“I had always dreamed of working at Apple someday, and, eventually, I did,” David Cairns blogs. “For part of my time there, I had an office that received no visible sunlight and had no view of the outside. It wasn’t all bad, I was enjoying my work enough, but I’d go out of my way to try to enjoy the sunshine whenever I had it.”
“One day, I was working late and left my office to get dinner at the cafeteria. When I stepped outside, I realized it had been the first time I had seen the sun all day, as it had been foggy that morning, and I had skipped lunch. I looked up at the sun and smiled, enjoying the feeling of it warming my face and arms, and I continued walking across the quad like this, face up at the sky, eyes closed, smiling,” Cairn writes. “I like to think that I’m not a chronically weird person, but I do have my moments.”
Cairn, “Anyway, I knew the distance pretty well, so when I sensed that I was reaching the other side of the quad, I opened my eyes and looked down and Steve was holding the door for me, grinning to himself. I have no idea how long he had been holding it, though it was probably only a couple seconds, long enough to cause him to smile at my basking in the open air.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Ellis D.” for the heads up and the headline.]
Cute story. Thanks.
Yes, good story. I wonder if Steve will read this article and remember the incident.
All these anecdotes are great – they allow us a glimpse of the human side of the great man. The way Steve Jobs is usually painted is a man possessed, which I have never for a moment believed. Single minded, passionate, full of conviction, focussed etc. yes….but not the demon drone the media would have us believe.
I’ll be first in line for the bio.
And the punch line of the story (which was omitted from MDN’s quote) was:
“Those couple seconds probably cost Apple $1.4bn.”
Letting the CEO stand there and wait for the author to pass through the door (presumably wasting Steve’s valuable time) seems to have left him with this feeling of great remorse…
A year ago, one sunny Sunday morning, my wife and I were in Palo Alto, and I wanted to take her over to see Steve’s house. As we neared the house, we saw two men strolling slowly, having a conversation. To our astonishment, one of them was Steve Jobs.
The top was down on our roadster, so it would have been easy to call out or wave or whatever. I wished I could somehow thank him for paving the road that led to my own career. But the only thing to do was to respect his wish to be that guy who gets to walk through his own neighborhood without anyone bothering him.
So, thanks, Steve.
Same here. Lived a few blocks from Steve for a short period. I would walk by his house just to be walking by his house, but never even stopped in front of it too long…. gotta respect the guy who has shown so much respect for everyone else. What is good usability if not respect for the users?
Old house or new?
It’s astonishing how some guy I have never met, and know little about, could change technology and even lives, including my own. Yet, after 6 years of joining the Apple fanfare with the purchase of my first iMac,I can honestly admit that any device Apple sells, I am confident about their functionality and simplicity.
Those of us who appreciate how he reshaped technology giving us devices and iOs’s so simple to use and stable.. imagine the world if he redesigned the wheel.
I’d enjoy hearing what other followers think would of been cool for Steve to have “re-invented” that ultimately would of changed our lives, even if just for comical relief).