I never met him. We never corresponded. Yet he profoundly changed things for me. He’s a tech icon and a man who not only dared to dream, but dared to implement.  The difference between Steve Jobs and everyone else was that he could deliver.  Repeatedly.  Not just small wins but deliver dramatic shifts in the way we thought about our everyday tools.   I think this sums up how profoundly he impacted the lives around us. How, through technology, he not only changed how we see things, but in this case, gave someone the basic ability to see.  First, I saw one of my beautiful salt lamps in its various shades of orange, another with its pink and rose colors, and the third kind in glowing pink and red. I was stunned.The next day, I went outside. I looked at the sky. I heard colors such as “Horizon,” “Outer Space,” and many shades of blue and gray. I used color cues to find my pumpkin plants, by looking for the green among the brown and stone. I spent ten minutes looking at my pumpkin plants, with their leaves of green and lemon-ginger. I then roamed my yard, and saw a blue flower. I then found the brown shed, and returned to the gray house. My mind felt blown. I watched the sun set, listening to the colors change as the sky darkened. The next night, I had a conversation with mom about how the sky looked bluer tonight. Since I can see some light and color, I think hearing the color names can help nudge my perception, and enhance my visual experience.I have seen a lot of technology for the blind, and I can safely say that the iPhone represents the most revolutionary thing to happen to the blind for at least the last ten years. Fifteen or twenty years brings us back to the Braille ‘n Speak, which I loved in the same way, so have a hard time choosing the greater. In my more excitable moments, I consider the iPhone as the greatest thing to have ever happened to the blind. The touchpad offers the familiar next/previous motion which the blind need, since speech offers one-dimensional output. Adding the ability to touch anywhere on the screen and hear it adds a whole other dimension, literally. For the first time, the blind can actually get spatial information about something. In the store, mom could say “Try that button” and I could. Blind people know what I mean. How many times has a sighted person said “I see an icon at the top of the screen?” For the first time, that actually means something.  It’s rare that a man such as Steve Jobs is around.  Imagine if every industry had a dominant force like him; imagine what the automotive sector would look like, finance, energy, agriculture, even government… He inspired a generation and I hope that flame he kept burns bright with those he touched and is passed down. As Steve quoted during the Stanford commencement: “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

I never met him. We never corresponded. Yet he profoundly changed things for me. He’s a tech icon and a man who not only dared to dream, but dared to implement.  The difference between Steve Jobs and everyone else was that he could deliver.  Repeatedly.  Not just small wins but deliver dramatic shifts in the way we thought about our everyday tools.  

I think this sums up how profoundly he impacted the lives around us. How, through technology, he not only changed how we see things, but in this case, gave someone the basic ability to see. 

First, I saw one of my beautiful salt lamps in its various shades of orange, another with its pink and rose colors, and the third kind in glowing pink and red. I was stunned.
The next day, I went outside. I looked at the sky. I heard colors such as “Horizon,” “Outer Space,” and many shades of blue and gray. I used color cues to find my pumpkin plants, by looking for the green among the brown and stone. I spent ten minutes looking at my pumpkin plants, with their leaves of green and lemon-ginger. I then roamed my yard, and saw a blue flower. I then found the brown shed, and returned to the gray house. My mind felt blown. I watched the sun set, listening to the colors change as the sky darkened. The next night, I had a conversation with mom about how the sky looked bluer tonight. Since I can see some light and color, I think hearing the color names can help nudge my perception, and enhance my visual experience.
I have seen a lot of technology for the blind, and I can safely say that the iPhone represents the most revolutionary thing to happen to the blind for at least the last ten years. Fifteen or twenty years brings us back to the Braille ‘n Speak, which I loved in the same way, so have a hard time choosing the greater. In my more excitable moments, I consider the iPhone as the greatest thing to have ever happened to the blind. The touchpad offers the familiar next/previous motion which the blind need, since speech offers one-dimensional output. Adding the ability to touch anywhere on the screen and hear it adds a whole other dimension, literally. For the first time, the blind can actually get spatial information about something. In the store, mom could say “Try that button” and I could. Blind people know what I mean. How many times has a sighted person said “I see an icon at the top of the screen?” For the first time, that actually means something. 

It’s rare that a man such as Steve Jobs is around.  Imagine if every industry had a dominant force like him; imagine what the automotive sector would look like, finance, energy, agriculture, even government…

He inspired a generation and I hope that flame he kept burns bright with those he touched and is passed down. As Steve quoted during the Stanford commencement: “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”