CDN reached out to a handful of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) dealers in Canada on the passing of Steve Jobs, and collectively they said that they wall wanted to be Apple dealer and not computer dealers because of what Steve Jobs founded back in 1976.
Ron Paley, president of Carbon Computing of Toronto, said that he was saddened by the passing of Steve Jobs at age 56. “Jobs was a person who made our lives easier. What amazes me about the products he brought to life is that the moment you start using them, you get into a fog not-remembering how you ever got by without them,” Paley said.
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Paley added he’s certain Apple will continue to be a force without Jobs, but the sheer joy of the product release will not be there without him presenting it. Carbon Computing has three locations (Toronto, Ottawa & Kitchener) and Paley said it will be different without Jobs running Apple. “It’s a tremendous loss to the community and the whole IT world at large. We are just lucky to sell the best products in the world,” Paley said.
Jim Hoskins, the president of Midtown Digital of Toronto, is one of the largest Apple dealers in the greater Toronto area. Midtown Digital merged with two other Mac resellers, CPUSED and Beam Echo. Hoskins also said the passing of Jobs was sad, but wanted to recognize Jobs’ achievements from his first go around with Apple, from 1976 to 1985.
“His biggest impact in the early days was with the graphical user interface and turning the PC into a consumer product. I’m not concerned about the future of Apple without him. They will be fine, but his real contribution was more than 20 years ago,” Hoskins said.
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He added that he’s not discounting the achievements he made with recent products such as the iPhone, iPad or the MacBook Air, but another example Hoskins gave was that during the early days of the home-brew computer clubs, Jobs was the first to include a monitor with the computer. The MITS Altair, which is recognized by many to be the first ever personal computer, didn’t have a screen. “People back then didn’t think like Jobs and it kicked off the computer industry. If he didn’t visit the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center and see technology such as WIZIWIG and the mouse or the graphic user interface, what would computing be like today?”
Hoskins, like Paley, owes a great deal to Jobs’ vision and innovation. Both said they wouldn’t have a livelihood without him. Hoskins, who used to work for ComputerLand, said that in the 1980s he would sell a $40,000 computer system, along with a $12,000 laser printer. Today, he added it’s different and the Apple dealer has had to evolve into a neighbourhood-based solution provider.
Follow Paolo Del Nibletto on Twitter: @PaoloCDN.
