Afterward

I have never owned any other computer but Apple. My ex's company bought a Lisa for him to do his work on. He would, on occasion, bring it home. This was an amazing machine. I remember wishing and hoping we could, one day, have something like this in our home. I still think a program called "LisaList" is the best sorting program I have ever used. I could sort a list of items every way I could think of and any links between cells were preserved.

Our first home computer was a Macintosh IIsi. It cost us $2,500 but I taught myself desktop publishing on it. Carole wrote boatloads of papers on it. The first computer I purchased for myself was iMac. I remember being so proud of myself for being able to set it up by myself. That was one thing Apple took great pride in. Three cords to set up your computer; a power cord, a mouse cord and a keyboard cord.

My current Mac is old by computer standards. I got it in January of 2007. It's been upgraded once and can't be upgraded anymore. I'd love more bells and whistles but I'm happy with what I have.

As we mourn the passing of Steve Jobs, a comment from one of Carole's friends sticks with me about Jobs' impact on life. This friend hated the things Jobs and Apple created, but, without him, computer-ing, as we know it, would not be what it is. Apple forced people to think differently, how they consume information and entertainment.

Carole has never known a world without a desktop computer. Maybe we didn't have one in the house, but some of her friends did. She's never known a world where the processing of information relied solely on TV, radio and newspapers. It could be argued that this change was inevitable, that it was not Jobs' doing. After all, room size mainframe computers had been in use since before Jobs was born. But I think, because of him, computing is a fact of life now. The iPod and the iPhone changed the way we look at music distribution and the way we communicate with others.

In recent years, Jobs' gaunt visage at Apple events caused me to wonder about Apple's direction after him. When he stepped down in August, my gut said he wasn't coming back. I didn't realize the end of the Jobs' era would come so soon.

My gut also tells me that there are lists and flow charts and ideas still bearing the Steve Jobs stamp in the works in Cupertino, California. I think Apple will stumble a bit in the next year as it finds its footing without the visage that everyone recognized. But, I think he planned for this and his legacy will be felt for years to come.

I think about replacing my computer with one designed primarily to play World of Warcraft. Guild mates tout the wonderfulness of what they play on, which are not Apples. I couldn't, can't picture myself walking into Best Buy and getting an Alienware computer. As long as Apple sells computers, that's what I will buy. I think Steve Jobs' legacy is bringing computing, music and communication to the masses.

May he rest in peace.

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb