Even before I knew his name, Steve was influencing my life. As a kid, I was working on Apple IIe computers in elementary school and summer computer camps. In college I worked on some Mac Quadras and some of the unibody Macintosh Classics with handles behind the monitor. At MindSpring I had a PowerMac G1 sitting on my desk beside my Windows 95/98 computer. While I'm a PC guy in my daily life - I've always admired the Mac side of the world. All those PC computers that I used were influenced by Apple Computer and Steve Jobs. Then came MP3 players - I had an Archos Portable Music Player (the geek MP3 player) when the iPod came out 10 years ago - and I instantly knew what I wanted. iTunes changed the way I managed my music, got me started with podcasts and I was hooked. I got the first generation iPod nano so I could ride around on my bike with my music without killing myself. I got the iPhone 3G to replace my generic flip phone and iPod nano and converge them into one device. I have the iPhone 4 and absolutely LOVE it so much I purchased a LifeProof case for it so I could have it with me on my big 2 week cross country train trip and vacation to Alaska. I'm not an Apple fanboy by any means. My life is much easier to manage thanks to my iPhone. I am an Apple Macintosh Certified Technician. I Think Different....
"Here's to the Crazy Ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.
Those words were spoken over top of images of Albert Einstein and Salvador Dali and many others flashing across the screen in the first commercial of the Think Different campaign in the late 90s after Steve came back to Apple Computer. I felt they described me then but today I leave them with you as Steve's own words describing himself.
We will miss you Steve. You changed the world more than any single man has in the past 36 years I have been alive. Thank you!
- S. Alexander Feazell