Isao Kato on Steve Jobs

When Steve Jobs passed away, I was taken by surprise just like everybody. One reason was because it was too quick—we knew it would happen, but we assumed he would make it until the Christmas season, when his autobiography would be published. But the bigger reason was because I was genuinely sad.

I used to think Steve Jobs was just an eccentric genius with bottomless source of episodes and quotes. (For example, his commencementspeech at Stanford University is an article composed entirely by quotable sentences.) But that day, I felt sadness and emptiness that were comparable to the loss of a family member. I knew this because I went through the same emotional cycle when my family dog died a couple days later. Judging from the reactions on the Net, I was just one of the millions who had the same feeling; I was lonely but I wasn’t alone.

Everybody on the Net mentioned two things regardless of his status, opinion, or background—“Thank you”, and “Miss you”. The feeling of loss was so strong among us; it was almost physical, as if we were collectively trying to scratch an itchy part of our back that doesn’t exist.

It all made sense when I widened my view and saw the platform on which I was reading the news, writing comments, watching videos—a Mac. We have been interacting with embodiments of his vision, therefore, himself. No wonder his loss was personal and physical to all of us.BarackObamasstatement also summarized this point.

The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.

The personal computer as we know is an offspring of Steve Jobs and his team from the 70s. With millions of Apple products sold each year, more people are getting closer with his vision, therefore himself. Therefore, Steve Jobs has been part of our lives, all along. He was a father figure we didn’t know we had, therefore didn’t appreciate enough—except when he came around Christmas seasons with gifts we didn’t know we wanted: iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad. (Well, if he were real, I might have hated him for my life. But let’s indulge in a sweet dream a bit more.)

And now I see why few people talked about what people talk about when a great CEO passes away: Is Apple over? Instead, I read people talking about buying the just-announced iPhone 4S even if they were perfectly happy with their older phones and had mixed feelings against the same old external design. (Sure, one week after the announcement, theiPhone 4Spostedarecordamount of presales in its first 24 hours.) It was as if people had decided to carry his torch, using their own cash to keep it burning.

He may not have cared about other people in the way they wanted. He might have turned his back toward us, but it’s because he stood strong and kept walking ahead of us to pave the road. After all, that’s what we all want from our dad.

So I am back to where I am, waking up at the wee hour and typing on his child, Macbook Pro, as I watch the sky brightens up. Thank you, Steve.

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