From the titans of technology to teenagers armed with the iPhone, millions around the world mourned the loss of Steve Jobs. Despite the dramatic farewells and the numerous shrines erected in the honor of this "great man", Steve Jobs, to me, is not at all a great man.
What exactly gives someone the right to don the title of greatness? Is greatness the title given to someone who is good at their job? By that definition, Steve Jobs is a great man.
To me, greatness isn't measured about how successfully you run a business or how much money you have in your bank account but by the humanity and selflessness of a human-being. Nelson Mandela was truly a great man. Despite being wrongfully accused and jailed for 27 years and despite the cruel acts against colored people in South Africa by the apartheid regime , Mandela continues to encourage forgiveness and reconciliation. He also gave up a third of his presidential salary to needy children while Jobs had closed Apple’s philanthropic programs when he returned to the company in 1997, saying that "philanthropy can wait until we are profitable" and never reinstated them despite $14 billion in profit last year.
If at this point you are thinking, "Don't you use his products? Isn't this all a little too hypocritical?" then you are not getting my point and I suggest you re-read from the beginning. I am not saying he didn't come up with great technology which the world has benefitted from. Yes, we all have gotten some good out of his products but at what cost? USD$1999 for a Macbook, USD$499 for an iPad? It's not as if Jobs was handing out free iPads on the streets of NYC or donating iPads to third world countries to aid in the education of needy orphans! Why is it people cry on bended knees for Jobs and no one sheds a tear each time we go take a shit and think about the inventor of the toilet bowl and how much of a genius he is.
The world seriously needs to gain some perspective.
If right now, you think you look like a total dumbass for crying your eyes sore over Jobs, you're a 100% right, you are a dumbass. Maybe you'd even try to defend yourself by saying that it was cause he died a painful death due to pancreatic cancer and that tugged at your heartstrings. Yup, how bout you drive to the closest hospital, go to the oncology department and start the tears flowing?
I reiterate. I am not taking anything away from Steve Jobs as a businessman. He is a marketing genius, I'll give him that, but beyond that, based on what credits can we call him great?
Calling Steve Jobs great belittles the very notion of greatness. By bestowing greatness to someone who worked for no one but himself and lived for fame and personal glory, we put the people who are truly great to tremendous shame.
Steve Jobs was not a great man. He was simply great at his job.
