It is all over the news..Steve Jobs just passed away.

And yes, I admit, it makes me sad.  Like millions of people, I am affected by the loss of a true visionaire , a genius who understood both consumer needs, products, technology and was true to his dream, his passion, his vision.  There are gonna be hundreds of Tweets, articles, books published detailing better than me the impact of Steve on Apple, the product launched and its fantastic ascension to glory and fame.

From the first MacBook to of course the iPod, the iPhone, the iTunes Music Store, the world is today living, breathing Apple and no one else comes close.  Every consumer electronic company is trying to catch up, none are succeeding in the same vision.

And this makes me proud.  Because I was privileged to be for a time, part of this adventure, part of the Apple family, and truly a family it is.  Working for Apple for almost 5 years at European Headquarter , meeting Steve Jobs , Greg Joswiak, Phil Schiller, Fred Anderson and Tim Cook was one of the most exciting and and thrilling working experience of my life.  It is difficult to describe the level of sophistication, quality, precision, and innovation that reigns during those meeting, and as an humble employee, only one word came to me at this time : respect.

All kudos to my past colleagues from Europe and USA, big thanks to Pascal Cagni who allowed me to be part of this journey where I learnt so much.

Thank you, Steve, for being so strong, so committed to your dreams and your vision.  You said once that the true creativity is not to come with great ideas, it is to know when to throw out the good ideas…. You are right.  All of us can come up with great ideas, only a few can really select the one that is really worth it and even fewer are able to make it concrete and deliver upon its promises.

Thank you for being one of the “crazy one” as you mentioned back in 1984 .  ”Think Different” remains to me the best ever advertising and communication message.

Thank you for refusing to create a loyalty program for Apple members because Apple customers are already part of an Elite Club so they do not need another “card” or “point system”.

Thank you for refusing to print catalogues or brochures and distribute them at fairs because you did not want to have people throwing them on the floor and people walking on them.

Thank you for refusing to create sponsorship for marketing events because none of the other brands would match the Apple standard.

Thank you for not disclosing your roadmap to partners, sales forces, channels and for not disclosing your strategy because we need to create a ‘One- Impact’ moment.

Thank you for letting Jonathan decides on the product design and not letting the engineering team dictate only what technically could be done.

Thank you for launching the “Digital Hub” as you said, to ensure that all devices are centered around the computer.

Thank you for refusing to sell Apple merchandising outside of 1 Infinte Loop because Apple is not a “cheap brand”.

Thank you for not giving volume discounts on the iPod and similar products, even for major partners who wanted to “bundle” it for promotional sales, because it would lower the value of the products.

Thank you for keeping information internal and creating different code names for departments to ensure that while we all work on similar projects, we only get a partial view and are able to be wowed by the final beauty.

Thank you for hiring so many talents who today are ready to take over your vision and continue to make a difference in the world we live.

Because this is what it is about.

You have achieved what we all try to do.  You have changed the world, changed the way we think about products, changed the way we interact, changed the way we consume content, and raised high our expectations.

It was an honor, it still is.  Thank you, Steve and all my prayers go to your family.

Rest In Peace, God bless you.

PS : In memory of Steve Jobs, change your profile pic to his black turtleneck.
http://on.fb.me/ode-steve
#odetosteve

Tags: Apple, Fred Anderson, Greg Joswiak, iPhone, iPod, Macbook, Pascal Cagni, Phil Schiller, Steve Jobs, Tim Cook

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 6th, 2011 at 9:57 am and is filed under Brand, Digital. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.