Billion Dollar Hippy....

....the title of a documentary presented by Evan Davis on BBC2 about the legend that is Steve Jobs. And amazing it is too.

Not only does it provide a fascinating history of Apple itself but also frank biog of the the man, the human being, the visionary. It gave a great insight into the driving force behind the most influential company of modern times.

I have been an Apple user pretty much from day 1. 1986 was in fact my first purchase when I set up a design agency on my own for the first time. At the time I recall many dissenters and contemporaries frowning upon me that I was turning my back on the tradition that was 'Graphic Design'. I argued it was the way of the future and that Steve Jobs was a visionary. I confess there were times I thought I had bitten off more than I could chew. We couldn't completely rely on the early Macs to do everything and it was years before we were able to exchange artworkers for Mac Operators.

Often, contemporaries would say to me..."See, it'll never work!" Of course, if you spoke to them today, they would deny and pull out their iPads to prove their commitment to progress.

Watching this documentary gave me a warm feeling inside, not because I had been right all these years and I could turn to them all and say..."Remember, I told you so", but more because I felt that as a disciple of Jobs all these years, that he had been proved right and had made my life so much easier for over 20 years.

At the same time, it made me worry for Apple. It has always been clear to me that he was the driving force. Employing a top successful CEO in Scully, who got Jobs sacked served only to prove that Apple failed without his vision. Upon his return, it's fortune reversed to become the biggest company in the world overtaking Exxon, despite having the smallest share of the computer market of the big players.

Where will Apple go now without their visionary. As he always advocated, people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who ultimately do.

Let's hope whomever takes over the reigns is crazy!