Steve Jobs

The co-founder of Macintosh died this afternoon.   I was an original MacEvangelista.  When I finally met Guy Kawasaki last year, I asked him why I was one of the originals in the group - and he could not offer a good answer.

During my career I have developed the reputation as a constant Mac Supporter.  For the last decade or so I have probably bought most of the new versions of the newest Apple product.  Every iPhone - sure - on the first day.   Every iPad - yes - all three versions (WIFI and 3g and iPad 2).

Keeping to my tradition, when the new CEO of Apple did his presentation on the iPhone I watched the presentation on the new IOS.  

What has disappointed me about this important event in humanity has been the mundane nature of the coverage.  Two posts on Facebook caught my eye.   My Daughter In Law copied an Ad from Apple that said - Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.  My son, quoting another post simply said iSad.

But as I thought about what was most important to me about this major figure in American enterprise, was a You Tube Video that I have on my iPhone.  It is Steve Jobs commencement address at Stanford in 2005.   Jobs was the modern embodiment of the "bull headed brewer" that Smith celebrated in the Wealth of Nations.

In my opinion Jobs was a contradiction in progress.  He supported those in the political culture that would destroy the very qualities that he celebrated in his 2005 address.  He had a clear idea of what would come next which he could not be persuaded to modify.   For the contributions of new technologies and his unwillingness to compromise, we should thank him.