Thank you, Steve Jobs

Yesterday, a star fell. Everywhere I looked --- my e-mail inbox, the TV, the Web, my phone --- there were news of Steve Jobs' death, and stories of how everyone already missed him. Even those who hated Apple products or thought of Jobs as a megalomaniac couldn't deny the fact that the iconic driving force behind the Macs, iPods, iPhones, iPads, etc. had influenced how we used technologies today. He had always been a role model and a great inspiration, so I too was deeply saddened.

Even though I had never met Steve Jobs, there were three things that I learned, and strived to perfect, from reading up about him and studying his products. First, simplicity. When working on a product, it had always been more than easy to say "wouldn't it cool if..." Then before I knew it, the feature list had grown ten times, and the user interface turned into a hideous beast because I had to present the features to the user. Jobs taught me that it was just as important for a feature or a button to not be there, as one to be there. Call it the art of nothingness, or the Zen Buddhist concept of ma, to truly master this philosophy would take insight --- and courage --- to say "no" to even good ideas. Easier said than done.

"Visionary" would probably be the most common word used to describe Steve Jobs. While Jobs undoubtedly had some of the greatest vision in the world of technology, so did many other brilliant engineers, designers, entrepreneurs, and the likes. I thought more defining than being a visionary, Jobs had the determination and tenacity to stay true, persevere, and execute on his vision. We had all heard of how many ideas a dime could buy, and I could not count the number of times I started working on some new concept before stopping early because I "didn't have the time." I learned from Jobs to dig deep into my gut, figure out what I really wanted, and stick with it to the end. A well executed, mediocre vision would always win against a brilliant, but half-finished, one. Of course, there would be tons of nay-sayers and opposition along the way, but some 20 years ago Jobs predicted that people today would be holding mobile devices that could show photos and play videos, then he overcame being fired from the company he created, and battled cancer --- including coming right back to work after a liver transplant, to realize that vision. What excuse did I have?

Last, but by no means least, Jobs reminded me the value of being alive. This was not a lesson stemmed from his death, but more a lesson from his 2005 Stanford Commencement Address, in which he spoke of asking himself every morning that if this were his last day alive, would he do the things he was about to do that day, and if the answer was no for many days in a row, he would know he had to change. Jobs died at the age of 56. Many, including me, thought that was simply too young and it wasn't his time. However, looking from another angle, even in the short amount of time he was alive, he had achieved more than some could ever achieve in multiple lifetimes. His advice was obviously not meant for someone who simply wanted to sit back and relax on their last day, but rather to one who had goals and aspirations. I would forever be grateful for each moment I was alive, and I would always remind myself not to squander any of it.

A thought about pancreatic cancer. I'm no doctor, and I certainly don't have any medical knowledge about pancreatic cancer, but Steve Jobs, my Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch, and a few family friends, all died from complications of this type of cancer. Coincidently, these were all male (of different races) between the age of 47 and 49, who all excelled at what they did, and were probably all workaholics --- or at least they loved their work so much that they didn't mind working more than the norm. Jobs was actually lucky in that his form of cancer was treatable, although that just delayed the inevitable. Otherwise I've never heard of anyone outliving this cancer more than a few years after being diagnosed. Not to be an alarmist, but if you or someone you know is close to that age and works obsessively hard, it's probably a good idea to screen for this type of cancer regularly.

I had heard of people e-mailing Steve Jobs directly and getting personal, albeit terse, replies. I always wanted to try it, but never did because I never had a good question. It had always been my dream that one day in the near future, if I made a splash in the tech world, I would visit Jobs in Silicon Valley, and personally thank him for the life lessons. It's a shame that I could never do that now, but I'll carry on his lessons for the rest of my life. *SIGH* 7 billion people in this world, and we only had one Steve Jobs. When would we see such genius again? Oh, and since Jobs was a Buddhist, I wouldn't expect him to be in Heaven. If he didn't achieve nirvana, then, "Thank you, Steve Jobs, and may you have an insanely great next life."