“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”– Steve Jobs
At first this may seem like an odd addition to the Cocos Island News blog. I recall looking around the meeting pavilion my first day on the island. People were checking their iPhones and I was adding notes into my MacBook Pro that would later be uploaded to our blog or otherwise assimilated into park tasks. An iPhone video was created during a patrolling assignment that will be uploaded soon, and multiple Cocos Island “Google Docs” were created and monitored using an iPad.
During our stay on the world’s largest uninhabited island, I was able to access the Internet using these products. In an instant, a global force could read about the daily challenges at this remote World Heritage Site. Twenty years ago, when I first visited Cocos, thoughts of this type of unobtrusive, inexpensive and immediate access would have certainly been considered crazy.
The men and women who have braved the Cocos Island rustic conditions endured 36-hour crossings and the often frustrating Costa Rica bureaucracy have succeeded in protecting the island from development, overfishing, poaching, significant damage from introduced species and many other threats. They have been considered troublemakers by some and crazy by others. They certainly do not tend to be fond of following rules.
I do not believe Steve Jobs ever visited Cocos Island, but I believe he would have supported the team of round pegs who are working daily protecting this park. I think he would be delighted to see his technology being leveraged by this “crazy” team, who indeed, may actually change this special piece of the world.
