I can’t remember exactly how old I was when my dad brought home the first computer I would ever use, a Mac Classic I believe, for summer from the high school where he worked. My first memory of using a computer was playing the black and white version of The Oregon Trail. Fast forward a few years and I was in school, always the first to finish my classwork so I could play Word Munchers or Number Munchers on the Apple IIe we had. I was already hooked. For the rest of my life, computers would be one of my biggest passions. I convinced my parents to get our first home computer (a lowly Performa 475) and then later to upgrade (a Performa 630). I had a subscription to MacWorld and MacAddict. I was a member of Guy Kawasaki’s Evangelist mailing list. For my 17th birthday I asked for (and got) a copy of MacOS 8 for our home computer. Even in those dark years when you were away from the company, I was an Apple fan. Thanks for coming back by the way, it got SO MUCH BETTER!
My passion followed me to college, where I had MY first Mac, a PowerMacintosh G3 tower. I even had a couple Apple posters on the walls in my dorm room. Two years later when my brother went to college he got my G3 and I upgraded to a shiny new G4 tower. From there it kept going. A G4 iMac, a G5 iMac, and my current iMac a Core2 Duo machine. I’ve owned every model of iPhone since the first one, and I use my iPad more than my desktop computer. I’ve followed the keynotes, watched the videos, and truly enjoyed using your products, so many of them ground breaking, over the years.
But I think my favorite moment relating to Apple technology happened just this summer. Earlier this spring my nephew was born, the first in a new generation of our family. He and his parents were living in Chicago at the time so it was hard for the whole family to get to see him in person, especially my elderly grandparents, whose health isn’t what it used to be. While visiting them in California this summer, someone, I can’t recall who, remarked that it was too bad we didn’t have a fast enough computer or internet connection (they still only have dial up!) to do a video chat so they could see and interact with their great grandson for the first time in something other than pictures. At that moment it hit me, we DID have a way to do it. I had my iPhone 4, and a healthy 3G connection at their house! We made the arrangements and one afternoon we got Grandma and Grandpa together in the kitchen together, made the call and then I handed them my iPhone. It was, as you would say, a truly magical moment. The joy on their faces as they saw their great grandson in action for the first time, as they talked to him, listened to him make those cute noises babies make, and saw him moving around, it was like the weight of their age lifted off their shoulders for those few minutes.
So for inspiring me to a life of passion about computers I thank you, but my biggest thanks is for helping to enable moments like the ones my grandparents were able to share with my nephew. That story and millions of others like it are the legacy you have left behind. Today we lost a true visionary, your family lost a loved one, and we all mourn for that loss, but we also celebrate the creations you have helped usher in that have changed and enriched our lives. I regret that I never had the opportunity to meet you, but even without that personal connection you have touched my life and so many others. Thank you Steve. Rest in peace.
Wonderful tribute, thanks David.
I bumped yours back 5 minutes so it’d be above mine. 🙂
P.S. I tried to find a photo of your referenced freshman dorm Apple posters. I’m sure I have one somewhere, but a quick browse through my pics turned up nothing.
I did find this and this and this, though. Why I’ve never thought to post them on the blog when USC plays Washington, is one of life’s great mysteries… 😉
This post explains a lot, actually. It’s clear to see how and why David’s Apple fanboi-ness runs so deep; arguing about Apple with David makes about as much sense as arguing with him about Catholicism. Both are so intrinsic to his identity, he can’t have an objective discussion about either topic.
Really? You decide the the best way to respond to a personal tribute is to make a personal attack on me? You are a real piece of work.
Interestingly enough, people who know me feel the exact opposite, that I am actually very good about discussing both religion and technology, including my co-workers here at Microsoft. The idea that someone can’t be reasonable when discussing something they are passionate or care about would seem to imply that one should never take you seriously when discussing politics or USC football then right? I am more than willing to be critical of both the Catholic church AND Apple. I can provide examples of both of course but I doubt that would satisfy you. No I fear that you wouldn’t consider my criticism harsh enough to merit being “objective” or “fair”. Truth is one of the reasons someone might not agree with all your criticism of something Andrew is because they are right and you are wrong. Just because I don’t slam Apple at every turn doesn’t make me incapable of being fair and critical about them, it just means I think that more often than not the criticism is unwarranted. The idea that in order to be “fair” you have to mix equal amounts of criticism and praise is idiotic. I criticize Apple when I think they are wrong, I just don’t think it happens alot. In your mind that apparently makes me a “fanboy”, whatever.
BTW by using the term “fanboy” you pretty much have forfeited any right to be taken seriously. Fanboy is a derogatory term used by people who wish to dismiss those whose opinions disagree with them about something and not actually have to debate on the merits. Casting someone as a fanboy is the cowards way out. Man up and have a real debate sometime without casting aspersions at those who hold differing opinions from you. Yes we all have moments of emotion when we do that, but you seem to have a habit of making it your modus operendi. But hey if you want to have an honest, serious debate about Catholicism or Apple or Husky football or what not, bring it on, i’d be glad to participate. If you want to simply cast aspersions then I have no time for you.
Those people who know you and feel the opposite clearly don’t participate on this blog, where there is zero evidence that I can recall or now find when searching the archives that you’re able to discuss either topic objectively. Be that as it may, I’ll take your word for it. I was simply making an observation, not a personal attack, though I understand that the term “fanboi” has a derogatory connotation (it wouldn’t be much fun using that term if it didn’t).
If we judge people based on this blog only then everyone would consider you to be an arrogant asshole who gets his kicks from going around and insulting people who disagree with him. Brendan continues to assure me that in person you have some redeeming qualities. Yet you seem to delight in the suffering of others, in treating them poorly for no other reason than you enjoy it. If you ask me thats kind of sad. Why not treat people with decency and respect? Like I said we all slip up, i’m as guilty as anyone of letting my emotions get the better of me, but the difference between you and me is that I regret it and I don’t do it over and over again to enjoy it. Given the original content of this post, about a man who is died, I’ll leave you with this. Would you rather, at the end of your life be remembered as someone who went out of their way to make people’s lives better or worse?
What’s the point of asking a question that has an obvious answer?
I don’t see how I am treating you poorly by recognizing that your Apple fanaticism and Catholicism play a strong role in your identity and shade your ability to communicate objectively and dispassionately about either of those subjects. For many years on this blog, when discussing Apple / Mac issues specifically, I could not understand why you seemed to take criticism of Apple almost personally. My original comment was simply to say, now I understand. It was just an observation, with no implied judgment (whether you are pro-Mac or anti-Mac, pro-Catholic or anti-Catholic, has zero bearing on your esteem in my eyes), except to playfully tweak you with the “fanboi” term, your reaction against which simply illustrated my original point.
As is often the case, I feel the two of you are currently bringing out the worst in each other.
Andrew, you had to know that that comment would rile David up; it’s deliberately inflammatory, as you admit in comment 7. And David, you do have a tendency to take everything Andrew says in the worst possible way — for example, objecting to Andrew’s generally pro-Steve-Jobs comment on Brendan’s RIP post as taking “a cheap political shot” when there was no political shot in his post at all.
Brendan used to spend a lot of effort calling you each out on these things, and trying to get you to play nice. I suspect that he now directs that energy towards his daughters, and sees more of an actual impact from it. This may be only my opinion (I doubt it, though it’s certainly possible), but this sniping at each other doesn’t really make either of you look good. And as much as I’d like to believe I evaluate what someone says solely on the merit of the argument itself, even I’m not robotic enough to completely separate my opinion of the author from my opinion of the argument.
This could just be an aberration. I’ve not been spending as much time reading through the comments on the blog as I used to, so I could be reacting out of context. But, at the same time, there are reasons why I started spending less time reading through the comments, and not all of them have to do with being busy.
No political shot in his post? Really?
“Nevertheless, Jobs is perhaps the perfect embodiment of the capitalist notion that wealth is created, and his example strikes a near-mortal blow to the more mercantilist or socialist view that wealth is stolen or otherwise unfairly, unjustly, or unequitably hoarded by the rich.”
I’m more than happy to treat Andrew with respect but when he goes out of his way to insult me, as he does here completely unprovoked I’m going to call him on it. He admits here and elsewhere that he intentionally insults and provokes others, myself in particular, and in fact has said he enjoys doing so. I find that to be rather twisted.
The solution is simple, all Andrew has to do is not act like an asshole and there won’t be a problem. In the words of Will Smith from the seminal classic Men In Black “don’t start nothing, won’t BE nothing!”
When the sign says, “Don’t put your finger in the cage”, “Don’t tap the glass,” or “Don’t feed the birds”, what can I say — I always want to see how long I can stick my finger in the cage before the parrot snaps at it, tap on the fish tank and spook the fish, and cause a frenzy by tossing crumbs to the birds. I just stirring up a bit of chaos and havoc for fun, I guess, and David provides a target-rich environment. At the end of the day, I consider such relatively harmless fun, even if it is immature and unnecessary, and I’m not going to beat myself up because David is so hypersensitive and reacts so strongly to words like “fanboi” — especially when I intended the rest of my comment as a completely neutral observation and not a personal dig.
Like I said, you are an arrogant asshole who doesn’t give a shit about how other people feel. I remain mystified how an all around decent guy like Brendan considers a scum bag like you a worthwhile person to have in his life. Fuck you Andrew. If this weren’t Brendan’s blog I’d delete every comment you made on this post.
And yes I could avoid it by not responding to your comments but screw that, people need to stand up to bullies like you and call you out. To often we look the other way in life and let those who revel in the suffering of others get away with it because its too much trouble to stand up and call them out for what they are. I’m not going to do that, i’m going to call you exactly what you are, a bully.
I’ve tried to be civil to you, i’ve tried to put past differences behind us, tried to appreciate common ground we share, but you just throw it back in my face because apparently to you I’m not a real human being, i’m just a name on a screen so what do you care if you insult me. Good lord I hope you treat people you know in real life better at least, but thats still no excuse for being an asshole online. And who knows, maybe you are this insufferable to people you meet in person too. All I know is its pathetic.
AML: “fanboi”, “hypersensitive”
David K: “arrogant asshole”, “doesn’t give a shit”, “scum bag”, “fuck you”, “bully”, “insufferable”
One of these is not like the other.
Get a hold of yourself, David. If there was a way to do this via the internet, I’d send you a beer or shot post-haste — sounds like you could use a drink pretty badly!
Um no Andrew, one of these things is a reaction to putting up with your shit. Treat people well and you will be treated well. Treat them poorly and don’t complain when they stand up for themselves and call you out for being what you are.
At the risk of further provoking the Wrath of the Davidkian, would one not have to agree that it is accurate that the unfortunate demise of Steve is simply another example of Jobs lost under the Obama Administration ?