Forgetting Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs died of pancreatic cancer and respiratory arrest on Oct. 5, 2011 — a day after Apple launched the iPhone 4S and introduced the world to Siri. Monday, was the fourth anniversary of Steve's death and I completely forgot. This may not bother most people, but I'm more than a casual Apple fan.

I  the books, follow the websites, and wear my Daring Fireball t-shirt with pride. I collect old Apple stuff, like the 25-year old Apple Extended II keyboard I'm typing on right now, and I lust after the their latest technology. I rely on my Macbook Pro for heavy lifting. I have twenty applications and 32 Safari tabs open, and despite pushing 5,184,000 pixels it never stutters. I love my ipad. Last weekend I made a book on my iPad with my five and seven year old. Our thirty-five year age difference didn't matter. It's just a matter of time before the iPad replaces my Macbook Pro.

My iPhone is my primary computer. It plays music before I go to bed, backs itself up in my sleep, wakes me in the morning, and does more things than I can list during the day. My Apple Watch reminds me of what's possible. Unlike my iPhone, I could live without it, but I'd prefer not to. I like getting notifications, messages, news, and directions on my wrist. Paying for groceries by waving your wrist in front of a scanner is magical. What the Watch can do is going to change drastically. The first iPhone had only Apple apps, a 412 MHz processor, no video recording, no FaceTime, no Touch ID, no Siri, no GPS, and was $499 for the 4GB model. Things change.

Despite using the devices he designed all day, and seeing his quotes taped across my office walls, Steve Jobs never crossed my mind on Monday. Just like I take technology for granted, I also take the innovators behind it for granted. Steve Jobs was a person, and once a year it's worth remembering how he still impacts all of our lives.

Tim Cook shared his feelings in an email to Apple employees on Monday:

"Team,

Today marks four years since Steve passed away. On that day, the world lost a visionary. We at Apple lost a leader, a mentor, and many of us lost a dear friend.

Steve was a brilliant person, and his priorities were very simple. He loved his family above all, he loved Apple, and he loved the people with whom he worked so closely and achieved so much.

Each year since his passing, I have reminded everyone in the Apple community that we share the privilege and responsibility of continuing the work Steve loved so much.

What is his legacy? I see it all around us: An incredible team that embodies his spirit of innovation and creativity. The greatest products on earth, beloved by customers and empowering hundreds of millions of people around the world. Soaring achievements in technology and architecture. Experiences of surprise and delight. A company that only he could have built. A company with an intense determination to change the world for the better.

And, of course, the joy he brought his loved ones.

He told me several times in his final years that he hoped to live long enough to see some of the milestones in his children’s lives. I was in his office over the summer with Laurene and their youngest daughter. Messages and drawings from his kids to their father are still there on Steve’s whiteboard.

If you never knew Steve, you probably work with someone who did or who was here when he led Apple. Please stop one of us today and ask what he was really like. Several of us have posted our personal remembrances on AppleWeb, and I encourage you to read them.

Thank you for honoring Steve by continuing the work he started, and for remembering both who he was and what he stood for.

Tim"

I set a reminder so I won't forget next year. Steve Jobs isn't just continuing to make my life better, he is enriching my kid's lives. For this alone, I am eternally grateful.