Stay hungry, stay foolish
I’m guessing, by now, you’ve heard the news, so I won’t belabor that. I just wanted to throw my humble voice into the crowds who are outpouring similar sentiments.
For me, as a young, budding industrial designer it’s so much more than a brand. It’s not about computers or phones or the impressive amounts of profits. It’s about a man with humble beginnings who believed he could make a difference. This is where I struggle: I’m too much a realist. Not everyone with dreams will achieve them. But by the same token, believing that is exactly what will keep you from achieving them. So believe despite the statistics. Believe in order to fight the statistics.
It’s crazy for me to think that there are people who went to school with him. People who liked racecars with him in kindergarten and people who played basketball with him in gym class. Some people graduated in his class, and they all threw their hats up in the air together. And yet, why don’t I know their names?
This is a story about passion. This is a man who woke up in the morning and rolled out of bed with raw, pure desire in him. A vision for the world that he dreamed about the night previous. This is a man who didn’t quit until he made it a reality. Anyone can dream, those former classmates who we’ve never heard of, they probably have dreams. But Steve Jobs did it.
And this is where I draw so much inspiration from. This is what makes me so strongly emotional. I’m sad to hear of any death, of course, it’s never pleasant, but it’s a sort of bittersweet thing. A poetic thing. Here’s a man who knew he was going to die someday and wanted to make the most out of the days he did live, and look at the results. Why aren’t I doing the same thing? Why aren’t we as a society?
It’s a kick in the butt as well. A remainder of our frailty and mortal weaknesses. This is a man who was very recently the top of the richest companies in the world, and all of that money could not save him. Money is not the end goal. The cars, the houses, the stuff. It fades away. He made a change, an honest, genuine difference in how humans interact with machines. It’s not about screen sizes or RAM amounts or anything. It’s about the vision of what humans should be able to do. He designed it for us.
So I look at my own life, the one ahead of me. I’d love to leave such a legacy, of course, but that’s not the goal. The fame, the money, that’s not the goal for me. I want to make change. I want to improve people’s lives with design. I’m not afraid of death itself, I’m afraid of dying before I can improve someone else’s life first.
And I deeply thank people like Steve for putting that thought, that desire into my head. I do it for you, man. Thank you.
Stay hungry, stay foolish. Think different.
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