. There will be no replacement of you, Sir. But it’s time for you to rest.

Farewell, Sir. Thank you for thinking differently. 

Image by weird-science (from Deviantart)