Thanks Steve

I think it’s well-known how much I love my i-Devices. You’ll almost never see me without my iPhone, and I generally have my trusty iPad to hand as well. I’m not a complete Apple devotee though, as I really really don’t like Macs. I inherited the geekdaddy’s old 24″ iMac when he upgraded, and it was a lovely machine, with a particularly beautiful screen, but I couldn’t stand the interface (and the “@” was in the wrong place – what’s up with that?!) and so ended up selling it to my sister-in-law after a month of trying to get on with it.

All that aside, it was a shock to wake up this morning and read (on my Twitter feed on the iPad) that Steve Jobs had died. At the age of 56. Too young…

I may have shed a tear or two. I’m not sure why. I’ve never met the man, not even seen him very much. But he was a husband and a father, taken too soon, and I can relate to that on a personal level. And love him or loathe him, he has influenced some really cool technology. My kids’ lives will be forever associated with Apple devices in my mind.

The geekdaughter was born the same year the first iPhone was released. I actually didn’t own a first generation iPhone, as it didn’t have 3G, but the geekdaddy and I both got nice shiny new iPod Touches, and mine kept me company whilst I was in the hospital after giving birth that year. Two and a half years later the geekson’s due date was iPad day. The geekdaddy had pre-ordered an iPad, and we had some completely serious conversations about what we’d do in the event that I went into labour before the iPad arrived. Yes, seriously!

In the event, the iPad arrived a day early, and the geekson was two days late, so everyone was happy. And the geekdaddy managed to get all his Twitter followers excited by making a mock baby announcement:

Announcing the arrival of our newest loved one. 1.5lbs, 9.56 inches, 64Gb. Mum and dad very excited

Accompanied by a picture of the iPad in our Moses basket, of course!

The thing I love about the iPod/iPhone and iPad is the touch interface. It’s so much easier for kids to get the hang of than the traditional mouse and keyboard combination. The geekdaughter very quickly got the hang of swiping and pinching to navigate her way around the devices, and now can operate an iPad like a pro. The impact these devices have had on her was brought home to me on a recent outing to a toy shop, where there was a little tiny television in one corner playing a DVD. She marched up to the tiny screen and started pinching it in an attempt to make the picture bigger! She is doing really well with her numbers and letters at pre-school, and I’m sure a lot of that is to do with her playing with apps that teach her her to draw them by having her trace on the screen.

Yesterday the geekson reached a major milestone as well – he successfully unlocked an iPhone for the first time – I’m so proud .

So thanks Steve, you brought us the most amazing technology that my kids will grow up taking for granted. Just to illustrate my point here’s a little video of the geekdaughter aged two and three-quarters attempting to teach the three-month-old geekson how to play Plants v Zombies on the iPad:

If the above video doesn’t display in your reader you can watch it on the web here.

Tagged as: ipad, iphone, kids, rip, steve jobs, tribute