I’m a diehard apple fan…. granny smith’s are my particular apple of choice—I love their tart flavor and crispy texture. This time of year reminds me of going to apple orchards various times when I was growing up and it reminds me of going to the Lilly Orchard at Conner Prairie as an adult which was just a few miles from my house. There’s something amazing about this time of year—Fall—and how everything is so beautiful as it dies back for the coming winter season. It’s like the trees are giving us one last hurrah before we have to look at their bare branches for a few months.
I’m a diehard Apple® fan too. And as I reflect on what Apple® gave us the last 14 years of Steve Jobs life, it’s a lot like Fall. The last 14 years, 25 percent of his life, about the same percentage of the year that Fall encompasses. There’s the iPod…. yes, I still have my first generation iPod and other than being a little bulky by comparison to the newest models, it still works just fine. The iMac, MacBooks (including my beloved MacBook Pro), and MacBook Air (who else could have conceptualized a computer that would easily fit in a mailing envelope) all changed the way we look at computers aesthetically and functionally. Then there’s the iPhone! Meet George Jetson….. we all thought that someday we would have video phones, but who thought we would be carrying them around in our pockets? And it’s so much more than a phone, it’s a computer, it’s your e-mail, photo album, all your music and so much more that you easily carry around in your pocket, handbag or brief case. Then, the amazing iPad…. it’s so beautiful, so thin, so lightweight, so easy to use. Talk about a swan song! Then, just last week, hours before the passing of Steve Jobs, Apple® executives presented the latest and greatest iPhone to date… and orders came pouring in — more than a million phones pre-ordered on the first day.
Did you know that if you cut an apple horizontally (through its equator) you will see the traces of the apple blossom that it once was in the middle? Look what that apple became… from a simple five petaled flower it became a fruit that nourishes us. Look what Apple® became, from a baby who was adopted and raised by loving parents, an amazing company has grown, providing millions of jobs, and products that have changed our lives. I don’t believe that the death of anyone has affected so many since the death of Pope John Paul II. Two men from simple beginnings who changed the world in very different ways, both leaving the world a better place than they found it.
How will I change my little part of the world today?
