Thanks Steve - My Personal Tribute to Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs, who was the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Apple, was a brilliant entrepreneur, rightly recognised as a pioneer of the personal computer revolution.  He oversaw the development of the iMac, iTunes, iPod, iPhone and iPad, as well as the company's Apple Retail Stores, iTunes Store and App Store.  He had an uncanny knack of bringing a product to market that a consumer could be convinced was totally unnecessary, until purchased when the same buyer would wonder how it was possible to live without it!  That was certainly my experience with the iPad.  I remember watching the news coverage of Steve Jobs launching the original iPad, when he said:

"iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price.  iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before."

The lizard brain in me triggered a natural resistance to change from my trusted netbook for something that didn't have a keyboard and commands were entered by touching the screen - how unnatural!  Well although I didn't succumb to owning an original iPad, I did buy an iPad2 and I've never looked back.  Ironically, when I use my current notebook (also  Apple), which has a keyboard, on occasions I find myself inadvertently touching the screen and expecting a response!

I have been involved with computers from the punched card, mainframe days, when something with the processing power of an iPad would be housed in several rooms!  So I like to think of myself as being computer literate.  On the other hand, my mother-in-law, who is 82 years of age, has through the majority of her very active and diverse life, not been seduced by bits and bytes.  She is a very intelligent lady with a wide range of interests that include wild life, sports, history and politics and although her husband has long since found benefit in using computers for Internet surfing, online banking and shopping, etc, she has never found the need to follow suit.  At least that was the case until her daughter, my wife, recently bought her a shiny new iPad!  She took to it like a duck to water and very rapidly it made a real difference to her life.  She now has a vast amount of information on her favourite subjects available to her, as well as various means of communication with her family and friends.  That's thanks to Steve Jobs.

I know the change to my mother-in-law's life is not unique.  Steve Job's innovative and entrepreneurial talent has, in my opinion, made complex and powerful computer technology extremely simple to operate, so users can concentrate on what they want the computer to do for them, rather than what's going on inside.  This has made a real difference to millions of people's lives.  Now some might think it is wrong to pour praise on just one individual for the personal computer revolution.  Well in my mind it's not wrong to do that, because I think Steve Jobs' contribution was second to none.

Thanks Steve.