Category: Geek Girl

We’ve never met the man.
And yet, we feel his loss deeply, and keenly.
Because we know how much he has changed our lives and our world.

They call him visionary, the Einstein of our generation.
But I think he is much more.
He is the “crazy one”, a round peg in a square hole, a genius who has reinvented so many of the things that we never knew could be made better, faster, sleeker, more beautiful.
He is the classic and everlasting example of courage, of creativity, of perfection, of passion.

A person like him just isn’t comparable to anyone else.

Unfortunately for us, he’s like the shooting star that blazes brightly and furiously across the dark night sky for that mere millisecond before his life is snuffed out all too quickly.

He was a creative, a virtuoso, a mastermind.
But more importantly, he was also a husband and a father.
If he has left a gaping hole in our world, god only knows how devastated his death must have left his family.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

We will miss his genius.

Before I met Mr Thick in 1998, I had no idea that anything existed beyond the Microsoft-PC realm. We had a HP desktop at home, shared by Sista and I, and it was enough for us to surf the net, chat on ICQ (I feel so ancient saying this!) and work on Word documents.

And then along came this man, who was all Apple is the greatest! even though those machines cost an arm and a leg. I mostly ignored his fanboy and geeky antics because I was NOT. INTERESTED. I just want to surf the net and chat on ICQ, okay?

In 2002 though, something turned me into a fruit-loving maniac: my baby, the iMac G4. Remember that cute little computer that didn’t look like a computer?

The HP was falling apart after four long years and I was looking for a replacement. The machead was all, BUY AN APPLE, WOMAN! Conveniently, Apple had just launched the iMac G4 and luckily for him, it was love at first sight. I loved, LOVED it.

I had never loved a gadget before.

And so it became mine and I called it my baby. I loved how adorable it looked, loved that the screen can swivel, loved the cutie patootie speakers, loved the way the OS was so easy to master, loved how the desktop images could change every five minutes.

And that began my love affair with Apple.

For six long years, my baby was everything that I needed in a computer. Despite all the newer MacBooks and iMacs that were launched, I held on to it. It was whimsical, gorgeous, reliable and it was mine.

Since that moment when I picked up my iMac G4, we’ve accumulated a fair number of Apple gadgets. Between the two of us, we have: a MacBook, a MacBook Pro, two iPhones, two iPads (1 and 2), an iPod 5G, a iPod shuffle, two iPods 1G, a iBook 3G and that humungous desktop of the man’s (whose generation and name I have forgotten).

We loved each and every gadget.

There are a number of reasons why we have been such Apple fans and I think a lot has to do with the fact that we are both very aesthetic people. We love clean, minimalist designs that combine form and function effortlessly, and Apple gadgets are truly the most beautiful electronic gadgets in the market. Their software are intuitive and I’ve never had any problems adapting to the apps, whether it’s iOS 5 or iMovie.

Also, we have both been very lucky in that ALL our Apple gadgets have worked beautifully and have had long and fruitful lives (couldn’t resist the pun, hee hee). My iMac, for instance, was my primary machine for six long years and I only gave it up after I picked up a camera and needed a machine that had the power to edit RAW photos.

(Don’t worry, my baby is still with me, she’s sitting prettily at east end as decoration.)

I suppose I am waxing lyrical about Apple because I am feeling a tad sad that Steve Jobs has resigned from the company. For many years, his keynotes have been the stuff that husband stayed up till the wee hours for and his outfit of black turtleneck top and jeans are as familiar to us as, oh, I don’t know, our computers. We’ve looked forward to each and every launch.

Will Apple still be Apple sans Jobs? Heck, yes. Will we still love Apple? But of course! Will husband name his daughter Apple or Lisa? No, but nice try.

Right now, however, I am thankful that Jobs went back to Apple in 1997 and went on to create those amazingly innovative products that we love and, most importantly, use.

(Wow, I just realised that I have been an Apple user for almost 10 years! And that I’ve only had two computers during that time. Wow.)

So the next incarnation of the iPad will be launched next week and already husband and I are fighting over it. Theoretically, there is no fight because a) I win, and b) the product isn’t even out yet, and c) there is a possibility that we will not buy it. But just for the record, here’s how the conversation usually goes.

He: iPad 2 is coming out!
Me: Yeah, I know. It’s going to be lighter, right?
He: Yeah. Who’s going to use it, you or me?
Me: Me.
He: (aggrieved) But why?!
Me: Because it’s going to be lighter! Surely you wouldn’t want me to lug around the heavier iPad when you are holding on to the lighter one?
He: …

(Aside: He’s actually been very nice to me, submitting our current iPad to my overall dominion. I bring it to work, I read during the commute, I use it when I am cooking, I surf the net in bed before I go to sleep…and he uses it during those other times when I am not.)

Jokes aside, I have a feeling that a second iPad will be joining our very large and very happy Apple family. Call it my sixth sense. Ever since we were gifted with the Paddy (very original, I know), it’s really changed the way I use the computer.

Back in the pre-Paddy days, I would automatically gravitate to my computer immediately after dinner. I subscribe to quite a healthy list of blogs and my evenings are spent reading these. These days, my poor Ingrid (yes, I name my gadgets!) has been sadly neglected. I now only use it if I want to edit my photos or blog. Most times, I’ll surf on the iPad or read one of my many e-books.

One of the reasons could also be the change in my reading habits. I’ve stopped following the blogs on my RSS feed religiously and have gone back to books. I don’t know which came first, it’s like the chicken and egg debate: did I buy the iPad and renew my love for books (thanks to the e-books husband got for me) or did my tastes change and I naturally gravitate towards the iPad?

Whatever the reason, the iPad hardly leaves my hands these days. A lighter iPad would be handy because, come on, holding it up to read on the train can definitely build some serious arm muscles. We’ve been tossing back and forth on the idea of selling our laptops and realigning our techie stuff (SO BUSINESS!) so we’ll see.

Watch this space.