First Person: My relationship with Steve Jobs started in 1982 when I was in first grade. A curious little girl, my teachers at Trigg County Elementary said, “Let her play on the computers all day if she wants to. This is her future.” Strangely, this was more of a premonition than any of us could know. Always a migraine sufferer, this condition would eventually lead me to being disabled as an adult. When I had to quit my job as a teacher and give up on my dream of getting a doctorate in Anthropology, the first thing my friends said was, “Let’s get her a Mac.”
Having a laptop and access to the internet was a major turning point in my life. I started putting my writing online and was soon working with companies like Yahoo and Associated Content as a writer. With a condition that did not allow me to work outside of the home, my life was revolutionized by the ability to work for myself with the marketable skills I had left.
However, as time moved on, my disability deepened to the point that I lost a lot of my ability to use part of my vision. It was at this point that I realized how much Steve Jobs really meant to me. Unable to read from a book, I was able to see a computer screen without needing to see it thanks to Mac technology. Using Apple’s voice recognition program, I was able to dictate my speech into text without my computer crashing. I was also able to support screen reader programs to use ways to connect to others on the internet.
It is difficult for me to imagine having these kinds of disabilities during a time that computers did not exist. Instead of keeping up with the news, I would have had to spend months learning Braille in order to be literate again. Worse, my chances of being employed and independent would have been nil.
A few months ago, I sent a letter to Steve Jobs and thanked him for everything he has done for me over the past 30 years. Just when life seemed to be at it’s worst, there was a machine called the Apple/Mac that could set me free. I will always think of Steve Jobs when I make electronic music on a machine that doesn’t crash, or, an iPhone that allows me and my service dog to navigate new cities and places with GPS.
Where would I be today if it wasn’t for Steve Jobs? I shudder to think of the world I would live in if he did not place a focus in his company on making the world a more accessible place for everyone. Thank you Steve Jobs. I really couldn’t have fought my personal uphill battle with such grace without your focus on making disability accessible technology a functional reality.