There is much to be said about the life and death of Steve Jobs. I will leave most of it to Apple’s many fans. A lthough I have used Apple products since 1983 on and off and have always recognized Steve Jobs as a tech visionary, it has only been in the last few years that I have really started to pay more attention to him.
To be honest, I first started to think more about him because he was fighting the same battle one of my best friends had fought. Last night, like my friend before him, Steve Jobs lost that battle.
But what I had watched over the past few years, with growing respect, was how Steve managed to preserve himself and his privacy through it all, deciding what he was willing to share publicly and what he would not share. Steve, like my friend, was open about work but his private life remained private and he guarded it well.
In the face of increasing pressure to share, share, share, Steve knew what I wish more people knew: that there’s a part of our lives that we owe to no one and that we can assert and protect. Mark Zuckerberg has always been wrong in his vision on this. Steve Jobs had it right in the way he lived his life and managed to resist public pressure and curiosity.
Farewell, Steve. When people think of you, I hope they remember the role model you have been in privacy as well as your technological genius.