My Tribute to Steve Jobs - by Cara Potapshyn Meyers

I opened my Apple MacBook laptop this morning, Oct 6, 2011, and was stunned speechless that there was a photo of Steve Jobs, creative genius behind all of Apple computer products, with 1955-2011 underneath his picture. I thought, my goodness! He was so young! What happened?

I called my husband, who is in the radio business and knows when a major disaster occurs before it even happens. He told me Jobs died of pancreatic cancer. The most aggressive and lethal cancer there is. I was shocked. 

As I am typing this blog on a two month old iPad 2, I recall bursting with joy just yesterday. I found out that first, iCloud, a satellite entity that will sync every Apple item you own, seamlessly, second by second, with complete wireless connection, coming out the following week! This meant that next week at this time, as I edit a blog on my iPad, the exact same blog will already be on my laptop, edited within seconds after I correct. No more syncing with cables, no more waiting for downloads. 100% wireless connection across every device I own. After spending an hour syncing my iPhone to my computer and my iPad to my computer, I was thanking Steve Jobs for this much awaited and anticipated creation. I thought to myself, this is the last time I have to waste a whole hour getting all of my electronic machinery in sync via cables.

I was equally amazed to learn that the much anticipated iPhone 5, renamed iPhone 4S, would be available to purchase two days later! I chose to bypass the original iPhone 4 after hearing about all of the glitches. Now that Steve Jobs has passed, I will be on my computer at midnight, pre-ordering the iPhone 4S which is scheduled to be released next week. I planned to purchase the iPhone 5/4S regardless. But the iPhone 4S is going to be legendary. I will be keeping it long after cell phones become the size of Bluetooth devices. This piece of equipment will be the last electronic wonder that Steve Jobs will have had his personal touch on. That alone carries an enormous amount of weight. Not only in the world of cellular phones, but among all computer related equipment and especially the computer economy.

I remember when I was first introduced to an Apple MacIntosh computer in the library of my graduate school, back in 1987. There sat a rather intriguing but ugly, beige box on another box, with a six inch by six inch hazy screen. I HAD to learn to use this device if I was to get my Master's thesis written on time! It was either this beige box or an electronic typewriter that had seen it's best day! With the help of some very patient and very knowledgeable classmates, I was slowly introduced to the world of Apple computers. In fact, my graduation present was a newer version of the ugly, beige box on a box! But slowly, I came to rely on this odd device more and more.

As I became more proficient at using my ugly beige box, I was also realizing that it was quickly becoming more and more obsolete. If I wanted to keep up with the fast pace world of software upgrades, I would need a new, more powerful computer. I was working at the time and was additionally expanding myself by enrolling in a second Master's program. Upgrading my computer was a necessity. So much so, that the big wide world of something called the "Internet" was fast approaching. Once the Internet entered my world, my computers needed to be upgraded just about every 2-3 years, and remains so to this day. The technology far outruns what the fastest computer can do even at this very moment. It is beyond awe inspiring. More importantly, it was being led by Steve Jobs and his genius behind Apple computers.

Several computer upgrades later, the iPhone was introduced. I HAD to have that crazy cool device! I couldn't afford the first generation of iPhone, but WAS able to afford it two generations later: The iPhone 3G! The very same phone I have to this day! The phone I use as my alarm clock, my calendar, my camera, my GPS, my train schedule, my e-mail device, my everything except drink my Starbucks lattes gadget! I used to take my old cell phones with me but would forget them in the car or in my pocketbook while the battery died. No other cell phone "called" to me the way my iPhone has. My husband was so fed up with me leaving my other random cell phones in inconvenient places that he made me swear that if he bought me an iPhone, I would carry it with me constantly. And carry it I did. So much so, that I found a way to use an old camera wrist band and wrap it through the cell phone case so that I could have it dangle off of my wrist and have it with me 24/7! The wrist holder is helpful, but that phone became more than my constant companion. In it is my life. And it always has been and always will be in my life. 

Next came the first generation iPad. For the life of me, I just couldn't figure out what the purpose of this big, bulky, version of an iPod Touch was. I thought Apple was losing it's mind. I realized, after sitting in doctor's offices, or waiting for my son's karate class to finish what a great tool it would be for me to use for my blogging! Right before the iPad 2 came out, I purchased a used (but found out from Apple that it was brand new), first generation iPad! I was hooked. I could start a blog while waiting for an appointment, e-mail it to myself, and finish it up on my much heavier laptop at home! Genius! Then came the vastly improved iPad 2 which allowed me to do so much more, include taking it on trips and Skyping with my son on my husband's computer 3000 miles away! And it weighed even less than my pocketbook!

I ended up giving my son my original iPad because there are so many educational Apps out now that I felt he would benefit from it. Just this morning, I watched him shake it and then point at various areas on it. I was intrigued as to what he was doing. He was playing Monopoly. When you shook the iPad, it would shake the dice so that the dice would roll. Just like playing the actual game. I said, "Bless You, Steve Jobs," to myself. Bless your incredibly creative mind and insight to come up with an entity that has literally "shaken up" the whole world!

Five and one-half hours until midnight. Let's just hope it's not Pacific Standard Time.