Steve Jobs Resigns

Steve Jobs has stepped down as CEO of Apple.

I’m not a fan of most of the popular Apple products.  That being said, the impact of Apple on the world is undeniable.  I may not like the iPhone, but Apple made user experience matter with it.  I may not like MacOS, but it taught everyone else a lot about a seamless personal computer experience.  The iPad may go down in history as the start of the post-PC era.  Yes, every industry that competes with Apple products has been forced to adapt, to be better because of Apple, and to many Steve Jobs is Apple.   Steve Jobs is unquestionably one of the great innovators of our time.

What I admire most about Steve Jobs, as I understand him from years of interviews, is his ability to form a meaningful vision and his subsequent dedication to that vision.  He never thought Macs would outsell PCs, he made a specific boutique appliance for a specific kind of customer.  In my opinion today’s marketplace in all industries gives us far too many offerings that have been watered down to be appealing to as many people as possible.  Meanwhile, if you want a certain kind of product and are willing to pay more for it, you may often just be out of luck.  Even more important, you likely never knew you wanted something like an iPhone.  However, the iPhone was developed along the lines of a very specific vision and quite a few people had to have it as soon as they saw it.  I wish there were options for more expensive but oh-so-worth-it in more areas.

Another thing that I must note about this announcement is how this feels compared to Bill Gates' retirement.  Bill Gates quit to go be a full time philanthropist/altruist.  That’s his right of course however I know I’m not alone in thinking that Bill quit during his prime when he surely had a lot more to give.  Bill Gates was also one of the great innovators of our time.  I’m left thinking that Bill Gates decided enough was enough, while Steve Jobs seemed to intend to keep going until he couldn’t do it anymore.  If the rumors about his health have any truth, it sounds like he can’t go anymore.

As I write this post on the PC running Windows 7 that you’ll pry from my cold, dead hands, I can’t help but feel a little sense of loss as a True Giant bows out.