It has been ten years since Steve Jobs passed. The company he co-founded is worth nearly two trillion dollars. The brand he created is everywhere. The devices he helped conjure are everywhere.
And yet, we miss him every day, for there isn’t a Steve Jobs to help us overcome our mediocrities. Don’t get me wrong — there are new pretenders: the media machine needs them. The stock market needs them. But if you have lived as long as I have, you know he was one of a kind.
Here is a relevant bit from a blog post, The Tao of Steve, I wrote ten years ago:
The idea of Steve led me to follow my heart, make tough choices, be brutally honest with myself (and sometimes annoying to people I love) and always remember that in the end, it is all about making your customers happy. There are simple ways to get along with everyone. There are easier ways to get things done. There are compromises. But to me Steve Jobs meant try harder, damn it, your customers (readers) expect better than that. Steve taught me to care about the little things because in the end, little things matter.
As a former professional journalist, thankfully, I no longer have customers. I always think they the readers of this blog, expect better from me.