Once upon a time there were computers. They were big and took an army of wizards to run.
Then a little man with help from his friends made a little box called the Apple. At first a kit but soon in production and going into schools and homes.

Soon “IBM clones” came along and followed the path the Apple blazed.

Once upon a time computers were boxes on the desk. They required people to know a language called DOS and use obscure commands like C:\deltree, and E:\copy filename.txt C:\filename.txt. Then along came a little box called Macintosh. You could point and click and move files around or copy them or use them on a screen that was white like a piece of paper. People that did not know the obscure language could use this computer.

Soon others came along and followed the path blazed by Macintosh.

Once upon a time computers were big grey boxes. They all looked the same and worked the same way they had for years. Then along came a box called iMac. It was pretty, and ran well, and did not require patches every week or knowledge of how to install cards or drivers.

Soon other computers tried to follow the path blazed by the iMac but none has been able to get the balance of ease and cleverness quite as well.

Once upon a time there was UNIX. It was clean and fast and stable and far superior to other systems for running computers. The trouble was that it required that you know a language even harder than DOS. Then along came OS-X. It took the stability of UNIX and combined it with the simplicity of Macintosh.

Others tried follow the path blazed by OS-X but either the result wasn’t as stable or wasn’t as easy to use.

Once upon a time portable music players required that you carry CDs with you. Either that or they were expensive, had little storage and were hard to use. Then along came along a player called the iPod. It was small and light and easy to use and soon had a store that made getting music legally simple and convenient.

Others have tried to follow the path blazed by the iPod but none have come close and most gave up after a few years.

Once upon a time telephones were for making calls. Japan and other parts of the world had “SmartPhones” but in North America very few adopted them. Sure there were BlackBerries but those were for calls, e-mail and texting by businessmen. They weren’t easy to use and not very capable. Then along came the iPhone. It was easy to use. It could do everything other phones could, but it also could download Apps that could make it do a thousand things more. Games, and tools, and information, and surf the web and on and on. These Apps made the iPhone even “smarter” than the Japanese “SmartPhones”.

Soon all other phones were following the path blazed by the iPhone.

Once upon a time there was a dream of a tablet computer. One that was thin and light and simple to use and did not need a keyboard or mouse. A few tried to make them but none succeeded. Then along came the iPad. It did everything that the iPhone did, everything the dreamers said a tablet computer could do and more. It was slim and light and easy to use.

Soon others were trying to follow the path blazed by the iPad.

Along the way was the trackpad and Pixar, and USB, and desktop publishing, and a thousand other things either invented by or adopted and made a standard by, or funded and kept afloat by, or just encouraged by, the little man that started making Apple kits in a garage. Whole industries employing millions of people can be traced to the little man who made Apple kits in a garage. Indeed very few businesses and products and people worldwide have not been impacted by the little man who made Apple kits in his garage.

Thus ends the Book of Jobs.

OK Now it’s your turn.

It was the early ‘80s, I was still in the Navy and assigned to training command. We used some forms in our work and they were horrid with items out of sequences, confusing questions and just generally clunky. We had a terminal that was connected to a mainframe at a Navy engineering facility and I found that I could use it as a simple word processor so I used to revise the forms we used.

Frustrated with the line editor I started looking at personal computers. Some of my mates had Apples and others had PCs, there were no Macs at this time. I took at look at them both and decided that an Apple IIc with AppleWorks was better than a PC and WordStar. I revised all of our forms and other documents, but I also used the database to track ship’s training. Also one of my collateral duties was the equal opportunity coordinator and use the Apple IIc to manage those duties.

A job on the 3rd Fleet Staff as was opening up, I applied for it and got it. I used the Apple IIc to manage the Command Inspection Program and really streamlined that operation. Admiral Lautermilk, Pacific Fleet Inspector General, nominated me for the Navy Achievement Medal for my work in bringing PCs into the staff, Secretary of Navy James Watt gave me the medal.

I was getting close to the time when I could retire from the Navy and was thinking hard about it. I would have to go back to sea, but I had a teenage son at home who needed me to be around. Just as I made that decision Beagle Bros Software advertised an opening in technical support. I got that job and had a great time there.

There are several magazines devoting special issues to Steve, and a very good article I found on Yahoo! can be found here:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/time-stops-jobs-news-media-scrambles-cover-apple-181215992.html

Sir Harry Flashman - 06 October 2011 02:53 PM

It was the early ‘80s, I was still in the Navy ... Admiral Lautermilk, Pacific Fleet Inspector General, nominated me for the Navy Achievement Medal for my work in bringing PCs into the staff, Secretary of Navy James Watt gave me the medal.

I was also in the Navy in the early 80’s and I always thought that the Navy Achievement Medal was the best looking ribbon in the fruit salad.

Of course, I was unsuited to military life, so I was discharged very early on, so those who were and are able to stick it out and serve our country are better men than I, and to a man they have my utmost respect.

Where in Training Command?

Here’s another brilliant tribute to Steve and Apple.

http://townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/2011/10/07/the_miracle_of_icapitalism