We mark time as we age – milestones are everywhere around us. Steve Jobs leaving Apple Computer as CEO is one of them!

I first met Steve Jobs at a West Coast Computer Fair in 1979. I worked at Wang Laboratories; I bought my first Apple II computer there. We talked about small computers and televisions; and how one day you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

I then had a chance to speak with him and with Bill Gates at a Roger Von Oech ” Whack on the side of the head” conference in 1981. We were all on a panel together about PC’s and “users”.

I then had the chance to work closely with Apple and him in 1983 as I created the Macintosh Buyers Guide and I had the chance to work on the launch of the Mac. I had one of the first 100 Mac’s ever made. We launched in 1984 and worked closely together til 1993!

Steve was obsessed with type face kerning; and thread count and clay content in the paper we were using; and the 7 color spot varnish of the Apple logo. He really was a stickler for quality. He had a beautiful piano and a motorcycle outside his office to inspire people on design – way back in the day. Whenever we would meet on the magazine he would be gruff – and inspiring and pushy – and say things like “make it insanely great!”

Many of us I guess that you could call early pioneers had a wonderful dinner together at the first MacWorld Conference in San Francisco. Steve was a rock god and it was an honor to be in his presence.

When I was at AOL I would get the opportunity to meet and talk with him too. About the coming online world and how AOL and Apple would work together on Apple Link and on other matters.

When Steve left Apple I met with him at NEXT to see if there were things for us to do together.

Steve then returned to Apple; THIS is the GREATEST SECOND ACT in the American drama!

No one has had more impact on people and technology than Steve Jobs in my lifetime.

He single handedly changed computing; music; television; design and rebuilt Apple into the world’s most valuable company and brand.

I am a loyal Mac user, an iPod lover, a iPhone user; I have 12 iPads built into my home to control everything; we use Apple TV as a family. We use iTunes. Like oxygen, they and he are a part of our lives.

Bill Gates is retired from Microsoft.

Steve Jobs is retired from Apple.

Time passes; things change. We all age.

This is a sad and emotional day at Apple as a company.

It is a true milestone day in industry.

Words cannot possibly express what Steve has meant to our generation.