When Steve Jobs gave the 2005 Stanford commencement speech he closed with some pretty solid advice:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” (http://wapo.st/nEoOPM)

Over the past month I have been working my way through his official biography. I had put off reading it because, to me, it came out unsettlingly close to his death and I think it is important to have the perspective that only time can give. I am now almost done and feel like the I understand the man who revolutionized tech and design for my generation less than ever.

My first Apple product was an ipod. I loved that thing literally to its death. It was followed by a macbook, iphone, ipod shuffle, macbook pro, new iphone, and most recently an ipad mini. I am not a tech person. I could not tell you why I like Apple products beyond the fact that they are intuitive to use and sexy to look at.

So much of my life revolves around my technology that at times I even resent it. I wish I didn’t need to always be available on my phone for work or be checking email every 20 minutes. But, those things would probably have happened without Steve. The idea of a personal computer was revolutionary but I disagree that no one else would have done it if Steve and Woz had not been around. Progress happens often regardless of specific players. It might just have taken a less linear route to get to where we are today.

Beyond the physical products that Steve helped bring into the world, there is an ideology that follows his memory that is grounded in creativity, perfection, commitment to excellence, desire for beauty, and an all-or-nothing wild abandon that resonates with me.

I strive to stay hungry, stay foolish and would rather be a pirate than join the Navy.