Thursday, December 22, 2011

Time Magazine's 2011 Person of the Year: Good Choice or Bad Choice?



In the words of Time Magazine, the "Person of the Year" is bestowed by the editors on the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year."

Some years, U.S. Presidents have been chosen. Other years, celebrities were chosen. Other years, political activists were chosen. Some of the more unusual honorees include: The American Soldier, U.S. Scientists, Women of the U.S., The Endangered Earth, The Computer, Young People, and The Middle Class. Bill and Melinda Gates have been featured as well as leaders of corporate America.

Due to the number and intensity of protests seen around the world from the Middle East to Europe to the United States this past year, Time's editors chose to recognize 2011's Person or Persons of the Year as "The Protester." Was that the best choice they could have made? I don't think so. Time Magazine should have chosen Steve Jobs, who passed away during 2011.

The impact that Steve Jobs made on all of our lives is immeasurable - and it will continue to be felt for many years. He changed technology and how we interact. From the iPod to the iPhone to the iPad, we listen to music differently, use smartphones differently, and use tablets differently than we could ever have imagined. Jobs envisioned products before the public knew why we might have wanted them - and then he created them. Apple, Jobs' legacy, is driving the industry, setting trends, and helping people connect. Isn't that what affecting the news and our lives is all about?

As Steve Jobs said, "Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have a faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them." Thanks for the tools, Steve.

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