"Alot of people think they're crazy. But in that craziness, we see genuis"
-- Steve Jobs, CEO Pixar - MacWorld 1997, Boston

Its amazing sometimes how certain thing can get you in a position where you realize things that you never thought were possible. Recently, to me, I have been amazed at the power behind the Apple name. I am even more amazed at the genuis behind Steve Jobs. Aside from my technical research recently, I have really been focused on risks and how risks can pay off.

Steve Jobs has done some amazing things and alot of those things have occured because of some incredibly insane stands that he took. Things that were not popular were the things that he did and in the past 5-10 years, he has completely turned Apple around into a healthy company again. While I have never been against Apple and against Steve Jobs, it never was a lead thought in my mind. I have never recommended an Apple product to anyone.... until just recently.

I have basically taken over the majority of the IT stuff at my church. One thing about my church is they are very creative. Video production and publishing are HUGE parts of the core of New Life. Recently staff members have been tossing around ideas of where things should go.... and if I've ever said something that I shocked myself with, it was when I recommended that New Life look into converting to Macintosh for the creative side of things. While I think the PC architecture is still paramount for the business and operations ends of New Life, Apple brings alot of new power to the creative department. So a little over a month ago, I made my first recommendation to anyone to buy Macintosh. This also is around the same time that I started researching streaming audio solutions for doing web broadcasts of our sermons and videos and came to the conclusion that Apple Darwin Streaming Server meets the needs more than any other platform.

Of course, when you make a decission to recommend something that you really dont know much about, that is always a good time to play catch up so you can live up to your word. That is something that I have been recently doing... and I have been amazed at the things Apple has done... I'm amazed at the areas that Apple has some huge market shares in that the company goes completely un-noticed. They are even more of a forefront in creative content than I ever dreamed.... and after looking into technical items as well as the business items, I have come to the conclusion that Steve Jobs would be a great role model for anyone. Someone who is not affraid to take huge risks and then work until he reaps the benefits of those risks. In 1997 he did something that no one would have ever saw coming... something that I think really pissed alot of people off... but at the same time, Steve accomplished the things that he wanted to in the long run. At MacWorld in 1997, Steve Jobs announced a partnership with Microsoft. Through the presentation he was booed multiple times but he was very stern with the Apple community that it wasnt about Microsoft vs. Apple but it was about Apple being better. Here in 2006 he has accomplished what he wanted to. He knew what he was doing... and he stood for it and executed it well, even tho he risked losing the majority of the Apple followers. And here in 2006, I am looking at Apple in a new light because of some very drastic changes that Steve decided to make. I am not, nor will I probably ever be, a fan of, Microsoft but sometimes doing things that you arent comfortable with are the things that will make you grow in the long run. These are lessons that can be used outside of the tech industry and applied directly to life.

So, my hat goes off to Steve Jobs. He is an amazing person who always seems to get the job done. We're still researching the possibility of moving to Apple at my church but so far, it's looking good.... but if nothing else, my eyes have been opened and I can certainly see the possibility of me becomming more of an Apple fan. Of course, Linux is my heart and soul right now but with OSX being *NIX based, what better compliment to Linux is there?