ONLY weeks ago I wrote some of my thoughts on Steve Jobs stepping away from Apple, his health forcing him to the sidelines.
I had hoped that it was to spend time with his family but in fact it was the final act in his life.
Such a life it was. He was an intensely private man and I do not have a feel for who he was at home or with his friends, but as a public figure he had an effect on the entire world - an effect that in my opinion was mostly positive.
I, like many others, feel a close connection with Jobs, and the company he built, Apple. The reason is as simple as it is profound. The computers and technology he put in our hands have become a part of us.
Why don't I feel that way about the company that gave me my car? Or the furnace that heats my home? Or the coffee machine that brews my daily cup of java?
It is because we use our computers to communicate, they become part of our creative process. Our communications with friends, family, co-workers, clients all are enabled by computers.
Our most private moments are shared with and through our computers, photos of babies and weddings and graduations and parents that are no longer with us live on our computer.
We discovered capabilities we did not know we had, our computer empowered us early in our careers, and became the tool that lifted us to success.
Sure, most of those things happen on all computers, but the Mac always had a more human touch, the emphasis on interface that Jobs made a corporate mantra gave us a different relationship with our computer and this connection became a reality.
The vision of Steve Jobs, his eye for design, his passion for making it perfect and most of all his leadership have made him a generational figure.
Many of the tributes and posts following his death have likened Jobs to Leonardo Da Vinci, or to Thomas Edison, or to Henry Ford, but I don't see it that way. Each of those figures had a transient skill set, unique and game changing.
That similarity is shared, but just as we don't compare Da Vinci to others, he stands on his own, so should Steve Jobs.
The magic behind the man was his unfailing ego, not in the negative sense, but in the way he trusted his instincts, his eye. His taste for products set the standard no other company has yet met. When that is melded with a new brand of leadership, where he managed to get very talented people on the same page as him, with the whole train moving in the same direction you have the makings of the force of nature that was Steve Jobs.
I know that this column simply adds to the canonization of Saint Steve, and that is not really my intent. He had flaws, his treatment of others left much to be desired, he made mistakes and I find it very sad that he was quoted as saying he authorized a biography so that his kids would understand why he was not around much.
But the fact remains that my career and many others would not have happened if Apple had not become the pop culture company it became. The fact is it polarised people, made tech interesting, allowing people like me to come in and make a living talking about it.
I will miss Steve Jobs.
Steve Dotto is host of Dotto Tech, Wednesdays at 6 p.m. on AM 650. Visit him online at www.dottotech.com or at www. facebook.com/dottotech.
