Steve Jobs, visionary and creative genius, impacted young and old

October 9, 2011
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My 75-year-old grandmother can flip through the pages of holy scriptures on her iPad just as my 7-year-old son can navigate through his iPod and find his favorite game or song with ease.

By Joe Camacho

Apple co-founder and Chairman Steve Jobs died Wednesday in Cupertino, California, after a seven year battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. He was 56.

As millions of articles and editorials were penned in his honor this week, and reactions to his death were absorbed, no one disputed that Jobs was a visionary and a creative genius.

Described as an innovator of the desktop computer, his latest introductions to the iFamily, the iPhone, iPod and iPad have been described by industry experts to have changed the way the world shares and retrieves information.

How will the death of Jobs affect the world? It already has.

The death of Jobs is a new beginning — even he would have said so. In the hours and days following Jobs’ death, the commencement speech he delivered at Stanford University in 2005, was played in clips and in its entirety. The lessons he shares on life and death hold poignancy for us all:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart,” Jobs said in 2005.

Listen to the whole speech.
Read the whole speech.

The world moves on and I think Jobs was aware of and admired that fact.

Jobs’ ingenuity was aimed at making virtual experience just as natural as breathing in the air around you.

Case in point: my 75-year-old grandmother can flip through the pages of holy scriptures on her iPad just as my 7-year-old son can navigate through his iPod and find his favorite game or song with ease.

Jobs’ legacy sets down a foundation for an era of new innovators to build upon. What they will build can only be told in time.

Ray Kurzweil, author of “The Singularity is Near,” describes how close the human race is to being totally integrated with computers. He describes a world where man is no longer man but half-man and half-machine. Some of it may seem a little far fetched but if any man has taken us a step closer to the “singularity,” as Kurzweil calls it, that man would have to be Steve Jobs.

Jobs co-founded Apple inc. in 1976. During his early years with Apple Inc., Jobs was most notable for introducing the world to a mouse driven graphical user interface (GUI).

More recently, Jobs revolutionized the information industry with the introduction of touch-based GUI’s. In June 2011, Jobs introduced the world to the iCloud, a virtual bridge between all Apple devices.

This week Apple Inc. announced the release of the iPhone 4s which adds Sprint to their list of mobile carriers.

Among other endeavours, Jobs was the owner of The Graphics Group in 1986 which later became Pixar.

In 2004, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, though he continued to push on. In 2006, he was appointed to the Walt Disney board of directors. In Aug. 2011 Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple inc.

And Oct. 5 marks his death. Jobs’ family announced that he died peacefully with his loved ones by his side.

“Steve was among the greatest of American innovators — brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world and talented enough to do it,” President Barack Obama said.

About the Author

Joseph Camacho

Joseph Camacho is the Multimedia Editor for The Mesquite. Previously, he served as the Mesquite’s Managing Editor and as a member of A&M-San Antonio’s Student Media Board. He has worked as a camera operator and student intern with NowcastSA.com and freelances as an audio/video engineer for local musicians and documentary filmmakers. He is a 2000 Southside High School graduate, attended Palo Alto College and served as a U.S. Marine. He is the father of two children, ages 3 and 7.