Steve Jobs changed everything that we on this forum, and everyone who uses a personal computer do/does. Apple didn't invent the mouse or the GUI, but they introduced it to computing. Their Apple II series along with the Commodore 64 and Tandy Color Computer did more to bring computing to the masses than IBM or Microsoft. The Apple IIe in particular was a workhorse for early electronic musicians.

My stepfather was at the local computer meeting where Jobs and Woz introduced the first Apple computer. (I have seen that machine at a Fry's store in Santa Clara, California. It is literally built on a wooden plank.) This was in the days of Altair and other homebrew computers that used switches and lights for the interface, had a whopping 2 Kb of RAM and no storage. Everybody thought it was nice but couldn't see any potential.

The difference between a Gates, a Jobs, or any of the other giants in the cyberworld and the rest of us is vision. Many of us have their technical chops, but can't begin to see the potential of our own ideas. I don't think that "genius" is defined by intelligence. I think it is smarts combined with productivity that makes it. They have it; I don't.

I don't think I could have worked for the man, but I have to respect him. It is more than a bit humbling to realize that he was two years younger than I when he died.

"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."