Think Different

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"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

     I remember reading this one book in my childhood. It included stories about famous inventions and discoveries. Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Louis Pasteur, Thomas Edison, Madam Curie & Alexander Bell - a few anecdotes that flashed through my head every time I saw a bulb switch "ON" or witnessed a thunder storm. These men had achieved unquestionable greatness, no doubting that. Over time, I could never appreciate the true efforts of these scientists. These men and women had lived in an era of discovery. Though our limitations were more, the scope of inventions was higher. Unlike today. The modern day isn't purely about inventing anything original. Rather the mantra is innovation. And Steven Paul Jobs played God in this period.
     The next generation might grow up with a whole new range of Apple products without recognizing the image above. I have never appreciated Apple products and will refrain from doing so in the future as well, but my admiration wasn't for swanky white mobile devices or hand-held computers. It was about a balding man in a black long-sleeved mock turtleneck, Levi's 501 blue jeans, and New Balance 991 sneakers on stage. He might have ended up selling a bar of soap with the way he did it. Jobs was a role model for those who had struggled to overcome the failures in life. Reading about him, the ups and downs of his life gave a notion that everyone has multiple chances to make it big. A chance to connect the dots.
     56 years of contribution to the digital age is now a mere wisp of smoke. The Apple legacy will continue to grow based on the efforts of competent engineers, but technology will miss its hungry and foolish prodigal son. Eve bit an apple to bring humans to earth, Jobs has taken it back to where it belongs. Rest in Peace.

Interesting Quotes about/by Steve Jobs:
"I feel like somebody just punched me in the stomach and knocked all my wind out. I'm only 30 years old and I want to have a chance to continue creating things. I know I've got at least one more great computer in me. And Apple is not going to give me a chance to do that."
- On his expulsion from any position of authority at Apple

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me ... Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful... that's what matters to me."
-  On the success of Bill Gates and Microsoft

"I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what's next." 
- Jobs: Iconoclast and salesman" by Brian Williams, at MSNBC

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." 
 - Stanford University Commencement Address

 “You could make the case that Steve has injected so much of his DNA into Apple that Apple will continue, Or you can make the case that without Steve, Apple will flounder. But you cannot make the case that Apple without Steve Jobs will be better. Hard to conceive of that.”
- Guy Kawasaki, Apple executive in the late 1980s

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