Thursday, October 6, 2011

Only the good die young...

In a live concert years ago, where Paul McCartney performed rather dully, one reporter wrote the following day, "I think Chapman shot the wrong Beatle...". I felt the same way at the breaking of the news today. Death took the wrong Steve away... The other Steve who's alive and well is the one who made a mess out of Microsoft the last ten years of his reign. What a difference a man can make.

There will be millions of obituaries written about his Jobness today and in the next few days. Praising him as one of the greatest in the history of man. I've been praising him too in numerous blogsposts, when he was still alive, almost ever since I started this blog. I even believe I started blogging to this sole purpose, to praise Apple and the works of el Jobso! I was so envious of the "Fake Steve" blog then, you see. People almost felt I was family. Two of my best American friends send me late night mails at the breaking of news of his death, with their condolences. It felt kind of peculiar. Of course we were all prepared for the inevitable for years now. Even so, it hurt real bad. The last few days, strange to say, I was wondering about the day he'd pass away. How would that be. I was still in bed when my spouse came in and said in a dry tone: "Jobs's dead". For a moment I felt so weak and helpless that I could't even feel anything. Good thing that I wasn't standing up. "The legend passed away", I sighed. The immortal died. At 56. Having undergone a major cancer operation myself in 2007, I felt deeper what he must have been going through since 2003 when he was first diagnosed with cancer himself. Despite that, he was able to bring a faltering company to the top of the world. If ever a temple was built to the honor of entrepreneurship and creative inspiration, His Jobness must be in the center of that Pantheon. Words are too impotent to express his greatness. His loss will be felt deeply inside most of the 7 billion souls inhabiting the planet today. In a time where political world leaders are so scarce he was just a beacon that gave us hope for a better life. However, I'm sure our human resilience and our ability to eventually improve things, despite the crises we endure, despite disasters that hit us, we shall eventually see the seeds He planted blossom, for the best of everyone. His work will continue to change our lives for ever. May he rest in peace!

I fell in love with Apple in the early eighties. I remember I was queueing in a huge crowd to get the first glimpse of Lisa in a Flanders Technology show in 1985, when only a handful of tech freaks really understood what Apple's icons, windows and mice revolution in user interface with computers meant. A few years later, I bought for the needs of our company the first Machintosh boxes. I remember one full configuration that we used for slide presentations cost us the best part of 15K euros, representing a full year's salary for an average employee in those days. I couldn't afford buying Apple products for my own, but was glad to see our assistants using them and doing things we didn't consider were possible.

Years later, I became a real customer with the next coming of Jobs, and the launch of his colored iMacs. Ever since I became inseparable from all things Apple. I don't believe they ever brought out a product after 2000 that I haven't seen up close and personal or didn't buy myself. I built a whole collection of iPods and still proud of it. My entire family including my kids' friends are on Apple stuff. I even brainwash my closest friends into it. In other words, I am one of those Apple fans (or freaks to some). So be it.

As I am writing this, another good friend, from Geneva this time, just wrote to me:

"Aujourd’hui c’est un jour triste ! j’imagine que tu es comme moi assez sensible au départ de ce Grand Homme… A bientôt my friend"

Like I said, my best friends know how I felt about him and treat me like I was family.

I guess, today, I feel this way. It will be one of these days. I'll remember it clear in my mind, like I remember the death days of my own parents. But like all good Greeks, I can only close this post by saying:

Θα ζει για πάντα...

1 comment:

Bavo De Baere said...

My condolences.
Ipse dixit "I even brainwash my (closest) friends into it."
If you don't mind, i would consider myself as one of them.

And thank you for that!