HTA-0579: End of Life Choices — Nobody Wants to Die

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Summary

Henry explores end-of-life decisions and the human desire for longevity.

Full Transcript

00:00
No one wants to die.

00:02
Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there.

00:06
And yet death is the destination we all share.

00:10
No one has ever escaped it.

00:12
And that is as it should be because death is very likely the single best invention of life.

00:19
It's life's change agent.

00:20
It clears out the old to make way for the new.

00:24
Remarkable words from Steve Jobs.

00:27
Prisciant words, obviously.

00:29
And there was something about this man, something about his philosophy, something about his work, something about his creations that inspired users all over the world, fans all over the world, to come to Apple stores to create small tributes, little shrines.

00:46
This was the scene at the Apple store in downtown San Francisco last Wednesday night.

00:52
Among those who covered this outpouring, Christina Bonington, she's a staff writer with Wired, Wired.com and Wired Magazine.

00:59
Thank you very much for joining us.

01:00
What kind of outpourings were there?

01:03
So first off, it started out with Twitter.

01:06
Everyone took to Twitter, you know, just to express their grief, their shock, their sadness.

01:12
A lot of people were sharing their favorite quotes.

01:15
And then, like you said, a lot of people went to their local Apple store.

01:18
People brought candles and flowers.

01:21
A lot of people brought apples and would take a bite out of them, like the Apple logo.

01:26
And then a number of people here in the Bay Area went to visit Apple's Cupertino headquarters.

01:32
And there's a little makeshift memorial there as well.

01:36
We were both down at the Apple store in downtown.

01:39
And I did overhear one of the folks working in the store saying that it was a very, very difficult day for them to be working in there.

01:47
It was tough.

01:48
A lot of the folks who were there had worked for Apple at one time or another.

01:52
A lot of the people doing the tributes were still working either in Cupertino or in the individual stores.

01:57
But beyond that, there were a lot of people who didn't have a direct connection.

02:01
So why would a man who was essentially an inventor and an executive evoke the kind of outpouring we usually associate with celebrities like a Princess Diana or something?

02:12
So I think one of the big reasons is that these products that Apple has made really changed the way we live our lives.

02:21
Take the PC, for instance.

02:23
You know, a lot of people got their first introduction to technology, to programming, to computers in general,

02:31
with early Macs, something like the Apple IIe.

02:34
And it changed their life.

02:37
You know, it set them on a career path.

02:39
But let me just say, what's interesting about this is that if, God forbid, something were to happen bad to Bill Gates tomorrow, and I certainly hope not, but it wouldn't be the same even though many people's lives were changed by what Bill Gates did.

02:54
It was something about Steve Jobs that clearly transcended that.

02:58
Do you have a sense of what that is?

02:59
Definitely.

03:00
So it feels like Steve Jobs had a personal hand in developing these products.

03:04
And he said before that they don't use focus groups to develop these products.

03:10
And there's just a big human aspect.

03:13
Yeah.

03:15
You really have a sense that he was the one that was helping to create the vision.

03:19
The fact that he didn't use focus groups.

03:21
He said that it's his job to come up with the ideas.

03:25
It's not our job to figure out what we want.

03:26
It's his job to figure it out.

03:28
Right.

03:29
And it just, when you're using these products, it becomes a part of you.

03:33
and it's something very personal.

03:35
It's a very personal experience.

03:37
You're not using the computer.

03:39
You're not using the iPad as a tool.

03:41
It's something very personal.

03:44
Yeah, and so it's really quite a passing.

03:46
Apple will continue, and Apple will do just fine,

03:48
but it's a sad day.

03:50
Thank you very much.

03:51
Christina Bonington with Wired.

03:54
Thanks for joining us.

03:54
I just want to show you one last thing before we go.

03:57
At the Apple Store last Wednesday,

04:00
I took this picture of a little shrine

04:02
that had been set up there,

04:03
I took that picture with an Apple iPhone, a 3GS.

04:09
I think Steve would have liked it.

04:10
We'll be right back.