Steve Jobs was one of the most important people in my life as well as many others. His business partnership with Steve Wozniak moved a cadre of niche products to the forefront of the computer industry by offering something better than the others (at the time.) Later, his return to run that same company made it bigger than its rival competitor (Microsoft) and number two in the country.
My first computer was an Apple II and it was vital in getting me to where I am today. I wrote machine-level code in order to understand the inner workings of a CPU and how it interfaced with memory and other devices. Although the memory-mapped I/O method was completely taken over by Intel's I/O approach, the understanding remained. The Apple II helped me realize that I could make a machine do what it wanted it to do. I had abandoned Apple after I bought an Apple IIe but now I own a Mac and an iPod. Jobs made Apple produce products that mattered to people and did so without stealing ideas.
When Jobs said he'd step down if he could not run the company I knew his days were numbered. I still was surprised to see the news last night. It shows how quickly cancer can cause someone to go downhill quickly. Tuesday's big announcement of the iPhone 4s was quite lame compared to past announcements. Had I known that Jobs was going to pass away the next day I would have seen the announcement in a different light. Tim Cook did a good job considering the circumstances.
I wish the company continued success and I thank Steve Jobs for the job I have now.
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