The anticipated but still deeply sad news of Steve Jobs’ death at the age of just 56 robs the world of one of the great innovators. To die at such a relatively early age either proves that God doesn’t exist or signifies that heaven now has wi-fi and is in urgent need of his technological know-how and design skills.
“We don’t need another hero” sang Tina Turner inaccurately in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. The truth is that in these dark times we need all the heroes we can get. Steve Jobs was one of this rare breed. Like those other Apple scruffs (aka The Beatles) he had the courage to think differently and , like the Fab Four, he changed the way we see, feel and hear the world.
“Death is life’s best invention” he said in his Stanford commencement speech in 2005. He explained this by adding: “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important”.
His message in this speech , and the example of how he lived his life, was to assert that your gut instincts and curiosity should be nurtured so that you don’t get stuck in the safety first mode – “keep looking , don’t settle” , he urged the Stanford graduates.
He believed that life is a process of connecting the dots backwards: “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart”.
The English socialist, writer and interior designer William Morris once said “Have nothing in your homes that you do not know to be useful and believe to be beautiful”. Jobs’ genius was to see that what might otherwise be regarded as a merely ‘functional’ computer or cellphone could be both useful and a thing of beauty.
By insisting that the Apple products were stylish, efficient, reliable and easy to use, he took the world of computer science out of the hands of the nerds and into the eager palms and laps of ordinary mortals. He understood that paying the right attention to detail and making a product infinitely superior was the only surefire way to build brand loyalty. There was no need for cheap gimmicks or special offers.
“Stay hungry, stay foolish” , the phrase he borrowed from the final edition of Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth catalog, is a perfect summation of the driving spirit of the man.
That attitude to death is a bit buddhist – instead of waking each day assuming it won’t be your last, you must think it could be – then you can live in the moment, without fear. Perhaps many people are more afraid of life than death!