5 Ways Steve Jobs Touched Our Lives

You don't have to own a Mac to be impacted by Jobs' legacy

The death of Apple visionary and co-founder Steve Jobs has sent ripples from Silicon Valley to the streets of Bed-Stuy. You don't have to own a mac, iPad or iPod to be impacted. Here are five ways your life has been improved by Job's genius.

Seeing Those You Love

The video chat program, Facetime, changed the way people communicated virtually. Apple made it as easy as click of a button on your iPhone, iPad. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) tweeted, ”#SteveJobs helped me better balance work & family. FaceTime w/ my kids on my iPad from anywhere, even 35K ft. #bestgiftforworkingmom. RIP.” Parents who traveled for work or stayed in the office long hours now have the opportunity to say good night to their children’s faces. FaceTime helped families all over the nation.

Boom in Smartphones

The 2007 launch of iPhone sparked a demand for phones that did more than simple searches and played ringtones. Now, about 44% of African Americans and Latinos are smartphone users, while only 30% of whites own a smartphone. Minorities are using buying smartphones to browse the internet rather than purchasing a computer. With less-expensive data plans, consumers can access the Web via smartphones and other mobile devices. Smartphones are now bridging the digital divide.

The Roving Reporter

For journalists the iPhone became an almost essential tool for keeping up with the hyperspeed rate of the 21st century news cycle. Unless you’re an ass-in-the-seat/chained-to-the-desk blogger who never bothers scuffing your Jimmy Choos or Cole Haans, the iPhone has been for field reporters what Gatorade is for athletes—a replenisher. It helps to continuously feed you content whether through camera shots and video that can be quickly uploaded to the internet, to media applications that can help you blog or file a story right where the action is. The iPhone, in fact, helped turn ordinary citizens into journalists by giving them a tool to report and document news when they see it, at that moment. The iPhone 4s continues that legacy, making reporting and posting even easier for journalists as explained in this Poynter Institute post “5 Things Journalists Need to Know About the New iPhone 4S.”

Music For All

After creating the iPod and changing how people listened to music, Steve Jobs launched iTunes where people could now purchase music, one song at a time if they wanted to, directly from the internet instead of going to the record store. This also opened the doors for independent artists who didn’t have the luxury of being signed to a record label. One current high-profile beneficiary is rapper Wiz Khalifa. Even though he is now enjoying super stardom and a major label backing, prior to this he built his fan base by using online tools including iTunes to sell his music directly to his internet savvy fans.

Cinematic Masterpieces...From Your Desktop

The billion-dollar corporate conglomerate opened many doors for independent creatives. Budding movie directors who didn’t have access to Hollywood editing suites were able to make movies using Apple developed programs like iMovie and Final Cut Pro. As of 2007, Final Cut Pro users accounted for nearly half of the professional editing market.