Steve Jobs, February 24, 1955 - October 5, 2011

[Maxiton]

Steve Jobs died today.

http://gizmodo.com/5838847/steve-jobs-is-dead

It's odd. It's been raining and I've been inside at home. This morning, as I was in the midst of replying to a post on this forum, I got distracted by a news article about Apple, which had a link to an old Jobs keynote. I watched with rapt attention, and ended up watching all the keynotes from 1997 through 1999, and some other Jobs stuff. Then, a few minutes ago, I heard the sad news announced on National Public Radio.

You will be missed, Steve Jobs.

 

[Bike Boy]

The link doesn't work! could it be due to traffic?

Just realised that I may come across as a cold hearted *******, although I never really cared about the guy i shouldn't post in this thread without paying tribute to the loss of a meaningfull life. Thoughts and prayers to his family.

 

[BroDeal]

Holy crap! Not unexpected, but still. This is very sad.

He truly moved technology forward. It is good that he lived long enough to see his company not only break through the stone wall of Bill Gates that has held back advancement but to see Apple eclipse Microsoft itself. Occasionally the good guys do win.

 

[Race Radio]

Steve liked bikes
http://youtu.be/ob_GX50Za6c

Very sad. Way too young.

 

[elapid]

RIP. Visionary and too young to die. I live in an Apple household (iMac, MacBook Pro, MacBook, Apple TV, iPad, two iPhones, iPod Touch, iPod Nano, and iPod Shuffle), and love the way everything communicates with each other. He will be missed but remembered.

 

[krebs303]

 

[Maxiton]

Yeah, I'm kinda broken up about it. He really was one of the good guys. And, at 56, way too young to die.

I've found my admiration for him increasing with each year that's gone by. I'm sorry to see him go, but I too am glad he had the opportunity to lead his company to such great success. He's one of the select few who transcend his industry and his time.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Well, he sure didn't retire too soon did he. This was faster than I expected. RIP.

 

[Maxiton]

Steve liked bikes
http://youtu.be/ob_GX50Za6c

Very sad. Way too young.

Thanks for that link, Race Radio. Awesome video.

His contemporaries respond to the news:

http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/05/bill-gates-reacts-steve-jobs-death/

 

[yourwelcome]

I knew this was coming but I'm surprised at how bummed out I am by the news.

Damn.

 

[yourwelcome]

Humor is tragedy plus time.

Wrong time, Krebs.

 

[mewmewmew13]

Maxiton, I found this to be an excellent tribute and very well written. Thanks for the info and the link.

way too sad
even if you didn't like Apple you had to admire the man

 

[pedaling squares]

Jobs was one of those great stories - met Wozniak in high school, dropped out of college... and designed the first 'computer in a box' that turned the tech world upside down. Credit to him for rising back to the top after leaving Apple and for getting past the sleeping dinosaur from Redmond and giving the consumer integrated and user-friendly devices. RIP.

 

[Polish]

Was driving south on Highway 85 towards Cupertino less than an hour after Apple made the announcement. Was around 5pm out here in California.
The Santa Cruz Mountains above Apple Corp were dwarfed by humongous grey and white storm clouds and sheets of rain reaching all the way to the ground.
The sun was lowering in the western sky behind the clouds too.
It was very pretty. The windshield wipers were on intermittent where I drove, about 20 miles away from Apple....
It is going to be one of those "I remember where I was when I heard that so and so passed away" moments rip.

 

[Stingray34]

I don't own any Apple products, nor am I tech savvy. I have deep misgivings about the production of Apple products and the human misery that causes in Asia, along with the fetishization of gadgets clouding out our better judgement.

However, reading some things about Steve Jobs today, I can see the world has lost a quiet hero. He spoke a lot about the inevitibility of death and the obligation to try to do something good.

He was a Socratic hero, always questioning, always looking forward. People that challenge ideas can change history. I believe Steve Jobs was motivated by the goal of history itself: the realisation of human freedom.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

My husband and I both have Apple computers and laptops, Iphones, Ipads.

Very sorry to hear the news.

Susan

 

[craig1985]

RIP Steve Jobs. I had an iphone, but if I told you what happened to it, you lot would still be laughing at me in 10 years time.

 

[boomcie]

His death feels more like a loss to the world, than like a personal loss.

Only people like him that have the guts ánd brains to fight the status quo, will bring real innovation into this world.

RIP Steve Jobs. I had an iphone, but if I told you what happened to it, you lot would still be laughing at me in 10 years time.

Please PM me, I'm always up for a good laugh.

 

[The Howling Fantods]

He created the greatest brand of our time. The ubiquity of those white headphones - everyone knows what they're connected to, and who created it.

I own a macbook, iphone, ipad and several Pixar dvds.

We've lost a great technological innovator, on par with the likes of Marconi and the Wright brothers.

May he rest in peace.

 

[Quixote]

Growing up in Santa Clara County, as a teen I was well aware that the epicenter of the tech world was a short distance from my home. My first computer was the Apple 2e and each one after that carried the same logo. My desktop, phone, mp3, notepad, etc. all from the mind of Steve Jobs...sad day this is.
...time will have its fancy, tomorrow or today.

 

[Anonymous]

Steve jobs, great philanthropist, donated tens of millions to aids research, cancer research, tuborculosis and many more causes.

Amazing generous man.

Apple, meh. Multiple suicides in the last year or so in their factories, 51cents an hour to the factory workers and nets strung between buildings to stop more jumpers.

Hideous company, every product has blood on it (like many other products produced in china)

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Steve jobs, great philanthropist, donated tens of millions to aids research, cancer research, tuborculosis and many more causes.

Amazing generous man.

Apple, meh. Multiple suicides in the last year or so in their factories, 51cents an hour to the factory workers and nets strung between buildings to stop more jumpers.

Hideous company, every product has blood on it (like many other products produced in china)

Steve Jobs was chief executive officer of Apple. You cannot seperate the blood on it's producs from the hands of it's maker.
You cannot buy your humanity back.

 

[AussieGoddess]

RIP

A great man, a great mind and a loss to us all

 

[just some guy]

Sorry the guy died and he changed the way we live - not always for the better mind you.

But the guy screwed a lot of people and Apple will continue to in the future - how many tweets every time a low paid worker kills themselves.

 

[ramjambunath]

He was one of the leading innovators of the generation and being one of the few who could rival the microsoft monopoly, he deserves massive respect.

I would stop short of calling him a hero though.
As Rechtschreibfehler has pointed out one can't separate Apple and Jobs. Also electronic items which are disposed off come to poor countries in Africa and Asia and many people earn a living by melting off the metals from the cct boards of these items which are full of toxic materials. It would be better for these companies to facilitate proper and safe recycling of old electronic goods.
Another major issue is coltan mining which is fast becoming Congo's equivalent of Sierra Leone's diamonds. Rebel forces (Hutus and Tutsis, who were part of the Rwandan genocide in '94, and other militia) are known to control coltan mining and this gets legalised by exporting the illegal coltan to a third country and legally imported. Coltan is required for production of mobile phones, computers and most cct boards.