I'm a PC ....

"I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" .... most of us have seen the commercials produced by Apple.  The theme of those commercials is Macs are easy to use ... for anyone .... and they just "work".  They imply the same cannot be said for a PC.  I am painfully aware of this since I spent Wednesday in the office working with the desktop team in an effort to get my "new" laptop from July up and running again.  I have never been one much for Macs .... it might stem from days at the Helpdesk where we routinely got trouble tickets for them. I hated troubleshooting issues on them - at the time they didn't make sense to me.

Then came the iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iMac and the iPad... all the brain child of Steve Jobs.  I have 2 iPods and an iPad .... all of which I won. Lucky me!

I have to admit I can't remember when I "knew" who Steve Jobs was.  I think it was probably when his illness was made public.  It is no secret, Steve Jobs had pancreatic cancer.  It is also no secret that raising funds for cancer research is near and dear to my heart.  For years, I volunteered on the planning committee for our local Relay For Life and was the captain of a team.  Brooke and Kristen were pushed or carried around the track before their first birthday and over our years of involvement, our team raised in excess of $15,000 dollars.

As Apple and Steve gained more and more popularity ... I figured out how to use my iPod and iTunes.   My sister and brother in law got iPhones, my cousins got iPhones and then Macbooks.  Then my Aunt ..... and then I won my iPad.   And then I fell in LOVE with my iPad.  We take it on plane trips or long car rides.  The girls can use it without any help.    Hmmm, maybe this Jobs guy WAS onto something.  I mean my Dad retired and got himself an iPhone and he can use it.  Even if he did buy an iPhone after I spent 35 min on the phone telling him why he should go with the Droid, I hate to say it, but I think he made the right choice.  I need to replace my phone and I'm considering an iPhone. 

I'm not ready to dump my IBM Laptop anytime soon .... I mean I did just get a brand new one Wednesday and, so far, it is working great.  So, I'd still say "I'm a PC" ...... but now add with Mac tendencies. The vision and brilliance of Steve Jobs is responsible for that shift for me and SO many others.

The passing of Steve Jobs reminds me that life is precious and unpredictable. That you can have plenty of money, be a technological genius, in your 50's, and have incredible determination yet your life can still be taken too soon.  It reminds me that we still have so much work to do in the research for a cure.  Hug your kids a little tighter, kiss your spouse and tell them you love them, don't sweat the small stuff, oh and don't forget to charge your iPhone!