I was sad to read in the comments section (which is pretty much where I get all my news these days) that Steve Jobs is going to be "on leave" from Apple. Let me tell you something – – – just as sure as I am that Obama is going to be a one-term President, I am of the opinion that Jobs' departure is going to be a permanent one; and that makes me sad.
As I've mentioned before, Steve Jobs is the other half of my pair of heroes (the other being George Carlin). When I was writing my Carlin eulogies, in the back of my mind, I was telling myself, "it won't be long before you're going to have to do one of these for Jobs too."
Now, I don't know any more about the man's health than anyone else out there. It's just a hunch. But his departure suggested to me how Jobs is a metaphor for the American economy.
When he and Wozniak put their little partnership together in 1976, it was a great time to start a business. Whoever thought in 1976 that starting a small company in the U.S. was a great idea? These guys were able to put something together and take on the world before anyone else knew what hit them. The economy had been fallow for so long, and although no one could have predicted it, the Reagan-infused 80s was going to usher in a fantastic resurgence of the entrepreneurial spirit. I hope, for our nation's sake, that the year 2016 feels like 1976 again. We could use it.
He was kicked out by (that schmuck) Sculley in 1985, by he made his triumphant return in 1997 as a "consultant." Then an "interim" CEO. And then the real thing. I feel his "interim" is going to get dropped from his departure as well.
What he was able to do from 1997 to 2007 was nothing short of miraculous. But the economy is in a death spiral, and I can't help but feel that Jobs is doing the same. It's like Elliott and E.T. "Mom, we're dying."
Anyway, I hate to be so morbid. But I think this is the beginning of the end, and it makes me sad. One day I'll have to write about the time I finally met the man, face to face. One on one. In a hardware store. It's an interesting little tale.
