The Jeffersonian Steve Jobs
18 Months ago, I bought an IPAD at the Apple store on 14th and 9th and raced to catch an Amtrak to DC. Acela’s wifi was acceptable and I managed to download a few goodies onto my new device as well as play with Ibooks and other native applications.
By the time I arrived at my mother’s hospital room, I had already made my first purchase —Predictably Irrational — with Ibooks. My mother was a prominent bookseller in Washington and, as a family, we always worried about the rise of electronic books.
But playing with this new beautiful and intimate device, I realized that Jobs had done it again and e-reading was here to stay. I showed my Mom and told her, there’s really good news for authors. They will sell many books electronically. People may read more. Books will cost less and be greatly more abundant.
I’ve bought and read almost 100 books during my first 18 months . I’m convertiing all magazine subscriptions to the Tablet. My days of reading the newspaper in print are probably winding down.
Steve Jobs and Apple saved the business models of culture. When we write the history of the digital revolution’s first 20 years, it will show that these decades, like the birth of our republic, were fragile times. Jobs was the Jefferson and Adams of our digital revolution. His federalist streak was legendary given his proclivity for rigorously controlling his technology stack. However, with the release of the IPhone and IPad, Apple changed. Steve finally allowed his tribe to help him build an enormous business and massively expanded ecosystem.
While we remain in the very early stages of this transformation, Steve Jobs left his imprint as democrat with that small d. Today our news and media are created by millions of people to serve billions. Apple and a handful of other companies have set us free.
What remains for all of us to see is what we will do with this opportunity?
