apple

My dad worked for Apple for most of my early childhood. My oldest memories usually involve me playing with some of the original Apple PCs that my dad would bring home. As my sister Annalise put it, we learned how to type on a mac before we learned how to write. I was saddened with the news of Steve Job's death this morning. My friend Nick a few rooms down woke me this morning up screaming what had happened. The following is what my dad had to say about it:

Steve Jobs; visionary, revolutionary and driving force to create "Insanely Great" products. At Apple he exposed us to the finest things ever produced in order to inspire us to achieve things that went beyond just functional. Working at Apple during the first Jobs era early in my career drastically elevated my personal and professional standards of excellence. Well done Steve.

I later asked my dad what it was like to interact with Steve when they met on multiple occasions:

Yes, the impression he left on me was that he was a man who was determined and was a man of action. Talking with him or interacting with him was intense. He knew what he wanted and only spent enough time with you so you could get on board with him. Steve was probably different with friends but with those who worked for him he was all business and didn't waste any time with things that didn't matter.

It was as if he didn't think he had enough time in his life to do everything so he concentrated on the things most important to him. He did die young, but not that young. However he did seem to live like every day might be his last. I guess intensity was the general impression he left on me. I was 28 or so when I joined Apple and not very mature so I enjoyed Apple for all the good times it provided. Steve was 21 when he started Apple I think and I believe he matured very early. Kind of skipped his late teens and all of his 20's and went right into his 30's.