Remembering Steve Jobs, Ten Years After His Death

The wise thing practice would be writing Notes by Steve Jobs shortly before his death. We all know that he did not have much time. For almost a year, even though Apple denied the allegations – I hope contrary to expectations – that the manufacturer and CEO could do this, a group of world-renowned seniors was telling another story. It was goodbye, and so was he. My farewell part came earlier in the year, in the office located at the fourth floor of One Infinite Loop, the capital of Apple at the time. Fellow journalist John Markoff and I set up the meeting without commenting on the interview, but all three of us knew it was about closing. It was the middle of the working day, and thousands of people were in the camp, but no one interrupted our 90-minute conversation. As if he were already a ghost.

Despite the evidence, I could not bring myself to write the history of the stone. Call it the Case of the Missing Kidney. That is why I was called on the afternoon of October 5, 2011, that Jobs had left, I was shocked. And I had nothing. For the next four hours, I hit the computer that Steve Jobs brought to the world-Mac, and what else? – and tell the story of his life and heritage as much as possible, in all his glory and gimcrackery.

In the last paragraph of the funeral that I did not want to write, I said, “Steve Jobs’ entire legacy will not be chosen for long.” I think we are still working on it. There will be no leader, innovator, or personality like him. And we still live in his world.

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