I didn’t want to do a strip about Steve Jobs. I knew a lot of people would do tribute strips and I also knew that the newspaper editorial cartoonists would mail in the same trite crap they always do. And they did. In spades. I didn’t want to add to that noise.
But then I started hearing from my readers, and you were all asking the same question: How is Brent taking the news? And the interesting thing is that most people were asking in earnest. People are genuinely concerned about Brent. Certainly some people were asking just to ask ME what I thought. I get that. But it meant a lot that so many of you were sincerely asking after Brent.
Scott McCloud wrote on his blog “Great design can and does change the world. Poor design can and does ruin lives.” I think this was profound and was key to me understanding, in part, why this news has bummed me out so much. Pretty much everything I do personally, professionally and creatively is processed through the conduit of Apple design. And even scarier than that, Apple design and innovation has charted the course of new media and therefore charted the course of my career as a creator of new media. And the course has been pretty great. Very exciting. And how safe did it feel to know that Jobs was the uncompromising tyrant/captain charting that course for all of us who create content in this world of new media? I dunno it’s crazy. It’s really crazy to think about. And really sad.
I’m glad that so many of you asked about Brent. I wanted today’s comic to be about him. His love for Apple and adoration for Steve Jobs has been very central to his character for years and it was important to show him reacting to this very sad news. So thank you for reminding me of that. I’m grateful you cared enough to look after him.
