And I don't mean computers.
I was aware, like the rest of the world, that Steve Jobs was ill. I knew that he stopped working a little while ago and that analysts and media everywhere noted that event as the beginning of the end. I was saddened to hear of his death last night, which I learned about while perusing my Facebook timeline.
So when I saw every single one of my friends statuses change to reflect Jobs' death, I took as minute to think about what this brilliant man, who literally revolutionized our world, meant to me personally. Not initially a huge Apple adopter, I recently fell in love with the Macbook and I can't live without my iPod (which sat, untouched, in its pristine box for months before I actually decided to read the instructions). So to say that I've followed the company since its inception would be a lie.
But a few years ago, as everyone and their mother knows, Jobs spoke at Stanford University's commencement and his speech went viral in a flash. His words had little to do with the brilliance he had imparted on the world or his own ego, but more to do with exactly what a commencement speech should exact - Jobs gave sage advice to that graduating class, and because of the depth of his words, he ultimately touch millions of people, people who were nowhere near that campus that day, with these words.
I defy you to find someone, anyone, who can't relate to this:
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
Who doesn't want to live their best life? Who isn't out there looking for ultimate contentment? Without being unrealistic, Steve Jobs had a really good point: he was advising those freshly minted young adults to LIVE. Just live. To follow your gut (which so many of us often forget to do), trust your instincts, and live.
I needed that reminder yesterday in particular. I don't use an iPhone and I'm not sold on the iPad quite yet. But Steve Jobs' spirit lives on, even for those of us who took nothing more from him than a little wisdom.
RIP, Steve Jobs.
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