My iPhone's screen shot from apple.com
CEOs aren’t always lovable creatures. While some excel at business, they seem lost making genuine, human connections. Some are corporate drones with the personality of a plug. They certainly wouldn’t make themselves the face of the company. They’ve got people to do that.
Every one of my experiences with Apple wasn’t perfect. Friends and I laughed how some Apple Store employees had sunk so deeply into the company’s culture, you wondered who programmed them. But most of our conversations focused on the products. And although society often searches hard to find the flaws in genius, ultimately many of us raced to buy Apple’s innovative tools even if the old ones still shined. We shared numerous stories of how those employees with the Star Trek-like placards hanging around their necks most often found easy solutions when a problem plagued a product. How many other companies make returning an item feel more like writing a novel?
I still remember someone handing me my first Mac after I waited in line for it in college. I often sat before that computer, typing another paper or playing another game. I still sit in front of a Mac. I carry my iPhone more than my wallet. And watch a child’s eyes light up while learning on an iPad. I have caught so many of those precious, family moments in pictures or video because someone invented a device that fits in our pocket and captures life with the push of a button or two.
I didn’t know Steve Jobs. I never talked with him behind closed doors or got to know the man off camera. But he is one of the few people I can point to who changed the way we conduct our lives on a daily basis. And he achieved it with color and creativity. He made technology both fun and practical. He built a nearly bulletproof brand that easily withstands missteps.
Some CEOs only make the news for being devious. But Steve Jobs publicly showed not all bosses are built that way and that wearing jeans during big presentations is OK. I probably never fully appreciated the way he touched technology until he passed and I realized, in amazement, that he shows himself in nearly ever turn with toys and software that begin with the letter i. I didn’t know the man. But I respect how he changed the world and the way he went about it. He was a CEO whose company seemed more defined by its magic than its money.
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