The world now accepts the revolutions brought about by his inventions of iPods, iPhones and eMacs. But the actual revolution was really his first invention which was the Macintosh in 1984, which was an extension of the Lisa and the Apple 2c of 1979. That revolution went by unheralded and unnoticed. Jobs was even removed years later from the Apple company he founded.

But a creator never rests. Jobs arose as the proverbial phoenix and took the company to dizzying heights.

Some critics are unable to understand or fathom Job’s genius. They attribute his success to his penchant for secrecy and the nearly theatrical manner in which each new invention is revealed. Yet, they miss out on the real reasons for Steve Job’s success.

I always said that Jobs is the genius of the century. He is the guy who concretised what the sci-fi films showed in the sixties and seventies. He anticipated the needs of the future. But Jobs is more than just a solution provider. The arid monochromatic world of technology had not even thought of the use of colour till Jobs splashed the world with pinks, blues and greens with his new range of iMacs in 1998. Computer companies suffered from functionalism. They created for utility. Jobs brought aesthetics into the field. He got in the design element. He elevated a functional gadget to an artistic one.
Till Jobs began rolling out his creations, computers were those drab machines meant for office use. They were boring, they were difficult to use. They were dependent on technicians. Jobs empowered the user. Anyone, from a child to an octagenarian could use computers easily. Not only was the interface easier, the possibilities of doing things ranging from film editing to graphic designing opened up.
Thanks to these inventions, people began to dabble in were till now the domains of the specialists. People began to experiment fearlessly. At the same time, these were powerful tools in the hands of the experts and the quality of animation took a quantum leap with Pixar studios.

There is another aspect to Jobs contribution to the technological revolution. That Jobs is a visionary in his field, is mostly accepted. But critics miss out on the fact that Jobs’ vision is a unifying one.

While the world was busy inventing specializing in different gadgets, Jobs brought different functions into one gadget. And more. He incorporated leisure time activities as well, whether they were games or music. He introduced fun.
The use of a machine is not a chore to be accomplished. It is an indulgence of senses, of the intellect and of aesthetics. Jobs put a genie in our hands that appears upon rubbing the sleek track pad or the iPhone screen. After all, only geniuses can gift us genies!

( from ahmedabad mirror , 29th JAN 2010 )