I have never been a fan of Apple products.  I think they are overpriced for what they are and what they do.  They are also, in my opinion, high quality products.  Not worth the retail prices charged, but still high quality merchandise.  And so I mourn the loss of Steve Jobs.

 

If there was ever an entrepreneur with big shoes to fill, it was Steve Jobs.  His legacy is an expansive thing.  With the help of his friend, Steve Wozniak, he cobbled together some printed circuit boards and dubbed it the Apple I.  Two hundred were made, and the pair of Steves moved on to the Apple II.  In short order, Apple Computers was founded and became a big part of the fledgling home computer industry.

 

Mr. Job’s bigger legacy, I think, was in the marketing of Apple products.  When Apple entered the field, there were already several established contenders, including the formidable (if aging) IBM.  IBM–as their spelled out name implies–focused more, as they traditionally had, on business customers.  Mr. Jobs aimed at the average consumer, and he did it in what I feel is a clever way:  He sold his computers to schools.  Kids would go to school, use an Apple, and come home wanting to use the same.

 

But it goes beyond that.  While Apple certainly has a good marketing department, Steve Jobs was always the figurehead who symbolized the company.  I can’t say how he did it, but he glamorized Apple products in a way which generated legions of fans.  Almost anything Jobs has touched turned to gold.

 

Take, for example, the tablet PC.  Microsoft introduced the concept in 2001.  Several computers were made with this format, but none achieved much in the way of popularity.  In 2010, Apple–with Steve Jobs’ active promotion–released the iPad.  Suddenly, tablets were popular.  Mostly the iPad, but the format suddenly gained much more prominence.  Enough prominence that Microsoft has announced the next version of Windows will be geared towards tablet PCs and similar devices.

 

This, in my opinion, defines Steve Jobs’ legacy.  Taking something, making it great, and marketing it in a magical way.  He was part Albert Einstein, part Harry Potter, part Howard Hughes and part P.T. Barnum, all in one amazing person.  He was technical enough to understand and help invent the products he promoted, savvy enough to do that promotion, and motivational enough to get the Apple workforce to work long hours without losing much morale.  Filling his shoes will be a monumental undertaking for Apple.  I wish them the best of luck, and bid a fond farewell to one of technology’s greatest achievers.  Rest in peace, Steve Jobs.