Steve Jobs: Thoughts and Thanks From Gate6

October 6, 2011

Culture

Lad Makinde

Whether or not you liked him or his company you couldn’t deny Steve Jobs your attention. He had you. He brought technology to the masses the way the Beatles brought Brit rock and roll to America.

He was the master of the keynote, the czar of intertwining technology into the everyday persons life. Jobs understood, he simply got IT. I once heard Oprah say this about ultimate achievement in any field;

“When your name becomes synonymous with greatness beyond your line of work that’s when you know you’ve reached a level of iconic status.”

Oprah was referring to Michael Jordan and how many people substitute Jordan’s name when describing how great someone is at what they do. I think the same can and will be said about Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was and is the measuring stick for all other consumer technology companies. No one could captivate an audience to get behind a product like him, and no one dared take the risks and make the deals that he made. As we remember all the wonderful things he did while alive, we’d also like to take some time to share how he affected us as individuals here at Gate6.

Rebecca Heft (Sr. Creative Director)

Waaaay back in the day, like in 1997, I started work at a little game company in Seattle and they were all Mac users. Growing up as a PC user (nerd alert – I literally wrote my own programs in DOS as a kid) I was a little afraid of the transition from PC to Mac, but I learned very quickly that the brilliance behind Apple is that its devices are user-friendly and intuitive. What took me months to get familiar with in PCs took just a few days to understand with a Mac. It was so refreshing! Ever since then PCs have had my brain, but Apple has held onto my heart.

Shana Iverson (Graphic Designer)

I love Apple computers so much that I talked my mom, sister and boyfriend into buying one. A little apprehensive at first because of the price but they don’t regret it and consider it a great investment. They are the only computers I will use. Thanks Steve!

Shannon Spence (Content Strategist)

When iPods and mini Shuffles were first introduced, I didn’t see what all the hype was about. Then, at a work function a short time after their release, a group of managers danced into the room wearing them and it was announced that every single employee was receiving an iPod Shuffle, just for the heck of it. My life was changed from that moment on. I took that baby on its first hike and He hasn’t left my side since. (Yes–He has a personality all his own.) But seriously, I can’t go anywhere without my little Shufflin buddy.

Eric Hendrix (Sr. Art Director)

Thanks for the parties, Steve Jobs. When I entered college I was a PC guy because I had learned to fix them for myself and others and felt like a pro. I had the constant crashing and the subsequent skills to thank for this bit of popularity. As soon as I got into design in college, I had to use an Apple. It no longer crashed so when people stopped coming to me as the resident repair guy, I ACTUALLY had time to go to the parties. Thanks, Steve, for the friends and the memories.

Lad Makinde (Social Media Strategist)

I first remember using Macs when I was in elementary school and even then I innately knew they were just easier to work on than PC’s. But it wasn’t until the iPod and iTunes era began that I really began to appreciate Apple and Steve Jobs’ genius. It always seemed like Apple was one step ahead and everyone else was just playing catch up. I think a majority of that can be attributed to Steve Jobs. As us youngins like to say, the man was a “boss” (Rick Ross voice).