What's Your One Question for Steve Jobs?
If you could ask Apple CEO Steve Jobs one question, what would it be?
Feb. 8, 2010— -- The other day on my way to work I stopped by the new Apple store on Manhattan's Upper West Side. It's a luminous glass box on the corner of 67th and Broadway, just two blocks from ABC News.
I got to talking with a helpful sales clerk (Ryan, holla!) about the relative merits of the iPod Touch vs. the Classic when I noticed that the fellow standing to my immediate right looked awfully familiar.
"Is that Steve Jobs?" I asked, my voice breaking only twice.
"Yes. And we're all totally freaking out," Ryan said.
There had been rumors that Jobs was in the New York area hobnobbing with the media elite, but nothing concrete had been reported. And there he was: looking thin but jaunty, wearing a bulky coat, surveying the layout of the new store like a king visiting some prized fiefdom. Jobs was surprisingly inconspicuous and entourage-free.
So, with panther-like reflexes, I did what any seasoned journalist would do when confronted with the world's most reclusive mock-turtleneck devotee: I froze. Then I tweeted something inane from my cell phone. Then I walked into work and announced to the newsroom what just happened.
"You were standing two feet from Steve Jobs and you didn't ask him anything?" my editor asked. "You didn't call us? What's wrong with you?"
We dispatched our whipsmart technology correspondent to the scene of the sighting. But it was too late. Jobs had left the building.
So, as penance, I'm writing this call to action. Readers, tell us: what is the one thing you would ask Steve Jobs if given the opportunity? He'll never get your questions either, but we'll print some of our favorites here in a few days.
Thank you!
