Steve Jobs passed away a few days ago at the age of 56. I abhor and am immune to idol worship so originally, I don’t really care. In most cases, I ignore the comments and the outpour of grief. I didn’t care when Michael Jackson or Elizabeth Taylor died so what’s the big deal, really? And I certainly agreed with the part that says – “One die, Thousand cry. Thousands die, no one cry.” on Robert’s blog post.
On Twitter, I put “Steve Jobs” into the exclusions on Twitterfall so I can be spared of the “echo chamber” – i.e. the ‘1 tweet repeated a gazillion times’ phenomenon. On Facebook, I began to appreciate the new Facebook improvements because it automatically lumps posts with similar content together and so Steve Jobs related posts won’t flood my entire page and pushed my friends’ updates off the screen.
Even though I try to isolate myself from this, some comments did get through and they reminded me why I really detest Apple fanbois. I had originally refrained from writing anything, but after a long struggle I gave in to my urge because I have to respond to comments I completely disagree with. For e.g.:
Steve Jobs will always be a bigger man than Bill Gates can ever be.
Interesting. I read that Steve Jobs refused to participate in ‘The Giving Pledge’ to give the majority of their wealth to philanthropy. He also shut down all of Apple’s corporate charity donation programs. Now consider the work of the Gates Foundation, many which will bring a change to the lives of people who didn’t have the Internet or never even seen or heard about any of the i-Devices. In short, the Gates Foundation possibly brings life changes to some people for an entire lifetime (like Polio vaccination) while all the i-Devices are forgotten and replaced at the most in 3 years. I won’t say Steve Jobs didn’t give to charity since I don’t know. But I doubt it wouldn’t be anywhere comparable.
I am also quite amused that the fanbois would be giving thanks to Steve Jobs for giving them all those ‘life changing’ i-Devices even though technically they had paid for the products and so in reality he had really gave them nothing. To put it in an analogy, I appreciate life giving water but I will not think very much of the bottle that contained it. In fact, a friend showed me a comment where someone said if he hears anyone criticising Steve Jobs, he will ‘punch that person in the face’. Well, I hope whoever got punched will punch back harder, and with more blows to wake him up since I wondered whether he would have done the same for his own father.
It is also amusing that some had taken the news of Steve Jobs death as if God Himself has died. Well, the God I believe in rose from the dead and the appeared to many people and rose to heaven before their eyes. Make that comparison when Jobs come back from the dead and do something more original than iResurrect, alright?
Now, there’s another group of people who are equally irritating. Even when I detest Apple fanbois I think there is no need to rub it in. If one felt Steve Job’s death was of no relevance at all – comments like “it is amusing to watch the reactions of the iDiots over the iCon who did an iDie” is as distasteful as those like the hypocrites of Westboro (see below).
Personally, I would have felt elated if people like Mah Boh Tan kicked the bucket since he has screwed my life directly in more ways than one. Yet, I don’t feel the about Steve Jobs even though I disliked Apple – primarily due to Apple’s fascist, mindless, unthinking and dogmatic fanbois, and also what I considered to be unscrupulous, anti-competition business practices. As this New York Times article put it: Today there is no tech company that looks more like the Big Brother from Apple’s iconic 1984 commercial than Apple itself, a testament to how quickly power can corrupt.
This is where iTunes comes to mind. While I have told some people that I had to admit that iPod and iTunes changed the way that people consumed music, because consumers are no longer ripped off by record companies producing CDs. Indeed, paying US$0.99 for a song is way better than paying US$10 or more for a CD. However, I disliked how the Digital Rights Management [DRM] in iTunes limit where and how I can listen to music which were already paid for. Whatever the reasons for DRM, I really don’t give a flying damn about the argument how piracy would kill creativity etc when I looked at how some artists waste their lives away while living in extravagance.
Regardless of the above, I am reminded that the Apple ][ was the door of my entry into the computer world. I remembered the days when I played Taipan, Autoduel and even Ultima IV on an Apple ][ compatible that kept me company for years. I even learn my first programming with Basic on it, and actually wrote a small program that stored all my contacts – complete with sorting and editing feature! Sadly, the only Apple product that has made the greatest impact in my life was a creation of Steve Wozniak, not Jobs.
In spite of my dislike of Apple, I also have to admit that the iPhone brought new life to touch screen phones / PDAs because before that, touchscreen phones are far less responsive and very much lemons. Today, we don’t even need a stylus to use a touchscreen phone and Internet on the move has become more or less a reality as long as there’s cellular or a WIFI connection.
None of these would make me respect Steve Jobs though. In fact, his apparently lack of participation in charity and philanthropic efforts does not endear him to me at all. Surprisingly, I found a reason to respect him and let me quote from this article:
In the name of protecting children from the evils of erotica – “freedom from porn” — and adults from one another, Jobs has banned from being installed on his devices gay art, gay travel guides, political cartoons, sexy pictures, Congressional candidate pamphlets, political caricature, Vogue fashion spreads, systems invented by the opposition, and other things considered morally suspect.
From the perspective of IT support and administration, I can understand why he wants to keep opposing systems off his systems. It’s the same as why I want to stop users from installing anything they used at home onto the PCs in the office. And as someone who is against promoting and celebrating homosexuality, I can most certainly appreciate his stand on sexual morality. After all, it has always been my stand that while I can accept as a friend anyone who has decided to be homosexual, it doesn’t mean I have to endorse that choice or decision.
For all that’s worth and though I didn’t think so originally, I’ll give credit to Steve Jobs for the Apple he created and the marks it has continually made in consumer electronics and personal computing, and for being uncompromising in his stand on how the devices are used.
Rest in Peace, sir. The world may probably not see someone like you again for a long time.
Recommended Reads:
Chillycraps : An apple that changed the world