How Steve Jobs helped diversify the digital age
OPINION - However the technology is used, it cannot be denied that Apple has grown and cultivated a global technological community that simply did not exist before. ..
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do…” – Steve Jobs, 1955-2011
For almost as long as the term ‘technology’ has been in use, there has also been the issue of how that technology gets used, who gets to make the decisions about its use, and who will have access to the technology in question.
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The idea of the “democratization of technology,” where those questions are answered by the needs of many instead of few, was not something the tech industry has always embraced. Even now, technology is still seen as intimidating and inaccessible by a part of the global population.
WATCH RACHEL MADDOW’S COVERAGE OF THE DEATH OF STEVE JOBS
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At the same time the United Nations is declaring internet access a human right and proclaiming it a violation of international law to deny it, the digital divide is growing larger and at a faster pace than ever.
Apple is one of the companies that have been at the forefront of putting technology back into the hands of the people. Through highly innovative design and genius marketing, Steve Jobs gave us products that we not only use, but that we’ve integrated into our daily lives as seamlessly as a refrigerator or a toothbrush.
In March of this year, Apple announced it had sold 100 million iPhones worldwide, making it the largest mobile handset vendor in the world. But as far back as 2009, iPhones accounted for 50 percent of all mobile web traffic in the U.S. That number has probably decreased somewhat with the growing popularity of Android smartphones, but Apple is still a worldwide leader in this area.
And where the iPhone may be losing ground, the iPad is making up the difference. Selling 15 million units as of March 2011, the iPad has sold more than all of the other tablets on the market combined. You also have to consider Apple’s iTunes as well, completely revolutionizing the way we listen to music with over 10 billion tracks downloaded as of February 2010. All of these figures only serve to reinforce the notion that Apple has had a huge role in making technology easy and easily accessible.
But that was a part of Steve Jobs’ vision from the very beginning. He was dedicated to giving people what they wanted and what he thought would add actual value to their lives. In talking about the design of the iPod, Jobs said:
“Look at the design of a lot of consumer products — they’re really complicated surfaces. We tried to make something much more holistic and simple. When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions. Most people just don’t put in the time or energy to get there. We believe that customers are smart, and want objects which are well thought through.”
WATCH THIS CLASSIC CLIP OF STEVE JOBS GIVING A COMMENCEMENT SPEECH:
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If you own any Apple products, think about how you use them. Is your iPhone the first thing you look at when you wake up in the morning? Do you use the apps on your iPhone for banking, bill paying, or any of the other applications that are available on a half million apps? Do you take your iPod to the gym, or have you stopped buying newspapers and magazines in favor of the content on your iPad?
However the technology is used, it cannot be denied that Apple has grown and cultivated a global technological community that simply did not exist before.
I believe this may be Steve Jobs’ greatest legacy.
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