Thursday, August 25, 2011
Steve Jobs: An end of an era
The stepping down of Apple's Steve Jobs is sad on so many fronts. It's sad on a personal level to see anyone stricken with such a terrible illness. It's sad on a corporate level for Jobs' beloved Apple. It's sad for the high-tech industry. But it's also sad for America in general.
Unfortunately, we live in a time when so many of our greatest minds flock to Wall Street for the quick and easy riches, whether they're Harvard or MIT or other college grads, and shun professions where patience, hard work and risk are the name of the game. Please don't tell me that finance is a risky business. It isn't. It's a safe, almost guaranteed way to make big bucks, with the government acting as a virtual backstop for all types of blunders. It has become the anti-thesis of true capitalism. But An Wang, Ken Olsen, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs. Now those are free-enterprise titans worthy of a nation's deep respect. They were all young entrepreneurs at one point. Their successes were never guaranteed. They were industry pioneers. They ended up changing industry history and our lives.
Now one of those risk-taking giants is stepping down. Who is going to replace Jobs? Who is the next true American free-enterprise titan who can come even close to what he's accomplished? I'm sure there are some worthy candidates out there. Mark Zuckerberg comes to mind, though his genius is more of the type that rides the crest of technological innovation, rather than creating technological innovations. Zuckerberg is an adapter. Jobs is a creator. There's a big difference. Steve Jobs has been a huge innovative force within the high-tech world for 35 long years now, changing the computer, movie, music and phone industries along the way. It's an understatement to say he will be missed. His departure leaves a gaping hole within America's tech and innovation sectors.
The stepping down of Apple's Steve Jobs is sad on so many fronts. It's sad on a personal level to see anyone stricken with such a terrible illness. It's sad on a corporate level for Jobs' beloved Apple. It's sad for the high-tech industry. But it's also sad for America in general.
Unfortunately, we live in a time when so many of our greatest minds flock to Wall Street for the quick and easy riches, whether they're Harvard or MIT or other college grads, and shun professions where patience, hard work and risk are the name of the game. Please don't tell me that finance is a risky business. It isn't. It's a safe, almost guaranteed way to make big bucks, with the government acting as a virtual backstop for all types of blunders. It has become the anti-thesis of true capitalism. But An Wang, Ken Olsen, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs. Now those are free-enterprise titans worthy of a nation's deep respect. They were all young entrepreneurs at one point. Their successes were never guaranteed. They were industry pioneers. They ended up changing industry history and our lives.
Now one of those risk-taking giants is stepping down. Who is going to replace Jobs? Who is the next true American free-enterprise titan who can come even close to what he's accomplished? I'm sure there are some worthy candidates out there. Mark Zuckerberg comes to mind, though his genius is more of the type that rides the crest of technological innovation, rather than creating technological innovations. Zuckerberg is an adapter. Jobs is a creator. There's a big difference. Steve Jobs has been a huge innovative force within the high-tech world for 35 long years now, changing the computer, movie, music and phone industries along the way. It's an understatement to say he will be missed. His departure leaves a gaping hole within America's tech and innovation sectors.
