The 'Bite' that changed technology

After Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, President Obama said: "There may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented." Accolades still continue to flow, celebrating Jobs' achievements and genius. In fact, so much has been written about Jobs as a visionary who revolutionised the computer, phone and music industries, that to dedicate one more column to him may seem redundant. However, there is a compelling reason for this posthumous tribute to Jobs. Sieving through all the information about this creator of gadgets, I was fascinated by glimpses of an artist: someone who integrated hardware and software into a near-perfect aesthetic form.
There was an imaginative side to Jobs that is immediately apparent to anyone who has used an Apple device. While Apple's technical team worked on each novel invention, reportedly, Jobs spent hours focusing on the design, shape, colours and hues of the new creation. And that's not all. Jobs made sure that each Apple product was self-contained so that manuals were unnecessary. Be it the iPhone or the iPad, you press the one obvious "go" button on the front and the entire contrivance comes alive. It sets itself up to work for you. And, you start playing with it by touching and dragging the icons, more by sheer instinct than prior knowledge.
Jobs' greatest contribution to technology has been that he coupled his intellect with his artistic intuition to come up with uniquely imaginative products. He improvised and experimented until he was satisfied that the mechanisms in his devices were visually attractive as well as effortlessly straightforward. Each invention was the work of a solo jazz player who did not follow a set script, but created beautiful music.
To understand Jobs' persistent drive for success it may be worthwhile to take a peek into his life. Adopted at birth, when he was six he was teased by a friend about being abandoned by his biological parents. His adopted parents, however, convinced him that he was special because he was "chosen" by them. This had a tremendous impact on little Steve who always believed that he was unique and had a mission to fulfill in this world. True, he worked relentlessly to achieve his goals, but his life was full of coincidences and one is inclined to believe that, to a certain extent, he was Destiny's chosen one.
Steve's love for things beautiful and artistic was instilled by his surrogate father who always insisted that handiwork, no matter how trivial, should be aesthetic. Once while building a house fence, his father instructed him to ensure that even the concealed screws were neat and attractive. Consequently, Steve paid utmost attention to the layout of the circuits and chips in the gadgets he designed until they were arranged in artistic forms and patterns. His interest in art was also sparked by a calligraphy class he took in college. This is what he said about this experience many years later, "It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating."
In some ways, Jobs succeeded in changing realities to suit his goals, until mortality hit him in the form of pancreatic cancer. However, he lived the fifty six years of his life with the conviction that every moment counts. In the years 2000-2011, Jobs spearheaded the creation of the iPod, iPhone and iPad. The astonishing fact is that he was simultaneously battling cancer during much of this phenomenally productive period.
A write-up on Steve Jobs would be incomplete if I didn't touch upon his thoughts on death and the hereafter. According to his biographer Walter Isaacson, in his last interview Jobs articulated his struggle with the concept of death and afterlife. He voiced his doubts and hoped that "when you die, it doesn't just all disappear. The wisdom you've accumulated. Somehow it lives on, but sometimes I think it's just like an on-off switch. Click and you're gone." And then, with his characteristic wry humour, Jobs added: "And that's why I don't like putting on-off switches on Apple devices."
Whatever people may think about you, Steve, nobody will be able to switch you off. Like the patented "slide to unlock" feature on your devices, your life is one that will not easily be replicated.

The writer is a renowned Rabindra Sangeet exponent and a former employee of the World Bank.