A farewell: Steve Jobs

by Diane Duane

I started suspecting some weeks back that we might be close to losing Steve Jobs. I never suspected we were this close, though. This morning’s news comes as a shock, and is a source of great sadness.

From the time I first got my hands on an Apple product some three decades ago — I was lent a IIc by a friend — I realized that these machines were something unusual and special,  especially in terms of being forward-looking and easy to use. And later on, when other friends would come to me for advice on the subject, I would often recommend that they think about getting an Apple. (Bob Greenberger, for example, can vouch for how, in company with a group of  DC Comics folk, I happily cooperated in dragging Len Wein into an Apple dealership on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, the goal being to make him buy a Mac.)

I can’t now remember when the idea came to me that the Powers that Be in the Young Wizards universe might have a favorite brand of computer. But then the issue came up during the outlining of High Wizardry… and knowing a little of the thinking that supposedly lay behind the Apple logo, there was no other possible candidate for the branding on the new computer that would house the version of the Wizard’s Manual offered to Dairine Callahan.

Over subsequent books — and as new devices like the WizPod occasionally added themselves to the series — a few fans here and there have speculated that I must be a very serious Apple geek, or (humorously)  that I was being paid by the company for the product placement. Lest anybody should be having doubts about this, people should know that the only money that’s ever changed hands between me and Apple would have been when I bought my first iPod some years back. All the computers in our household are PCs of one strain or another, and most of our phones are Android-based. But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t had my eye on the new iPod Touch for a while… since if it’s good enough for my characters, it’s certainly good enough for me.

I very much doubt Steve Jobs ever knew about this affectionate running gag. If he had known, I don’t think he’d have minded, as I suspect he’d have understood what I was saluting: a certain visionary quality about both the objects he helped create and the thinking behind them. In any case, the trend will be continuing. In the next YW book, the first WizPads will be appearing casually in the background (along with some perhaps predictable interplatform sniping from wizards more firmly in the Android camp). And with today’s events in mind, it wouldn’t surprise me if somewhere along the line there’s a mention that the Powers that Be have recently “reclaimed an out-assigned member of their design team” for important work elsewhere.

…As the wizards would say: Go well, cousin Steve. And thanks for reminding us that it really is possible to change the world for the better if you just keep deciding every day that you’re not going to take “no” for an answer.

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10 comments

Saje Williams October 6, 2011 - 10:21 am

My one and only experience with Mac computers was when I borrowed one from a friend for a time and then spent nearly six months trying to get all my writing converted back to Word for Windows when I bought a computer *I* could afford at the time.  I never made that mistake again.

That said, I love my ipod, and both the touch and the ipad are enticing as hell.  I listened to the whole Young Wizard series on my first shuffle, and it’s coming around time to listen to it again–especially now that I can add the newest book to the playlist.

Thanks for this–I shared it with my own friends and fans.  Maybe I can get a few more people waiting for the next installment of the series with as much impatience as my wife and I.

There’s no doubt Steve Jobs changed the world.  And we’re richer in spirit for it, if not necessarily richer in the traditional sense.

Saje Williams October 6, 2011 - 10:21 am

My one and only experience with Mac computers was when I borrowed one from a friend for a time and then spent nearly six months trying to get all my writing converted back to Word for Windows when I bought a computer *I* could afford at the time.  I never made that mistake again.

That said, I love my ipod, and both the touch and the ipad are enticing as hell.  I listened to the whole Young Wizard series on my first shuffle, and it’s coming around time to listen to it again–especially now that I can add the newest book to the playlist.

Thanks for this–I shared it with my own friends and fans.  Maybe I can get a few more people waiting for the next installment of the series with as much impatience as my wife and I.

There’s no doubt Steve Jobs changed the world.  And we’re richer in spirit for it, if not necessarily richer in the traditional sense.

Franticfocus October 6, 2011 - 12:01 pm

I’m a music fanatic. Always have to have music playing to keep my mind busy- in the car, in the house, on the go. It wasn’t until I had my iPod shuffle that I COULD take my music nearly anywhere with me. It’s done me and a lot of other people a world of good. As I saw on someone’s Twitter yesterday, “He provided millions of people with an ‘apple a day’ “. He was an innovative genius, a great man. 

Franticfocus October 6, 2011 - 12:01 pm

I’m a music fanatic. Always have to have music playing to keep my mind busy- in the car, in the house, on the go. It wasn’t until I had my iPod shuffle that I COULD take my music nearly anywhere with me. It’s done me and a lot of other people a world of good. As I saw on someone’s Twitter yesterday, “He provided millions of people with an ‘apple a day’ “. He was an innovative genius, a great man. 

Anonymous October 6, 2011 - 11:48 pm

Personally, I HATE Apple.  Never owned their products (which are admittedly excellent), never will.  It’s the policies and mindset of the company I hate, not the products.

But, that being said, I do think Steve Jobs did what he set out to do, which was to “put a dent in the universe”!  What more could anyone ask for out of life?  He changed the world we live in, and made his mark.  It is sad that he died so young, and from such a terrible disease, but in the 56 years of his life, he truly made a difference.  He will be missed, and the entire tech industry will feel the loss of his presence.

I must say that I also enjoyed the “inside joke” in your books with the “Apple without the bite” and the symbolism behind it.  Good stuff! 

jnemesh October 6, 2011 - 11:48 pm

Personally, I HATE Apple.  Never owned their products (which are admittedly excellent), never will.  It’s the policies and mindset of the company I hate, not the products.

But, that being said, I do think Steve Jobs did what he set out to do, which was to “put a dent in the universe”!  What more could anyone ask for out of life?  He changed the world we live in, and made his mark.  It is sad that he died so young, and from such a terrible disease, but in the 56 years of his life, he truly made a difference.  He will be missed, and the entire tech industry will feel the loss of his presence.

I must say that I also enjoyed the “inside joke” in your books with the “Apple without the bite” and the symbolism behind it.  Good stuff! 

Cat Sittingstill October 7, 2011 - 12:24 pm

I have enjoyed that running gag of yours from the first time I saw it.

Cat Sittingstill October 7, 2011 - 12:24 pm

I have enjoyed that running gag of yours from the first time I saw it.

Purr4449 October 18, 2011 - 8:43 pm

yes, Steve did change the world, but he most definitely did not do it by himself.  What about all the engineers who made his dreams reality?  What about all the administrative assistants — yes, and janitors and all the mistreated people in China who actually manufactured these wonderful things?  There would have been no Apple products without all these people and many others who make our society work, and who are grossly underpaid.  Apple is definitely a huge team effort.  The magic lies in all the people who pulled together to make all these wonderful things.

Purr4449 October 18, 2011 - 8:43 pm

yes, Steve did change the world, but he most definitely did not do it by himself.  What about all the engineers who made his dreams reality?  What about all the administrative assistants — yes, and janitors and all the mistreated people in China who actually manufactured these wonderful things?  There would have been no Apple products without all these people and many others who make our society work, and who are grossly underpaid.  Apple is definitely a huge team effort.  The magic lies in all the people who pulled together to make all these wonderful things.

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