Steve Jobs, American or Syrian | Teen Ink

Steve Jobs, American or Syrian

October 31, 2011
By Bisher BRONZE, Damascus, Other
Bisher BRONZE, Damascus, Other
4 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
Give me liberty or death, I shall accept nothing less.
I know you are here to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man.


Since this is the first article I write on Teen Ink, I thought to make the theme about a hot topic, a topic simple yet disputable. This article is about the late, charismatic, computer genius, Steve Jobs. Don’t turn the page just yet, because I won’t write about all the facts that everyone heard a thousand times already whether your friend told you or you simply googled him.

You see, I didn’t exactly know who Jobs was other than the CEO of Apple, but after he was all over the news, I sought knowledge, knowledge through the Internet. Suddenly, while surfing the Web, every time I see an article with the name Steve Jobs, I felt the urge to read, and I’m positive you had the same eerie craving too which I think is probably the reason you’re reading this article. After all the reading, I learnt nothing but opinions, not facts, for example ‘I think’ or ‘I believe’ followed by ‘he didn’t really create the iPhone, iPad and iPod but he was rather only the popular promoting face of the products.’ So after deciding to dig deeper, I went to the only reliable destination, Wikipedia.

Since I’m Syrian, the word ‘SYRIA’ would immediately grasp my attention while I read, which is why I was shocked the instant I learnt he was of Syrian origin. A sense of pride flooded me, a sense of patriotism. If this is new to you, then I wouldn’t be surprised, especially if you know that Syria is pretty much the only country where Apple has no legal official license to sell its products, and the AppStore is off limits to us, even though many seem to have the latest Apple device and carry on to jailbreak it and override the server to reach the AppStore.

So thoughts then crossed my mind whether his Syrian genes helped him accomplish everything or were they American resources and education. A very disputable topic indeed because there are no facts, only opinions and theories. As one would say, he would have never been able to create anything if he spent his life in Syria due to the absence of anything basic, ranging from a top-notch education and any sort of investments in projects to simply not having the proper atmosphere and audience to encourage and inspire such revolutionary ideas which are the foundations of any invention. However, just as this person would end his point of view, someone else would emerge with the idea that were it not for his Syrian genes (DNA) and intelligence, he wouldn’t come close to anything tangible and concrete. The argument can last a life time without one side succumbing to the others conviction, think of it as politics.

My personal opinion is that he wouldn’t have succeeded unless he had both Syrian and US effects in his life. But who is Steve Jobs? Is he Syrian or is he American? I will leave these questions for you to figure out.
Thanking this legend for his services to mankind, I will say farewell Steve Jobs.

The author's comments:
After reading this, please know that I wrote this with the utmost respect for all nations and opinions. Please don't forget to rate and comment on this article.

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This article has 3 comments.


on Sep. 4 2015 at 2:05 am
Caesar123 DIAMOND, Union Grove, Wisconsin
50 articles 7 photos 103 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Madness in great ones must not unwatched go" --Claudius in William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Also, if you'd like to learn more about him and kinda see both sides of the opinions of him, I suggest you read Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal. It's a pretty comprehensible book that shows Jobs both at his most genius and at his most vile, which I think is incredibly important to truly understanding the man.

on Sep. 4 2015 at 2:02 am
Caesar123 DIAMOND, Union Grove, Wisconsin
50 articles 7 photos 103 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Madness in great ones must not unwatched go" --Claudius in William Shakespeare's Hamlet

While I can appreciate a bit of patriotism, especially with what your country is going through now, I'm not sure Jobs qualifies in the most remote sense as Syrian. Yes, he has Syrian heritage, but he was raised by adoptive parents who were of Armenian and Germanic descent, and from what I can ascertain, had little to no contact with Syrian culture while growing up. To say that Jobs is Syrian is to call me German or Dutch or Irish simply because my ancestors were. I'm an American because that is where I've grown up and where I live and have experienced culture. I have never been to Germany or Ireland so I can't really claim to be "German" or "Irish" in a direct sense. Likewise, Jobs was born and raised in America and also has grown and experienced American culture. As a result I'd have to say he's vastly more American than Syrian. Like I said before though, a bit of patriotism is good, and if you look up to Jobs because of his Syrian heritage, then I don't think that's such a bad thing at all.

on Sep. 4 2015 at 1:54 am
Caesar123 DIAMOND, Union Grove, Wisconsin
50 articles 7 photos 103 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Madness in great ones must not unwatched go" --Claudius in William Shakespeare's Hamlet

While I can appreciate a bit of patriotism, especially with what your country is going through now, I'm not sure Jobs qualifies in the most sense as Syrian. Yes, he has Syrian heritage,