How George Floyd and Steve Jobs are connected
Stu News Laguna April 23, 2021
When I heard Tuesday’s verdict announced in the Derek Chauvin murder case, I immediately thought about the morning Mayor Bob Whalen and I took a knee with 17 other Laguna friends in front of City Hall last June. It was our way of demonstrating support for people protesting the death of George Floyd at Main Beach and around the world. Not surprisingly, we took photos with our iPhones.
When Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone, he said, “We are all born with the ultimate pointing device – our fingers – and the iPhone uses them to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse.”
I doubt Jobs envisioned an iPhone ever would capture the image of a man begging for his life, but it did last year. I think the reason people all over the world protested systemic racism and social injustice was the fact we all had watched a helpless George Floyd, under the knee of a local police officer, suffocate to death right before our very eyes.
The iPhone captured Mr. Floyd’s last words and breath in real time. It was as gruesome a death as any public lynching ever was in our nation’s history. People coast to coast know there have been thousands of George Floyds murdered while in police custody for decades, but none were videotaped like the one we witnessed in Minneapolis.
Steve Jobs was unique. He helped launch two products that literally changed the world: First, the personal computer; and second, the iPhone. If he was alive today, I’m guessing the late Apple icon would be disgusted at what he saw on the Chauvin videotape, but wouldn’t be surprised. Those fingers he initially talked about, clearly did their job last year. Now, it’s up to everyone to make sure that gruesome video never disappears.
Long live the memory of George Floyd, both here in Laguna and around the world. Given the public outrage over his death, and the subsequent guilty verdict rendered on Tuesday, I am confident Mr. Floyd’s passing will not have been in vain.
-DF
