The Post Jobs Era Begins

Artist. Rebel. Taste maker. Trend setter.

The outspoken leader of the largest technology firm in the world stepped down this week and the masses are memorializing him as if he had died. It’s a testament to the effect that a visionary has on the world, one who has transcended the concept of great leadership in ways that will mark him in the history books forever.

I remember the first Macintosh commercial. Really. Not some crappy version from YouTube, but from the 1984 Superbowl. It was a blow-out. The Raiders beat the shit outta the Redskins. One of my favorite running backs at the time, Marcus Allen, won MVP. It was 21 to 3 at halftime, and Washington had no prospects of scoring. It was so brutal that I almost turned it off.

Then, during a 3rd quarter timeout, the network cut to commercial. And there it was. The most bizarre ad I’d ever seen. I had NO IDEA what they were talking about, but it was the hot topic at work on Monday. Within 13 months, I cleaned out my savings account, and bought my first Mac. The rest was, as they say, history.

At Column Five they’ve put together an amazing timeline of the man’s professional life, visualizing what it is to have led the technology world to where it is today. Thanks for the ride, Steve. You’re my new MVP of Superbowl XVIII.