Jobs on jobs
Tuesday, June 14th, 2005 1:07 am by NealWired reports on Apple-brain Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford commencement speech. Naturally, he had some interesting anecdotes:
“Your time is limited so don’t let it be wasted living someone else’s life,” Jobs said to a packed stadium of graduates, alumni and family.
. . .
Jobs, 50, said he attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon but dropped out after only eight months because it was too expensive for his working-class family. He said his real education started when he “dropped in” on whatever classes interested him — including calligraphy.
Jobs said he lived off 5-cent soda recycling deposits and free food offered by Hare Krishnas while taking classes.
He told the graduates that few friends could see the value of learning calligraphy at the time but that painstaking attention to detail — including mastering different “fonts” — was what set Macintosh apart from its competitors.
“If I had never dropped out I might never have dropped in on that calligraphy,” Jobs said.
And, if you had any doubts about his dedication, well there’s this:
When he was diagnosed with cancer, Jobs said his doctor told him he only had three-to-six months to live. He later found out he had a rare, treatable form of the disease — but he still learned a tough lesson.
“Remembering you are going to die is the best way to avoid the fear that you have something to lose,” he said.
Steve Jobs is an amazing man. Mr. Jobs, I personally want to thank you for my 17″ G4 Powerbook. Its an incredible machine. I look forward to the next version of OS X which you should rename “Texan” — the one that eats “Longhorn”.