Steve Jobs: Remembering a Genius

Steve Jobs passed away yesterday, as most of you probably know. This is significant, because Jobs wasn’t simply a good businessman; he was a creative genius who constantly saw the potential for applications of technology in our day-to-day lives. Although Apple never spent much time exploring the world of video games, it is impossible to pretend that Jobs’s passing means nothing to this industry.

Love it or hate it, it can’t be denied that Apple isn’t merely a part of contemporary culture. It played a hand in creating the culture of modern America. Walk down any city street and count the number of people listening to iPods. Take a glance at a college classroom, and don’t be surprised if you see students taking notes on an iPad. Apple products are part of our cultural iconography, and it took an innovator like Steve Jobs to have that kind of effect.

Even us gamers felt the presence of Apple in our lives. The iPhone, as anyone who has seen one in action knows, is definitely more than just a phone. The abundance of apps available for this product makes it the Swiss Army Pocket Knife of gadgets. While plenty of these serve practical purposes, it’s difficult to argue that there’s much to gain–besides hours upon hours of pure entertainment–from playing Angry Birds.

But, when you think about it, Angry Birds is a great example of how Steve Jobs managed to touch the gaming industry. With interest in computer-programming growing among young students, game-design is no longer exclusie. Enough people with enough talent can put together a game like Angry Birds, and thank to products like the iPhone, people will actually play it. While it’s not quite a revolution in gaming just yet, it could be someday soon.

Apple will probably survive without Steve Jobs, but he should be remembered as someone who looked forward. In an age where innovation isn’t restricted to a select few, there’ll be plenty of people following in his footsteps.

He left a quite a legacy for those hopefuls to live up to.

As a gamer, what does the passing of Steve Jobs mean to you?