I graduated from college with an Associate Degree in Data Processing and Computer Programming in May 1982. That February, a long-haired computer nerd only a few years older than me made the cover of Time Magazine. That computer nerd was of course, Steve Jobs.
February 1982 changed my life because it was all of a sudden pretty cool to be a computer nerd. Jobs made personal computing acceptable to mainstream America. Jobs also made my love for computing acceptable to my family and friends, after all Time Magazine wouldn’t waste their ink on a passing fad.
Over the years I have delivered many lectures about the life of Mr. Jobs, his exploits and antics, his triumphs and his failures. I used these lectures to inspire my students to lash onto their own personal greatness.
You, too can do it.
As I learned of his death last evening, I put together a list of the five most important things I learned from Jobs:
- There is a future in computing.
- It’s OK to be a nerd. Nerd’s are people, too.
- Regular people can rise to greatness.
- You never know the impact your life will have on others.
- Be insanely great.
What impact has Steve Jobs had on your life?
Mental Health Food 
I think Jobs made computer science cool. Not only that, he made it ‘accessible’ for those like me who were originally ‘non-technical’. I realized that you can still be interested in technology even if you aren’t technically inclined. And by that I mean the extreme end of ‘coding and programming’. For years I thought computers and the science of it was only for those you knew how to code or program or where really good in math. That was totally not me because I’m not that analytical. However, Jobs showed that there is room for creative types who visualize things differently, but you didn’t have to know ‘old school PL1’. My business and marketing background makes me a business geek. I think the combo of technology and business is a direct outcome of SJ’s influence. And I’ve always been a Mac baby because of how creative it allowed the used to be. The user of Mac products has always been in control, from the first day he created the ‘mouse’.
I was the analytical techie who has never touched a Mac, believe it or not. BUT the Mac OS influenced Gates (who basically stole Windows from Jobs – its a sordid story.) That’s OK because Jobs stole the concept of cut and paste, icons and the mouse from Xerox. If it weren’t for Jobs, we’d all still be typing commands at the C: prompt.
Forgive that typo…should have said ‘were’ instead of ‘where’. Oops.
Forgiven.