One week later, thanks Steve

How much of my morning routine is thanks to Steve Jobs? Unfolding a Mac, pulling up iTunes, charging my iPod, wishing I had an iPad.

Then it’s check email, check Facebook, check news, check Twitter.

And I am just one among millions. It would be an injustice not to credit much of this lifestyle to one of our era’s most prolific creators — Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died a week ago today.

I know he didn’t invent Twitter, and he might wish he’d invented Facebook. But it was Jobs who really advanced the integration of high-technology into daily life. Just think of all those apps.

On Facebook, Twitter, our own blogs or the many we follow, we expect an explosion across the outlets with every development in our lives.

And for the most part, we are thankful for the smartphones and apps that keep us constantly informed.

But therein lies the rub. If we are constantly being bombed, the crashes eventually become white noise, and the dust and debris never actually clear.

With the passing of Jobs come questions of how to wade through it all.

Initially, even the iPad seemed like an unnecessary tech toy. But in the ultimate illustration of innovation, Jobs showed us how it could be everything from our newspaper, to a book, to a laptop.

I’m not saying we’re lost without Jobs, but in the age of technology and “anything goes” there is also a sense of, “where are we going?”

Jobs gave us guidance — how many of you would be lost without your iPhone’s GPS? — and the means to channel media, music and the general mess.

So we find ourselves at a daunting crossroads. The ability to have more voice and more choice brings freedom, but there’s also the risk of everyone shouting at once.

For all the teen blogging prodigies single Mac-edly redefining Brooklyn, don’t forget that tech-savvy enthusiasm should complement creativity, not dilute it.

Steve Jobs personified the use of technology for creation and innovation.

Perhaps more like Michelangelo than Picasso, in his hands technology became the most powerful creation of the era: a unifying force that also creates unfathomable strata.