Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

Steve Jobs passing affected me deeply this morning. His vision to redesign computers centered on the idea of a desk top, icons, double click & the drag and drop feature made these machines much more human. These four basic concepts are the root to everything that Apple has built since. He said that he wanted to "make a dent in the universe." He did that. The dent he made is genius because the concept is simple, user friendly and is now the accepted standard for all software design for PCs & MACs.

It was the MAC that dragged me into the digital world. My entire career has been in media. Most of it spent in radio. I remember the day that Scott Chapin (primo producer) and I talked our chief engineer at WGTR (Miami) into installing a MAC Plus into the air studio so that we could record and edit phone calls from listeners quickly and efficiently. We used a program called Session. It replaced two giant reel-to-reel machines, and also replaced the need to buy large quantities of quarter inch tape, razor blades and grease pencils. The engineers called it a toy. We took a lot of shit for having that MAC in our studio. I believe we were the first in the country to do it too. But it was that little MAC plus that became responsible for the format and sound of the morning radio show (Herman & McBean - WGTR) we put on the air five days a week.

Here we are years later, and it's Apple that still leads the way for creativity in media. Steve Job's vision to design and build computers that allow humans to be creative and even reinvent themselves is a gift. I know this because it is Apple that has delivered that gift for me. I am grateful for that, and forever in debt to Steve Jobs and the remarkable tools he and Apple have given us. If you are a Apple user and opening up a session (video or audio) today, please, just look at the screen for a moment and take in the wonderfulness that is there in front of you. It truly is extraordinary.

Don't be fond of rules - Have zero respect for the status quo - Change things