After hearing the news of the death of Steve Jobs, my first reaction was of sadness for him and his family. But later, it became more than sadness as the news of his death was repeatedly broadcast by the media. That dull feeling in one’s stomach, tight throat and itchy eyes.

In the 1980s Steve told John Sculley, president of Pepsi, that he could sell sugared water but if he joined Apple he could change the world. Prophetic words and ones I listened to as well. In those days and stuck in a career I hated, Apple’s computers offered an escape route.

The competition then had green-and-black screens, were driven by command lines, and beeped; while Apple’s computers were in colour, operated by a mouse, and talked to you in stereo. Macs opened the door into desktop publishing, something I had a toehold in via the old Amstrad PCW and Atari ST. It meant spending as much as a brand new car for a Mac, laser printer, and software, but my design and publishing business flourished, keeping me in work for over 20 years until the bankers screwed the world.

Now, I am typing this on my Mac Pro (albeit logged in from a PC 10 miles away), make calls on my iPhone, listen to my iPod, and take an iPad and MacBook on holiday. Tonight we shall probably watch something on our Apple TV.

Steve Jobs and all the people at Apple transformed my life in so many ways that I just can’t express my gratitude and how much I owe the company and its visionary leader, Steve Jobs.

Copyright © 2011 Mark Tennent.