Happy Thursday. I am in my own little production private Idaho right now- the sleepless kind. Plus it's rainy as hell here and all I can do is think of jumping back under the covers. But that's not to be so let's talk about Steve Jobs.
Oh, Steve. You really have made a huge difference in our lives, all of us really. But since this is my blog, I'm going to talk about how you affected mine. I was reading some Tweets last night about his decision to leave Apple (IQuit was a favorite) and found some amazing stuff about him, some inspiration, and the many reasons I am a lifelong Mac girl.
It all started in 1984, that seminal year when advertising was forever changed by Apple's Orwellian spot, and when I was in middle school, rocking a crazy haircut and an attitude. We had computer lab, and it dawned on me last night that I worked on the first Apple ever made (the Macintosh), and it was the first computer I ever experienced as well. And it was love at first type.
Though I'm not sure what was going on in high school and college, I skipped those years and worked on a word processor of the Brother or IBM variety. But I never forgot about how much I loved my Mac. And then I graduated college and started a career in advertising, and really you're nobody in advertising if you don't work on a Mac. You kind of have to, especially if you're a creative. I remember early in my career, and in the early life of the internet, schlepping my early Apple laptop to Israel (may have been an old Powerbook), where I was researching trance music and cafe culture (I swear I was). That thing weighed a ton, and in the ancient days of dial up and early IM'ing, my hotel bill was equivalent to the GNP of a small country. Ah, the good old days.
In any event, I could never understand PC people, or PC language. What on Earth is a C drive? Where does stuff go when I file it? Where is my desktop? I admit to about a year long stray from Macs when I freelanced at an agency in New York and had a Sony Vaio, which was light as a feather, but was not my Mac. And even though my most recent stint in advertising had me working at the agency that crafted "I'm a PC", I was still all Mac. I bleed Apple and that's that. And I've always been suspicious of people that don't feel the same way, though that's just me (and a million gazillion Mac whores around the world).
There is no brand that is more easily identifiable, more defined in terms of what they stand for (cool innovation and creativity and ideation), and more important to pop culture than Apple. There is no other electronic or gadgety thing that makes me wait in line like a kid on Christmas for their latest offering. And sure, Apple products are sensitive- you kind of never know when your IPod is going to stick, or when your computer is just not going to turn on, ever again. But like fine women, you simply have to accept that something so great is going to have few kinks to work out, and if you treat them well, they will get turned on for you, somehow, magically. Or you just trade up for a new one. Easy.
I wish Steve Jobs was leaving his empire so he could run for President. In the weeks since the candidates are starting to come out of their zombie right wing tea stained crypts, I've been thinking about how great it would be for a real businessman to run the country- one that could stop fucking around and run the company like a business, and a business that is focused on technology, innovation, and unbridled creativity. Is that too much to ask? I think not. How I wish Steve could take the gig. He would have my vote and many others, of this I am certain. The cult of Mac is a powerful one, and I suspect many of Steve's fans are people that could also change the world.
I thank Steve Jobs, for making technology cool, for making us worship every new I thingy that comes out, and for changing the face of the world, for the better, in my opinion. And if you watch the below video, maybe you'll get chills the way I just did. I tend to get choked up when someone is that compelling, when they present with such incredible conviction, and when a product is shown that we somehow knew would change the world, but not to that extent. Home computing, people. Can you imagine life without that? It's crazy to even think about, but what a revelation, and here is the video from the 1984 launch to prove it:
http://www.businessinsider.com/video-steve-jobs-introduces-mac-2011-8
Steve Jobs is the original bandito, bad ass, warrior, genius, visionary, top shelf marketer, artist, hero, futurist, mad scientist, business man, pop culture superstar- his courage to go where nobody else had ever been is stellar, and I for one am ready to get my mitts on the IPhone 5, which I inevitably will bitch about when I get it, but will love it more than anything. As I type this on my Mac (duh), I feel grateful to have Apple as a part of my life, and like the scores of fans everywhere, I'm awed by the impact this company has had on my life. What will they think of next? I can't wait to see.
Thank you Mr. Jobs- you will be missed- can't you just run for President? Your country really needs you- you could be the first IPrez.You taught us all to "think different", and that mandate still holds up today as it did in 1984.
And that, my friends, is what's up this thank the Lord for Macs kind of Thursday in the MIA. Maybe someone out there reading this is crazy enough to think they can change the world, even if you do work on a PC. XO