No Words....

Ted Turner once allegedly said “All the money in the world won’t buy you one more day”.  This was the first thing that came to mind when I received the text tonight that rocked my world. Actually, it was the third. The first was utter disbelief. “Tell me you’re lying,” I replied back. The second was the urgent need to find a TV, computer, or internet-capable device fast. Thanks to one man, this was done within seconds. The irony is that it was this same man that drove my need to find news in the first place. I couldn’t go off a text; I needed facts. Then I saw it. I couldn’t believe it. Steve Jobs, the man who brought us Apple and everything that entails, had died.

I was devastated. I felt the color drain out of my face. I went from being fully able to support myself to having to stop my knees from buckling. I almost broke out in tears in a room full of strangers. I am seriously not exaggerating. Why I felt this way, I’m still not sure. I mean, I’ve never owned an Apple product and from everything I’ve heard, Steve Jobs was a greedy, calculating mastermind. But still…. Although I’ve never met him, Steve Jobs has had a profound impact in my life and the lives of millions of others around the world. I can’t quite put into words what Steve Jobs means not just to me but to the entire planet. Steve Jobs changed the world. He really did. Think about the world today and how it would have been without Steve Jobs. The everyday things we take for granted – the personal computers, the iPods, Toy Story…. These things would not exist had Steve Jobs never existed. Sure someone else might have came along and thought of the same technologies and ideas but they wouldn’t have been the same. No man could ever replicate what Steve Jobs has done. Because of him, the world is a more information-rich and connected place. Because of him, the technology exists for hundreds, if not thousands, of things that make our lives a little easier to live. As President Barack Obama so eloquently put it, ""The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented." Steve Jobs truly left the world in a better state than how he found it. How many people can say that?

Believe it or not, not everyone has reacted to the news the same way I have. In the minutes and hours following the news, I’ve heard comments ranging from “The Apple guy died!” to people asking who Steve Jobs is. Maybe it’s just the geek in me. Maybe it’s my fascination with computers and technology that is forcing me to feel as if I’ve just lost a very close member of my own family. Two things I hoped I’d never see were the death of Bill Gates and the death of Steve Jobs. Who’d want to live in such a world? Sadly, one of those events has now come to fruition. All the money in the world won’t buy you one more day….

Steve Jobs was a mentor to me although he never knew it. Or maybe he did. I wanted to walk in his shoes, to replicate the steps he took to success. I distinctly remember once asking my father to finance a backpacking trip for me halfway across the world. Steve had done it when he was my age, I reasoned. Steve did a lot of things. With Steve’s help, the personal computer went from being a luxury item for the privileged to being a staple in countless households around the world. He helped us upgrade from bulky portable CD players to sleek and stylish iPods. He entertained us by making the technology available for us to have movies such as Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. Steve Jobs did a lot of things. And he made a lot of money. Tons of it. He even made Forrest Gump rich. And yet, he still died. One of the most influential and wealthy men on the planet died. It really makes you  stop and think. “All the money in the world won’t buy you one more day.” Death can take anyone at any time. I think that may be the greatest insight we could have ever gained from Steve Jobs: enjoy your life and any money you may have because, in the end, you can’t it with you.

Steve Jobs knew that he was going to die. For much of the last decade, he was plagued by pancreatic cancer, an aggressive and painful disease which holds low chances of survival. His illness forced him to take several leaves of absence from his job as CEO of Apple Inc. and he ultimately resigned in August of 2011. My roommate called it that very night. He believed that Steve knew the end was near. I tried to push it aside as speculation but I got the same lump in my throat that night as I have now two months later typing this. Steve Jobs knew that he was going to die. How do you live with something like that? How do you keep it quiet? Well-known for the secrecy surrounding his products and his personal life, Steve Jobs didn’t make a fuss. He didn’t run to the media. What he did was quietly hand over the reins to the empire he had built and then…. I don’t know what. I don’t know if he went home and accepted his fate or if he traveled the world in search of a cure. What I do know is that lesser men would not have been able to keep such a thing to themselves. Lesser men would have lost their composure. Say what you will about Steve Jobs but he was brave, calculating and handling things his way to the bitter end. Pancreatic cancer may have killed Steve Jobs but it didn’t kill Steve Jobs. Steve went out on his own terms. He had always done things his way and the handling of his death was no different. In life, Steve had one of the greatest impacts on the world of anyone in the modern era. In death, he will be remembered for it. Rest in peace, Steve Jobs. You truly changed the world. Not many people can say that.