THE INFORMER


(earthquakes) and Scoville (heat of a chilli pepper), then it would probably be called the Spencer Scale. Named for the young Lady Diana Spencer, who became the Princess of Wales in marriage and the Queen of our Hearts in death, the Spencer Scale would rank all grief outpourings against that which swept the world like an epidemic in 1997. This, you will remember, had all the


Death of a Salesman I


f there were a recognised scale for outpourings of grief, one that could be grouped with Beaufort (wind), Richter


indiscriminate virulence of the Bubonic Plague but none of the population control upside—and let’s face it, we could probably have stood to jettison a fair few of the afflicted from the gene pool. A spasm in the global sense of perspective, we can only hope its like will never be seen again. Assuming the Spencer Scale were a familiar


1 to 10 arrangement, where ten is Diana, the Informer reckons that the reaction to the passing of Steve Jobs merits a 5.5. Maybe a six. Keeping Jobs from a really top score on the Spencer Scale is the fact that his death, sadly young and from a recurrent cancer, was not unexpected. The grief, like the analysis of the impact of his withdrawal from Apple, was already well underway. We need also to bear in mind that Jobs’ passing came at a time when certain technologies, in whose success he played no small part, existed to lubricate the grief machine. It’s a puzzler for the Informer. The default


position that untimely death is sad aside, just why were so many people so upset by his passing? Presumably it was a post-iPhone phenomenon. Appealing as Apple Macs are to a fair number of loyal consumers (and in the interests of disclosure the Informer has never used anything else, at work or at home) these computers were not the reason for such affection. Ditto the iPod, a product with far greater reach but nothing like the impassioned following. No, the widespread esteem in which Jobs


is held surely derives from the products that married the slick interactive workings of the firm’s computers with the wider appeal of the iPod—the iPhone and, to a lesser degree, the iPad. Great products, no doubt about it—and it doesn’t overstate the case to credit those


products and their creators with the invention of what we have come to know as mobile data services. But are they really so special that feelings of grief from millions of complete strangers for the former CEO of the firm that made them are warranted? Nonetheless, it does seem a little strange—


because Jobs’ key skill, the thing that made a success of the man and his products, was to convince people to part with more of their money than was really necessary. He was a marketing guy; he created need and urgency where there was none before. He made people want to be a Mac rather than a PC; he spawned a new level of aspiration in the mobile space. He talked the money out of our pockets and into his, and made us feel grateful in the process. The world mourns its favourite, and possibly greatest, modern salesman. And yes, of course Jobs micromanaged the


product development, ensuring the products functioned exactly as he wanted them to, so they became synonymous with him and he with them. Hell, so much has been made of the umbilical link between the man and the devices that the Informer was surprised his own iPhone carried on working after the sad news came. He was half expecting it to light- up unbidden with a black and white image of Jobs, before flickering once and for all into


silent darkness in some kind of silicon sacrifice to its maker. Great products, indeed. But we should


also remember that each iteration of the iPhone has had problems worthy of serious criticism. No 3G. No detachable battery. No multitasking. No flash. An antenna that didn’t work properly, leading Jobs to make the kind of suggestion—that users hold their handsets differently if they want them to actually function—that would have sent a lesser mortal sailing out of business on a tidal wave of derision. So we can’t attribute peoples’ affection for Jobs to his delivery of perfection. The Informer supposes he’s answered his own


question, here. Whether it really makes sense or not, people love their iPhones, whatever their flaws. They feel so personally attached to them, and so much of Jobs’ personality went into them, that—as with a dead rock star who wrote their favourite song—they mourn the man that made that connection. Jobs’ passing wasn’t the only Apple event


that week. of course. The iPhone 4S also made its appearence. And if you ever wondered what kind of industry news could eclipse the launch of a new iPhone, now you know. For one last time that week, in death as in life, Jobs exerted control. n


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There was much sadness in early October at the passing of Steve Jobs.


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