Isn’t it ironic that the know-nothings of the Occupy Wall Street protests so earnestly employ Steve Jobs-invented technology to attack the capitalist system of which Jobs was so important a part — and in which he was such a firm believer?
The genius of Jobs, who died Wednesday at 56, consisted not just of how he reshaped technology, information-sharing and social interaction.
No, Steve Jobs had a sixth sense that told him what consumers wanted — and needed — long before they did themselves.
As Nick Schulz of the American Enterprise Institute observed: “Jobs gave people products they didn’t know they wanted — and then made those products indispensable to their lives.”
Thus was his impact on our daily life almost incalculable; think Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller.
And, in that spirit, he was an eternally optimistic, job-producing capitalist.
His Macintosh was one of the world’s most influential computers. His iPod reinvented portable music players, working perfectly with his iTunes, the first successful legal method for selling music online.
His iPhone and iPad — vital tools for the Occupiers — revolutionized portable computing. And while Jobs didn’t invent Twitter, there’d be precious little tweeting without the technology Apple did bring to market.
And so it went.
It was obvious when he stepped down as Apple’s CEO just a few weeks ago that Steve Jobs was a very sick man. Yet his passing still saddened millions.
Steve Jobs may be gone, but his impact will be felt for a long time to come. RIP.