My Tribute to Steve Jobs

My hubby's Steve Jobs doll.
© shoutingforha

When I heard the news that Steve Jobs lost his battle with cancer last Wednesday, I felt strangely sad. In his short life, Mr. Jobs managed to transform the way I view and use technology more than any other person has or probably ever will. Allow me to explain...

Like most people growing up in the 70's and 80's, I had little access to a computer. My neighbor had an Apple II, and can I remember playing a handful of games that were accessible by inserting one of those big floppy disks.

My dad joined the computer era fairly early on with his purchase of an IBM 5155. He would later upgrade to a Compaq SLT/286. The man had a deep love for DOS, an affection that, to his dismay, I simply did not share.

It required entirely too much brain power for me to remember that in order to make a backup copy of one of my files I would need to type:

BACKUP d:[path][filename] d:[/S][/M][/A][/F:(size)] [/P][/D:date] [/T:time] [/L:[path]filename]

See what I mean? My head hurts just thinking about it. I found that it was much easier for me to plunk away at my typewriter or word processor.

After I got married, the hubby and I bought our first in a long line of PCs. While all of our PCs were infinitely better than my old word processor, I found that using them was a chore. The operating system wasn't intuitive, they came loaded with a bunch of junk that I didn't want and all of the good software was ridiculously expensive. I used our PCs only when it was absolutely necessary.

All of that changed when the hubby bought me the most amazing birthday gift... My first MacBook. I can still remember lifting the gorgeous white MacBook out of it's box. Not only was it aesthetically pleasing and easy to use, best of all, it came loaded with all of the software I could possibly want.

That one purchase instantly changed me from a PC hater into a Mac lover. I happily drank the punch that Steve Jobs was selling and vowed to never buy another PC as long as I lived. I have held steadfast to my promise.

Our family currently owns a staggering twelve Apple products. Between the three of us, we use every single one of them on a near daily basis. They make our lives easier and, without a doubt, a whole lot more fun.

I can honestly say that each time I sit down to send an email, surf the web, write a new blog post, edit one of my 10,000+ pictures, listen to music, chat with someone via FaceTime, open an App, or take goofy pictures with my boy using Photo Booth, I am filled with immense joy. Technology is no longer something I fear or dread using. It has become part of my everyday life.

Steve Jobs made that possible. For that, I am eternally grateful.