Last evening I was talking (texting) to my dear friend in Pennsylvania about her kids in glee club, playing words with friends with my daughter in Boston and my two friends in NY, talking (texting) to my husband about a problem with his apps, reading a novel, writing yesterday’s blog, emailing back and forth with friends from yoga and cape cod writers, checking my bank account, catching up on my friends blogs, and, oh yes, using the phone part to actually talk to my other daughter – all from my easy chair, all at the same time, and……all on my iPhone.
Living alone all week, without being able to do this, would be very hard on me. I wouldn’t be in touch with my husband and kids, I wouldn’t plan any activities with my friends out here, I would lose touch with my two NY friends I see only once a year, and….my friendship with my dear friend in Pennsylvania wouldn’t exist at all. I would not write this blog everyday if I had to go sit in front of my computer to do it, and I would NEVER have read 86 books in two years if I had to go to the store, buy them for twice the cost, and, much worse, store them in my house. Even my bible is on my phone. I have my 86 books, all organized, with notes and highlights easily assessable if I want to quote something for you in this blog, which I can do in a single touch on the screen. Not to mention the amount of overdraft fees that have decreased dramatically.
While talking back and forth, my PA friend got the news break on her iPhone about Steve Jobs and told me about his passing just as it was appearing on my phone, and then on the TV. I immediately felt my heart sink. My friend texted me and said, “I’m in tears and I don’t even know this man! What’s up with that?” I replied, “I knoooow!!! I’m feeling such extreme sadness!”
Why do we have that reaction? That question was answered for me by another question asked on the morning news, “What makes thousands of people run out immediately and purchase whatever this man invents?” The answer – because people TRUST him. And that certainly is the truth for me. I never hesitated for a second going out to purchase an i anything as soon as I had the money. I would never even think about compromising and buying a cheaper PC. I knew I could pay my money, take my i thing home, plug it in right out of the box, never read an instruction manual, and it would do everything Steve said it would.
Steve made i things just for me. His i things fit my brain, did my work, invented my social life, brought music back into my life, connected me to people I love on a daily basis and let me be a part of their lives, and them mine, and, in effect, – reshaped my life.
I never stopped to think how much I owed a man I never even knew. My last years of teaching and first years of retirement are significantly richer, more fulfilling, easier, and definitely better than they ever could’ve been, because of my iPhone and iMac. I’m glad my friend and I took an unplanned moment to mourn Steve Jobs last night. He truly was an icon that changed the world and touched lives for the better.
And so, as another day goes by, RIP Steve and may God bless his family in this sad time, and ….I have written.
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