Article Tools

Font size
Share This

Photo: N/A, License: N/A

Legions of happy, empowered, loyal customers may be Steve Jobs' greatest legacy.

The death Wednesday of the Apple Inc. founder who helped change the way people listen to music, produce movies and use a computer has local Apple users and technology buffs reflecting on the loss of a leading figure in consumer electronics.

Mr. Jobs wasn't an engineer or a programmer, but he knew what people wanted, often before consumers themselves knew, and he sold it to them.

"He is the Henry Ford and the John D. Rockefeller of our generation who has inspired more innovation in technology than anyone," said Kris Jones, a local Internet entrepreneur who founded and "Jobs had an uncanny ability to develop devices we love and didn't even know we needed."

Apple didn't invent the mouse, the "desktop," the MP3 player or the cellphone. But Mr. Jobs adopted, advanced and popularized those technologies through Apple products.

Simplicity is a recurring theme among Apple fans.

Dennis D'Augostine of Scranton worked on his MacBook Pro at Northern Light Espresso Bar on Thursday while he mulled over Mr. Jobs' contributions. Mr. D'Augostine said Mr. Jobs will be remembered as a titan in computer and digital technology, innovations whose impact on humanity will rival that of the wheel, the plow and the printing press. Like great innovators, Mr. Jobs' took a hard technology that contributed "noise and confusion to people's lives," and made it simple, even serene, he said.

"Technology is a tool that in some ways is destroying our lives," he said. "At a time when technology is so complex and beyond most people, Steve Jobs hit on mankind's need for simplicity by making things clearer, more intuitive and simpler."

Local photographer and videographer A. Greg Raymond was at Grove Media preparing an exhibition of photos and video shot with an iPhone and edited on Apple devices. Apple and Steve Jobs expanded the use of computers beyond engineers and academics and empowered a generation of artists like Mr. Raymond. The photos in his iMAGES exhibition were edited by applications created independent developers.

"Photoshop gives you too many options - it's intimidating," he said. "But a community of Apple users created these apps, which do one thing and do it very well, and made them available to the public. There's something whimsical, quirky and empowering about that."

The ease of use means that the art is more about the artist than the process, something Mr. Raymond enjoys exploring. Mr. Raymond began fiddling with iMovie, a free movie editing program that comes with most Apple computers. It was easy and intuitive and gave Mr. Raymond the confidence to master more complicated programs which led to video work for websites of Readers' Digest and the Washington Post.

"Steve Jobs and Apple gave a creative voice to a world of creative people," Mr. Raymond said. "Apple helped my career and I'm just one person of millions."

Mr. Raymond said his exhibit, which runs through Saturday, may recognize Mr. Jobs' death and his contributions if he can find a way to do it tastefully.

Contact the writer: