Remembering Steve Jobs

On October 5, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, Inc., passed away at the age of 56. Memorials and vigils have been set up in his honor both at his home, at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California, and also at Apple stores around the globe. Many in the technology community have joined a great outpouring of rememberances and praise for the brilliant visionary. One of those people who reflected on Jobs' passing was Allan Martinson, a venture capitalist and tech entrepreneur in Estonia. On Thursday, he wrote: "Rest in peace, Steve. You redefined the world more than any current world leader alive. And you redefined mine - without access to the very first Apple II in (then-Soviet) Estonia in 1983 I would never have taken the career path that I did." To learn more about the impact Jobs had on him and on European technology, Deutsche Welle spoke with Allan Martinson.

Deutsche Welle: On Thursday you wrote a message on your Facebook wall talking about how you used an Apple II in Soviet-era Estonia in the early 1980s and how that set you on a course of working in computer technology for the rest of your life. Can you talk a little bit about that and how you came to use Apple computers during that time?

Allan Martinson: I was studying in high school in my mathematics and computer class, which was probably one of the best in the former Soviet Union. In this class, we had access to mainframe computers, and I was working as a computer engineer during my summer breaks, when I was 16 years old.

I even got the key [to access the computers] at night, and so from 6pm until the early hours in the morning, my friend and I programmed - we did a lot of crazy stuff - we made computer games, we did different things. That was a much different experience than what I had before with mainframes. I realized for the first time in my life that computing can be fun, and fun for ordinary people.

When you first heard of the passing of Steve Jobs, was this the first memory that came back to you, of being in high school and using this Apple II?

Yes, one of my first memories, but obviously the image of Steve Jobs and the image of Apple has changed remarkably over the last 10 or 20 years, and changed many times.

The first thing that came to my mind was: ‘Gosh, this guy built the greatest company on Earth.' [Apple is] the biggest company by market capitalization - or maybe it's number two - but anyway, it is the biggest company that is entirely based on intellectual property. It was built without violating values or principles that are close to my heart. You can think of Microsoft or Google, and they don't have this kind of image that Apple has, of sticking to some core values.

It sounds like Apple and Steve Jobs' leadership in particular has not only had an impact on you as a computer user, but later on as a business leader, as an entrepreneur.

Yes, but I still use a Windows PC now as I talk to you on Skype. Even if I have three Macs at home, I use Windows at work for many reasons. Even if it hasn't changed my work, it has changed my life when it comes to consuming digital media. Would it be using my iPad, or my MP3 player, or my phone? It has impacted my private life perhaps more than my business life.

What Apple has shown, and what is pretty similar for what Skype did for Estonia, and what Apple did for the whole world, it showed that it is possible for a guy coming from nowhere to build up a great company and to build it into something, and earn in this process, and really change the world. You don't need to have a rich heritage, or oil or gas or any other resources. You can just do it by applying your vision and being persistent and doing what you're doing. This is a great example. Without Apple, the world would be much poorer. I believe many other companies would not exist if there were no Steve Jobs and Apple.

Do you think that Steve Jobs' impact was felt in the entrepreneurial tech startup world in Estonia and across Europe as a whole?

I think most of my friends in the tech community have talked about Steve Jobs [over the last 36 hours] and it has been a great shock for all of us. We all regret very much his passing away. Obviously, we are paying tribute in our hearts, but whether we will be laying down candles in front of Apple stores, that may not be the Estonian thing to do, but it doesn't mean that we don't feel a very great sympathy towards his relatives and the whole Apple community.

It's an extremely tough question as to what will happen, whether Steve Jobs was really an exception and whether he was really the only driving person behind Apple's vision and success, or whether he has managed to build his DNA into the corporate DNA of Apple. This is a big question I'm asking myself and Apple will probably be answering this question in the next three to five years.

Interview: Cyrus Farivar
Editor: Zulfikar Abbany