When he died, they showered posthumous encomiums! For days, my Facebook page was filled with RIP messages for Steve Jobs, with adulations like genius, visionary, scientist etc. Some of them took to the extent of comparing him with Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton! The funniest comment that I saw was - If Apple is religion; Steve Jobs is its GOD! OK, agreed, Steve Jobs was a great visionary. But, was it necessary to elevate him to the Almighty status only to take every opportunity to rebuke him a fortnight later?
It is no doubt true that, Steve Jobs built great devices. He revolutionized the laptop, and smart phone industry. He changed the way we listened to music. Probably, it takes eons to come up with next Steve Jobs. The charisma, determination to change the world, aggressiveness he possessed was extraordinary. It isn't a child's play to come up with such great ideas in a career span of 35 years. The same guys who lauded his contribution to the tech world, now utter everything possible - "Steve Jobs wasn't great - not even close to!" Well, if he wasn't even close to being great, what are we? If he fell short in the graph that measured greatness, I guess, we would not even cross the zero-mark!
At least Steve Jobs achieved what he wanted to. He stood by his words. He stayed hungry and foolish most of his life. He didn’t let others’ opinions drown out his inner voice. Passing slanderous remarks need no thinking. They need no brains. But, it needs more than just brains to lead thousands of people, to take timely decisions, to design wonderful devices and ultimately to change the world. Instead of wasting life trying to malign Steve Jobs’ image, let the departed soul rest in peace. Let his near and dear ones get the strength to live without him.
