“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore… The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”—Steve Jobs
I know this is old news. It hit the ether in January of this year. But I heard it again yesterday, ringing in my head as I walked through the beautiful library of the Queen Mary 2.
The room itself sits on deck eight, forward, just under the bridge. It’s full of light that streams through the wrap around windows, and it is always packed with people: READING.
I wonder: Does Mr. Jobs ever take his eyes from the screen? Or does he simply slide his vision from liquid crystal to liquid crystal? Does that hardware in his hand satisfy like the brush of an antique page against his thumb? Can he possibly take himself so seriously as to believe his own proclaimations?
I thank him for Apple. I love my Ipod, my Mac and my Iphone. But, I confess, Steve, I’d trade them all in for a quill pen, a pad of patchment and a library card…if I had to choose. Or maybe just to spite you.