I’ll always remember where I was when I learned of Steve’s passing. I was walking to dinner with my family to celebrate the third Birthday of our younger daughter, Quincy. I was checking Twitter on my iPhone (which I am prone to do every 60 or 90 seconds of the day) and saw the shortest of tweets: “Steve Jobs is dead. #RIP”. After I told the news to my wife, I forwarded my initial reaction tweet to my boss and told him I’d want to publish the reaction of our CEO, John Donahoe, here on Ink. John sent me his reaction from Europe where he is currently traveling for work.
“Steve understood the power of technology to enrich our lives in simple, elegant ways. His impact on consumers all over the world is apparent wherever one goes. Without a doubt we have lost the greatest innovator of our time.” – John Donahoe.
eBay’s founder, Pierre Omidyar, had this to say in his Civil Beat article Steve Jobs Legacy: Think Different
“Steve challenged the world to “think different,” and he didn’t limit that to his company’s products. In a very real sense, thinking differently has the effect of expanding our world and our reach — our view of what we can accomplish.” – Pierre Omidyar.
As Allie and I celebrated Quincy’s big day throughout the evening yesterday we would continue to come back to Steve and what his inventions had meant for my career and for our family. It began with the simple addiction I have to my iPhone for social networking and my reliance on my iPod for podcasts and music. But as our conversations went on, we realized it all came down to the people we’ve met using those tools. Working at a podcasting company prior to eBay, the iPod was instrumental in me actually having a job and meeting the long-term friends I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know. The same can be said for my job here at eBay. The iPhone is my primary tool for Twitter – for connecting with eBay sellers, buyers, investors, and employees – and this blog post is being typed on my MacBook Pro.
The connections I have made, both personally and professionally, over the past 6 years are due in part to Steve Jobs’ vision and for that I am truly thankful and blessed.
-RBH
