Published on October 10, 2011 8:58 AM (UTC+7)
Bunthalam, Phnom Penh
Cambodia does not have an official Apple store where fans of Steve Jobs, who died on Thursday at age 56, can pay their respects. But the country’s Facebook page is filled with news articles, messages and memorable quotes from the man who helped found Apple and led it through the explosion of the information age.
Here, he is best known for two fascinating gadgets that have entered the Cambodian market: the iPhone and the iPad.
“If you love Apple, you should remember the name of Steve Jobs, one of the 21st century’s brightest visionaries,” Seng Taro, a graphic design student from Phnom Penh, wrote shortly after news of Jobs’ death.
Many are impressed by Apple’s cool gadgets and fascinated by Jobs’ salesmanship, so I spoke to Chen Long, a longtime Apple user, photographer and video producer, about how Apple products help him in his work.
“The first time I used a computer was in the fourth grade,” he said in an email. “It was an Apple II Macintosh. Apple products have undoubtedly changed the way we interact with electronic devices. Someone took the time and effort to make the user experience unique. Users supposedly forget they are using a device, it becomes an extension of our mind. It is a part of my daily life, and I can’t imagine buying a competing product.”
A Cambodian-American Apple enthusiast wrote about the iPhone: “I can interact with the world through my phone. The iOS interface is great and it’s hassle-free.”
Cheang Long currently works in Phnom Penh. He runs a YouTube channel. Third World Studiowill showcase some of his digital videos, most of which were shot and edited in Cambodia.
But Apple products aren’t just for professionals like Chean Long.
The simplicity of product design is appealing to mothers like Keo Kalyan, who credits gadgets like the iPad with revolutionizing the way she reads news, magazines and books.
“I spend much less on magazines than I did before I bought my iPad,” she said in an email Thursday. “The iPad has saved me a lot of space and money, and it gives me access to a wide range of information at my fingertips, much of which is not widely available. [but] You can read it on your iPad.”
But their respect for Jobs and their regret over his death went beyond his gadgets.
“To me, Steve was the best marketer, CEO and visionary I have ever known,” she wrote. “His name was [he shares] He is donating some of his wealth to digital philanthropy, just like Gates.”
“We have lost an iconic figure,” Chean Long wrote. “Someone who started in a garage and then led a company into becoming the most valuable company in the world. That’s truly remarkable. What I personally admire is how much he loved what he did. If possible, we should all do work that we love and are passionate about. Passion is underrated, but Steve had it in spades.”
Cambodians working in the tech industry said Jobs’ death was a huge loss for information technology and they were saddened to hear the news. VOA reporter Khmer Kong Sothanarit reports from Pompaigne.
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