"Death is the destination we all share, no one has ever escaped it. And that is, as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It's life's change agent, it clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you. But some day not too long from now you will gradually become the old and be cleared away."–Steve Jobs
In his 56 years in this world, Steve Jobs has managed to affect almost each and every human being with his inventions.
Tweets and Facebook statuses such as ‘RIP Steve Jobs' have taken over newsfeeds. However, most people don't know much of his life beside the fact that he created many of their electronic devices.
Jobs dropped out of college because he didn't want to spend his parents' entire year's salary so that he could attend school. Dropping out of school, however, allowed Jobs to attend classes that were of interest, rather than those required for certain majors.
Jobs sat in on a typography class and learned about the beauty behind the style. He truly enjoyed the course and continued to go to the lessons.
"None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life," Jobs said in his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford.
Ten years later, Jobs found himself applying the lessons that he learned in the typography class in the development of the Macintosh type interface.
"If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on that calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do," Jobs said.
Behind the MacBooks, iPods, iPads, and iPhones, was a man with the passion and enthusiasm to follow his dream, wherever it took him. Although he provided the world with new and exciting technology, he also influenced the people of the world to do what they love.
"Of course it was impossible connecting the dots looking forward when I was in college, but it was very, very clear looking backwards, 10 years later. You can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards," Jobs said. "So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something. Your gut, destiny, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road, will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path, and that will make all the difference."
After a falling out with a co-worker, Jobs was fired from Apple at the age of 30. Although at the time it seemed devastating, Jobs never let his love for his work die. "I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that ever happened to me," Jobs said. "The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything."
After being fired, he founded a company called NeXT Computer, as well as the most successful animation studio in the world, Pixar Animation. Because of Jobs, the first ever computer animated feature film, Toy Story, was created.
In 2004, Jobs was diagnosed with cancer. His scans clearly showed that he had a tumor on his pancreas and the doctors told him that his cancer was incurable. They said that he should expect to be alive for only three to six more months.
After a biopsy that same day, the doctors discovered that he had a rare form of cancer that was treatable with surgery. He had the surgery done and was able to continue affecting the world with his genius.
On Wednesday, Oct. 5 Jobs passed away.
Jobs was a man that never gave up or lost sight of his dream. He never settled for something less than what he loved to do. Jobs' determination was a key factor of his success and what allowed him to affect and change so many lives.
"When I was 17 I read a quote that went something like this. ‘If you live each day as if it was your last, some day you'll most certainly be right,'" Jobs said. "For the past 33 years I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, ‘if today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life."
Next time you take a look at your computer or iPod or come across a tweet about Jobs' death, I encourage you to not only remember the devices that he's left behind, but his story as well.
Email: keren.baruch@ubspectrum.com
