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Business & Tech

An Ode to Steve Jobs: Advancing forward, Like it or Not

As the iconic Apple CEO steps down, we must keep the pace for technological advancements.

With the announcement of Steve Jobs stepping down from his post as perhaps the most recognizable CEO in America, along with recent non-traditional additions to back-to-school supply lists, I have decided to cover technology in this week’s Extra Shot.

I was a little saddened to hear Steve Jobs will soon be leaving Apple.  In part because I am something of an Apple fanboy, though only somewhat because I am not a rich Apple fanboy (I still rock a 7 year old iPod *gasp*).  Also because I will miss Fred Armisen spoofing Jobs on SNL.

Though if you have seen Armisen’s impression it is important to realize where the humor is coming from. It is not Armisen’s accurate portrayal of Jobs, which isn’t nearly as entertaining as his spin on former NY Governor Paterson dumping all over New Jersey.  The humor in making fun of the former CEO is parodying in the lightening fast pace of these seemingly bi-annual monumental technological advances.

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Earlier: What's App Wilmette and Kenilworth? Check out these Free iPhone Apps

It has become commonplace to see the latest and greatest marvel of technology become obsolete within a year of hitting the market. Many of these shiny new toys pass the majority of consumers by without much notice. Yet from time to time a new next-great-thing hits the market and actually does change the way we go about our lives.

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Case and point, howdy I am on the internet… and so are you! We are currently “on” a shared webpage which represents itself as a local newspaper, sans paper [suck it Beacon]. We’re so frick’n techno-savvy that your paperless newspaper can tell you things like, , and it makes sense to you.

But the Internet is yesterday’s news. The next revolution currently in the works is taking place in the world of publishing. Just as Patch has set out to take the paper out of news, eReaders and tablets are looking to take the laps out of laptops.

If, like me, you too enjoy frequenting coffee houses, then odds are you’ve seen a shift in the reading materials some patrons are using at the corner table. Over the course of the last couple of years more and more folks have made the shift from books and magazines to Kindles, Nooks, and iPads. But it is clear that these new eReaders and tablets are not simply new nifty gadgets.

Technological advances have a best friend, and her name is Academia.  It is in our schools where the real push is made to guarantee that new devices take hold in our culture. Recently I had a young mother relate a story to me concerning her middle schooler’s back-to-school supply list. On the list were the standard: markers, glitter and notebooks, but so were headphones. When the young mother asked the teacher why her children would need headphones, the answer came back “for their iPod lessons.”

Some colleges have begun requiring entering students to purchase iPads en lieu of traditional textbooks. Who wants to take bets on how long before New Trier follows suit? Not that I am opposed to such a change. We’ve all witnessed a 90lb freshman crossing Happ Road lugging an 80lb backpack.

Imagine if all your kid needed for high school could be tucked under his or her arm?

The practice of moving things forward through schools isn’t a new concept. My father related a story of being an engineering student at UVA in the 70’s and being told to purchase an HP35 calculator. His professor demonstrated on the first day of class the elaborate and complicated mathematical equation necessary to get XY.  In the past, he would spend the first six weeks of the semester teachig that equation. He then pulled out the HP35 and pressed one button.  “There,” he said, “and done.”

The only issue, the calculator cost about $300 in 1971 money, which is roughly $1,600 by today’s standards. No small potatoes, but if you wanted to keep up with the workload of the class, you pretty much had to shell out the cash.

I’ve heard people say that it is difficult to keep up with technology.  The truth is that technology isn’t a sentient being… yet. Technology only moves forward as fast as we push it. Which is faster than some of us would prefer, either because we are fearful of change (“traditional” if you’d rather), or because we’re cheap (“fiscally responsible” if that makes your cheap ass feel better).

It may age us a little to think of so many things facing extinction; physical media, maps, dictionaries and libraries. But such is life. We may not have Steve Jobs on stage in a charcoal turtleneck holding our hand and ushering in the next big thing, but that won’t stop the march forward.

Here’s looking at you Steve, and here’s to the next big thing.

Cheers,

James

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