Remembering Steve Jobs

We mourn the loss of famous people—our entertainers, our leaders, our athletes—even though we never got a chance to meet them in person. They entered our lives through popular media and became part of it. We would watch them act or sing and it would engage us. They would speak about the important challenges we face and we would be inspired to address them. We would watch in awe as they performed incredible feats of skill, wondering how anyone could pull that off.

When one of those famous people die young, it's notable. That small window in our lives that they occupied goes dark and we miss them for a time.

Steve Jobs was different.

He wasn't an entertainer, yet he could capture the attention of the public and engage us. He didn't give many speeches, but the few he did were inspirational. Though he was not the classic business CEO he created multiple businesses that enjoyed extraordinary financial success. While these are all great accomplishments, it's not the main reason many people will remember Steve Jobs.

Steve had an uncanny ability to create things that became part of our lives. He didn't just build tools that made it easier to do something, he built tools that added joy to the task. He and his team put such a high value on the quality of a product that simply holding it in your hands left you with an appreciation for the attention to detail poured into it. There was a depth to the products Steve created; while something could be very simple on the surface, a little digging would lead to some cool discovery of a feature or capability that would make you smile. Like many of his product presentations, there always seemed to be "one more thing" subtly hidden on the device, waiting for you to discover it.

Personally I'm going to miss Steve's influence on the future of technology.


My thoughts are with Laurene, Steve's children and family, and the folks he worked with every day to make magic happen.

Comments

RASTERMAN said…
Hi Dave,

Nice entry.

I’m sad at Steve’s passing. Hurt in a way I can’t explain. I didn’t personally know him, but he’s been a large part of my family’s life since I was in High School in the late 70’s.

In 1984 he and his company set me on a path that is stronger today than ever before. The first computer I ever spent money on was the original Mac 128. I still have it.

Through the good times, and the rough times, and more recently the amazingly explosive times, my education, my livelihood, my entertainment, my saved and shared memories were all touched, or hosted by products that Steve and company produced.

Much of what I have today exists. in a VERY large part, due to his contributions. While many would suggest that I could have done the same with other tools, I would argue, “Yes that’s true, but not nearly as happily so.”

I feel like I’ve lost a close family member who I’ve never met.

My immediate thoughts go out to his family, friends and his Team at Apple. Additionally they go out to all those who will not have the opportunity to be inspired by his presence in their lives in the same way he was in mine.

He will be missed.

---Jeff L. Koffel (aka RASTER)
Timo said…
Hearing this news this morning was a very sad moment. I had a 'mac fever' already at 1989 but chose Amiga 500 as Macintosh was at that time too expensive for a student. Now two years ago I fortunately & finally switched to OS X and I'm glad I did.

And it's even more sad that this could've happened later: http://www.skepticblog.org/2011/10/06/steve-jobs-succumbs-to-alternative-medicine/

R.I.P. Steve.
Fred said…
Hi all

I "met" Steve products in 1984 … that was like a flash !
Since then, he and his products were part of my life.

I wrote my PhD thesis on a SE/30 and the 2 steve were listed in the acknowledgments for saving me form the IBM/PC !

I can't imagine what my life would have been without Apple's products

I met him once at Apple Expo in Paris … without daring to talk to him !

I fill more lonely today

RIP

Fred
Shaun said…
Still so sad to lose him. I love the opportunities he's created for my business to use great tools for video production. He left a great legacy!!
laura said…
Steve Jobs was definitely special and will be missed by many:(
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