So, I just saw that Steve Jobs, founder and former CEO of Apple, has passed away. While its known I don’t like Apple as a corporation, what is also known (to those who know me) is I won’t disrespect human life. So, here’s some thoughts – positive thoughts – about Steve Jobs and indeed Apple. Have I lost my mind? No, I really don’t think so. I think I just don’t like some of their ways but that doesn’t mean they didn’t bring any good or that Steve Jobs is a terrible person. In fact, I think quite the opposite.

First, although I disagree with blocking of recording of live music (which Apple applied for a patent on one of their phones and a technology that does try to block recording of any live event) full on (it should be up to the band, frankly), I will say that Steve Jobs has helped both the music and video/movie industry. How so, is that Apple’s hardware is more often than not taken advantage of by the entertainment industry – video and sound alike. That’s a HUGE thing to many people, myself included. Thank you Apple for helping the music industry and the graphics and video industries.

Second, I have fond memories of the Apple IIe computer. I loved some of the old games with the not so “great” (compared to today’s possibilities) graphics. Sure, there’s other old time computers I have memories of, but I won’t lie: the Apple IIe is one of them and that was Apple’s computer.

Third, a big corporation with such technologies and capabilities, brings innovation (or as much as is possible when proprietary) and jobs (pardon the pun). It also brings competition, which brings new and better things along the way (including from themselves, e.g, the Apple IIe is nothing compared to today’s Apple technology). And hey, I have to give them some credit for using a Unix based OS for their MacOS X and onward (even if they did make it hard[er] to compile programs).

Lastly, Steve Jobs was human. He also happened to die way too young in today’s world. I lost an aunt to cancer. Many people lose loves ones to cancer, and its a terrible disease and its even terrible to watch someone lose their strength, their will, themselves, as it progresses. I really wish we were more advanced with health care, and indeed cancer treatments, but sadly we are not. We just need more time and work, but sadly many more will die before that time comes. Here’s something interesting, however, and something on the positive end in a way. Anyone familiar with mustard gas? Yes, that’s what the Germans used in World War 1. Well, back in the 1950s, they actually used mustard gas in cancer. How is this positive? Well, its positive that we’ve moved away from that and to something more sane. Sure, chemotherapy and radiation are not exactly safe. Indeed, it actually is killing the cancer cells (at the same time it sadly is killing the person too). But, remember, not everything comes overnight. Remember that many things that we have today (e.g., anaesthesia for that painful surgery you might have to go through one day) didn’t always exist. Same too with anti-emetics (anti-nausea) and many other things that many people rely on. At the same time though, mustard gas was doing similar to what chemotherapy and radiotherapy do: they are killing the person (and thus cells in the body). However, what we have today is far from perfect – but it’s all we know at this time.

(As an aside, please, if you’re against medical research, keep it to yourself. Please. Too many are dying terrible deaths due to government or whoever else trying to stop medical research or even medical care. It’s fine if you do not want medical care, but please don’t try to prevent others from getting healthcare. It’s vital and you yourself would not be alive today if it were not for medical care. Don’t believe me? Then go look up the plague for one example of many diseases that wiped out many many people and that likely includes ancestors of yours.)