NVinNYC

I never met Steve Jobs personally and, like millions, I’ll always regret that.

I was fortunate enough to see him in person a few times though.  The first was at  the keynote of Macworld San Francisco in 2001 when he introduced the word to iTunes with “One More Thing” of the Titanium PowerBook G4.  I waited in line with my dad for several hours in the dark and cold of a January morning just to get a good seat, but I was still way in the back. In the end, it didn’t matter, because I still could feel his charisma fill the auditorium. It was probably the coolest thing I had experienced at that point in my life; it probably still is one of the top.

I was working for Apple at Macworld in 2005 when I saw him next.  Earlier that morning he had introduced the iPod shuffle and I was manning a wall with about a hundred of them hanging from lanyards (picture, yes, I had a bright green shirt on too).  All of a sudden, as if someone started moshing behind me at a concert, I was getting pushed and shoved by a mob of people.  I turn around, and amidst a throng of photographers flashing photos and reporters yelling questions, Steve, beaming from ear to ear, walks up to one guy who was trying the shuffle out to ask him what he thinks. The guy mumbles something about it being small & light, Steve thanks him, and with that strides off, throng of reporters chasing at his heels.

I wish I could have followed him too that day; just for a little while. I think we’ve all been following at Steve’s heel in one way or another since the beginning of Apple. I hope we still get the chance to trace his footsteps now that he’s gone.

http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/