The passing of Steve Jobs has made me think back on my childhood in a very real way. These thoughts have been turning over and over in my head and finally I decided I should write them down in my rarely updated blog. 
Some of my very earliest memories involved computers and technology. My dad had been working with circuit boards and machine shops since he was a young man, so naturally he was attentive during the “garage days” when people like Jobs and Bill Gates were dorky college dropouts building the future where people would otherwise keep cars and snowblowers. To be honest, we never bought a mac. Our family was 100% PC, probably because macs, in those days as they are now, were prohibitively expensive for our family.
In any case, I remember being surrounded by these growing technologies as a toddler that most of my little friends probably had no awareness of. I remember typing stories about My Little Ponies on the black and yellow screen of our first computer. Logging onto Prodigy to play educational games with the EEEEEUUUUUEAAAARRRRKHHHHHH of the modem. Chatting with my best friend over a network connection that our dads had set up, long before chat and IMing became common. Finally, Windows 3.1 and beyond.
In high school, I finally acquired some mac items. I got one of the “flowerpot” iMacs in 11th grade which is still functioning as we speak. (albeit a bit slowly) I bought one of the earliest ipod models with money I made from working at Walgreens. $426 for 10 gigs. It is ALSO still functioning, even though the battery life sucks and the data cable doesn’t work with any of the current mac models. Now, I have an iPod touch and an iPod Nano. Like many others, Steve Jobs’ influence is extremely visible in my life.
For all these reasons, I have a special admiration for these garage engineers. Technology was always such a new and exciting thing when I was growing up. Some of my very favorite memories were because of their legacy and I definitely agree with so many others that Jobs left us far too soon.
