I've had a few people look to me on some sort of reaction on the news of Steve Jobs quitting Apple and what it means to the future of the company. Mostly, people want to know if I'm dancing in the streets over it. I know when I was younger I absolutely hated Apple. Most "Apple People" I knew were obnoxious. They made the same three jokes about PCs and would drone on and on about the superiority of Apple products. Mind you, this was in the 1990s, pre-iPod, pre-OSX, back when the Mac OS was a monochrome mess.

These days? Not so much. Apple has pretty much won the personal music player business (killing it in favor of phones) and the tablet wars. Since they really haven't made an impact in the desktop PC market as of yet, though their users are still making the same tired PC jokes they were in the 1990s, they've declared that we're living in a "post PC" age. Whatever. I don't really care because... I own a Mac.

I won't own it for long now that I've gotten it back from loaning it to a friend, but I do have a Mac in the house. I did, at one point, try the Mac switch and you know what? It didn't take. Three years later, it still hasn't taken. That's why I'm getting rid of it again.

I'm sure there are tons of wonderful things it can do that I'm not getting and I'm sure it's easy as pie for some people but for me it didn't take. Do I think they suck? Am I going to chest beat and scream the superiority of PCs everywhere? No. I'm older now. I don't care. Here's my most recent experience: I tried video capture on the Mac and it didn't work. The software I need for animation isn't out on the Mac and I don't feel like spending thousands of dollars for Mac versions of the PC software I already own. Sure Photoshop might be "better" on my Mac, but who has the $500 it's going to take to buy a new license? For various reasons, it just didn't take with me and that's nobody's fault nor a reflection of the product. I don't hate anything, it's just not going to work for me at this time.

Now Steve Jobs is leaving Apple and again, heads turn to me to see if I'm going to be obnoxious about it. Frankly, yes, I'm going to use it in story lines in the comic book, but hey, I write about everything. People seem to forget that I wrote Bill Gates and Paul Allen as a clearly gay couple and parody of the Simpsons Mr. Burns and Smithers for years. They had no problem with that but as soon as I mention Steve Jobs they get uppity. Oh well.

I am quite aware that the facts are that the man has made a lot of good products and he's been driving the industry for years. The non-Apple products I love so dearly are BETTER because of the competition he provides because his products are so good. So my hat goes off to him for his efforts.

Apple is not going to die because he's switched roles. He's still going to guide them for years and they're going to have success for years to come. That said, for as long as he's still with the company, he's fair game for a story line. I am a joke maker. I write jokes and nobody gets a free pass. It's that simple. Now send the villagers with the torches and pitchforks to mini-Lee, she needs the excitement! I'm out. :)

Update 10/20

Steve Jobs died on October 5, 2011. Apple's stock has skyrocketed since the release of the iPhone 4S.

Jim

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