Influence

I started work at my current company in 1999. I still remember the shock I felt as I was seated in front of a Macintosh computer.

It was nearly like the shock I felt when I realized that the "new-to-me" car of my dreams, a high school gift from my dad, was stick shift.

And just like that stick shift, it took a bit of time to adjust to my Mac. I took a class and was shocked at how easy it was to repair it. No difficult command lines, no new computer language. Before long, my Mac and I were best friends.

When The Boy and I moved to the UK in the mid-2000s, we bought our first iPods. Those small devices allowed us, after many long weekends of work, to upload our 1000+ CD collection to an easy-to-carry handheld device. It was revolutionary.

Apple was - and hopefully will continue to be - a reflection of its founder and creative head, Steve Jobs. Though I knew he was seriously ill (why else would he resign as CEO in August?), I was still very sad at the news of his death yesterday, October 4, 2011.

Not everyone gets to live through a massive paradigm shift.

Even fewer get to lead one.