Letter to the Jobs Family and Apple

One of the greatest influences in my life has been Steve Jobs and the company he created. Steve never accepted the status quo and always wanted to find a way to make something ordinary extraordinary.

For me, only the greatest influence in my life (my late father George) could equal or exceed by comparison. George Bashur, who (coincidentally) also passed away at the age of 56 (in March 2010) - just 6 days after the birth of his first granddaughter (my baby girl) - was an independent Accredited Public Relations Consultant and spent his entire professional PR career working with Apple and Macintosh computers.

This gave me a lifetime of exposure to Apple products and certainly gave me the will and desire to always learn more about Apple, Macs, and what Steve Jobs helped create. This thirst for knowledge and research led me to join the Low End Mac team in July 2009, which I consider to be a great privilege. It's great to be passionate about something, and no one else exemplified this better than Steve Jobs himself and his dedication to Apple.

October 1997 issue of Macworld.

Shaping My Passion for Macs and My Memories of Steve Jobs

I attended college at The Ohio State University during the 90s and early 00s, and when Steve Jobs returned for his second run with Apple in 1997, I remember being very excited. Shortly after, Steve and Apple went on a tear, launching one amazing product after another. I'll never forget this Macworld cover from October 1997.

With Steve's jeans and black turtlenecks, he seemed invincible while thumbing his nose at the typical image of a stiff CEO in a suit. Instead, he got down to our level to tell us how cool Apple's new gear was and why we had to have it! These moments are what made Steve Jobs an idol for me.

During Steve's reign as CEO of Apple, I will never forget these memories:

Power Mac G4 Cube

1 Helping dad unbox his new Power Mac G4 Cube. This was one of Steve's favorite concepts and arguably one of the coolest looking computers ever.

2 Starting Mac OS X (10.0) for the first time on my brand new iMac G3 in Summer 2001. My initial reaction was, "Wow, this is so much cooler than OS 9.2!"). I can recall Steve himself originally saying something along the lines of, "after using Mac OS X, you will realize that it is the only OS you will need."

3 Steve's various product launches and "Stevenote" addresses, along with his personal way with words (see his Thoughts on Flash).

To summarize, no one can deny that everything Steve Jobs did publicly as Apple's CEO was anything short of fantastic and dramatic.

To Steve and my father George: Your legacies will always live on in my heart and soul. Thank you both very much for the wonderful contributions you made to help make this world we live in a better place. Everyone has something special to offer.