I never realized how much someone that I did not know could have an impact on my life. My love for computers started way back in 1982 or so and it was because of Steve Jobs’ Apple II that caused it. I had no idea who he was at the time, I just knew I loved this new box that I had started to play with. I used to spend my lunches in the library just so I could spend some time near it. I moved to a different school and found that the one Apple they had was treated like it was gold and you had to be “on the list” to get to be near it…new school = “not on the list”. Luckily I was only there for half of a school year. I went to high school and everyone was basically new and I showed an interest in the couple of computers we had in school and took a BASIC programming course and got in good with the librarian, the key holder for one of the Apple IIe computers we had and spent the next 4 years harnessing the love for computers I would eventually use to make a living. Now, 25 years later, I actually write in a language very similar to the one I learned way back then and make a fairly decent living at it, all thanks to a computer Steve Jobs created. I am not an Iphone/Ipod Touch user, but I know awesome when I see it, the designs for all Apple products have been nothing short of amazing, their Air laptop is just absolutely amazing, their OS is very user friendly and affordable, they just seem to get it, when so many others just seem to miss the boat.
Thank you, Steve Jobs, for being one of the most influential people on the planet during my lifetime!