I remember the first time I heard the term personal computer: in a Radio Shack I used to hang out at and buy little electronics kits. My last one had been something called a binary counter, with four little lights that could add in base two. One of the staff who took the time to guide me on what I should consider for the next project, and more importantly, what I could handle putting together with my dad’s ancient soldering iron at age 12, told me about a new Heathkit coming out. My own computer. I eagerly told some friends about it later, one of them asked what in the world are you going to do with such a thing?

I couldn’t think of a good answer, then. Little did I know, at the same time Heathkit piqued my interest, a young Steve Jobs had already persuaded Steve Wozniak to build their first home-made device, and glimmers of an answer to that question was already in the process of growing into a groundswell  no one would have dared predict. In my opinion the best part of the revolution led by Jobs was that there’s a subtle, hard to define, yet overpowering and terribly democratizing effect of putting the power of computers into the hands of We the People.

Those two Steve’s would go on to change the world, for the better by most any measure. With his departure … it feels as though part of my youth has been taken. Maybe that’s why it saddens me, a lot more than I would have thought, that one of those Steve’s is now gone forever.