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R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Apple oc-founder Steve Jobs has passed away. He was 56. From Apple's website:

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com

What a loss. How very sad. R.I.P. Steve Jobs, and thank you for so generously sharing your amazing talents with us. (Update below):

Here's Steve Jobs expressing his views on death, in a Stanford University Address in 2005:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to Heaven don’t want to die to get there.

And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be. Because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It’s life’s change agent; it clears out the old to make way for the new.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice, heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

And his career advice:
Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
On what's important:
“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”

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  • Display: Sort:
    Jeralyn, I think your post has (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by MO Blue on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:11:17 PM EST
    the wrong age for Jobs. He was born in 1955 and was 56.

    Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs (February 24, 1955 - October 5, 2011)

    Steve Jobs of Apple Dies at 56


    I can hear Steve (5.00 / 4) (#27)
    by ruffian on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 08:48:20 PM EST
    'people, your iPhone has a calculator!'

    Parent
    Yes a loss of a visionary (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by BTAL on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:12:05 PM EST
    Condolences to his family for their loss.

    He was a visionary in many ways.

    However, his seed came from what he learned/stole from Xerox PARC in relation to :

    • Mouse
    • Icons
    • Desktop
    • Point & Click
    • etc.

    Again, not to distract from his accomplishments, but at the least he "borrowed" some ideas, regardless of the number patents he held.

    Probably his best analogy would be to compare him to Henry Ford.  Neither truly invented earth shattering concepts, but they definitely recognized how to make the most of many parts.

    RIP, Steve Jobs

    You know how Shakespeare... (5.00 / 3) (#9)
    by Dadler on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:24:11 PM EST
    ...wrote, among others, Romeo and Juliet?  He used a story that a few writers had already taken a stab at.  There had already been several versions written and read/performed before Willy's.  

    Gates and Windows stole, er borrowed, just as much from similar sources.

    As for Ford, the assembly line was pretty original idea.

    Parent

    Re: Gates and Ford (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by BTAL on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:32:29 PM EST
    Gates, don't even get me started there.

    Ford, Eli Whitney established the concept.  Ford just took the idea and moved it along.

    Parent

    When I see "stole" in the patent area (none / 0) (#19)
    by brodie on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 08:18:02 PM EST
    I think the clearest example would be Marconi making liberal and unauthorized use of dozens of Tesla patents for his radio venture, something the US Sup Ct only confirmed decades after the fact and too late to matter.

    In the case of Jobs and Xerox, if he outright stole, why then isn't Apple today a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xerox?  My non-expert sense of it is that Jobs and Apple came up with significantly different versions of what they saw at Xerox, different and unique enough at least to avoid legal problems.

    Parent

    Don't know why PARC's (5.00 / 1) (#47)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 02:00:53 AM EST
    discoveries/innovations were never protected by Xerox, but BTAL is entirely right on this.  PARC was an idea generator extraodinaire, but they left it up to people like Jobs to see the practical implications and exploit them.  As I said above, he wasn't the only one.  If you get into tech, you'll find the traces of PARC all over the place.

    Jobs didn't have to invent these ideas himself to be a visionary.  His genius was in seeing what they could lead to if implemented.

    Parent

    Well you can't copyright ideas, only your unique (5.00 / 1) (#49)
    by brodie on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 09:16:24 AM EST
    expression of them .  And this is what Apple argued when it was in fact sued -- eventually -- by Xerox for copyright infringement wrt Apple's graphic user interface software in its Lisa and Macintosh computers.  

    Unfortunately for Xerox they waited too long -- five years after the Mac came out -- and their suit was summarily rejected at the trial level; ruling aff'd on appeal; Sup Ct defined to hear the case.

    So some sloppy copyright protection by Xerox and extremely dilatory legal action and they were as a result in a weak position by late 1989 to assert any actual rights in their software.  Dumb and incompetent corporate conduct.

    Parent

    Exactly (none / 0) (#62)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Oct 08, 2011 at 12:36:19 PM EST
    I don't weep for Xerox, but the people at PARC did such incredible ground-breaking stuff in so many areas, and only a few former geeks even know the name.


    Parent
    And King Leir (none / 0) (#18)
    by MKS on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 08:14:03 PM EST
    before it was King Lear.....

    Parent
    Making great ideas WORK (5.00 / 9) (#11)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:25:47 PM EST
    is a special skill in and of itself.

    Parent
    Agree (3.50 / 2) (#14)
    by BTAL on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:34:45 PM EST
    However, it is interesting that the left (sorry to make this political) thinks Jobs was a super guy yet:

    • He built the largest corporation in the world based on market value.  

    • Apple was the least open and proprietary system ever devised in the tech world.  


    Parent
    Since when (5.00 / 2) (#40)
    by lilburro on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 11:08:28 PM EST
    does "the left" hate all corporations?

    Last I checked we just expected them to pay their taxes.

    Apple is a well noted gay friendly company populated by liberals.

    RIP Steve.

    Parent

    True, but (none / 0) (#48)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 02:02:13 AM EST
    the Right lionizes him, as well.  Fox News and particularly Fox Business were in an orgy of Jobs adoration this evening.

    Parent
    For how long (none / 0) (#51)
    by Stellaaa on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 10:53:53 AM EST
    What will they think when they discover his biological father was a Muslim Syrian.  I bet their heads will spin for a while.  

    Parent
    Yes, but his mother "gave him up" (none / 0) (#52)
    by oculus on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 11:11:32 AM EST
    for adoption.  Shouldn't the right admire that?

    Parent
    They lionize him because he didn't (5.00 / 1) (#53)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 11:41:59 AM EST
    really believe in charity or hippy grading, he is a pull yourself up by your bootstraps kind of guy.  He could be mean and that's a good thing I suppose when philanthropist Gates has a huge mean streak too :)  They think Atlas Shrugged was a prediction of the life, times, and success of Steve Jobs though.

    Parent
    Check out Juan Cole on conservatives (5.00 / 1) (#54)
    by oculus on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 11:49:14 AM EST
    and Steve Jobs.  

    Parent
    Where in the hell (none / 0) (#56)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 12:06:56 PM EST
    does Mr. Cole get off on saying that there is very little Buddhism in India?  Sometimes I just don't know what to make of that guy.  It originated in India and now Hindu and Buddhism has crossed certain boundaries in places and have become one for some followers.

    My husband bought me this beautiful incense burner in Afghanistan.  The base is an elephant though very much Ganesha, and a lotus blooms out of the elephant.  You have to spin the metal bud of the lotus though and it gradually opens up and you burn incense in it.  He bought this from a merchant in Afghanistan but it obviously has heavy Hindu Buddhist influence involved in its creation.

    And equating computer icons to Buddhist mandalas is a big ole stretch for me..whew.  Now maybe a computer operating system...yes, but not icons in my mind :)

    Parent

    He's wrong. 15% of Indians are (5.00 / 1) (#58)
    by oculus on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 12:39:13 PM EST
    Buddhists--hardly a small no.  And I didn't "get" the icon, mandala thingee either, although I don't actually own an Apple products.  

    Parent
    Re "hippy grading": (5.00 / 1) (#59)
    by oculus on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 12:42:21 PM EST
    googled it.  Your come up on the first page of hits!

    Parent
    Probably because I spelled hippy wrong :) (none / 0) (#60)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 01:15:30 PM EST
    Exactly like the "first typewriter" (5.00 / 2) (#37)
    by Towanda on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 10:47:56 PM EST
    which happens, for odd reasons, to be a story that I know well.  And it also was revolutionary in its time.

    The "inventor" credited with the typewriter actually was the one who made many components invented by others finally come together in a machine that worked, and well, and was affordable because his design worked for mass production.

    I have read that the "invention" of the steamboat and other innovations also were similar as the culminations of the inventions of components by others, each important, but none with the similar ability and, above all, vision.

    Perhaps we need a new term:  There are inventors along the way, and then there are "invisionaries."

    Parent

    Bingo (none / 0) (#45)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 01:57:06 AM EST
    Well said.  Jobs's vision was in understanding the practical consumer uses of PARC's discoveries.  I'd love to see someday a list of the stuff that can be traced back to PARC.  Jobs wasn't the only one to see the uses for what they pioneered.


    Parent
    tragic (5.00 / 4) (#12)
    by markw on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:32:19 PM EST
    Music, film, video, reading, writing, communicating, information access -- is there an aspect of modern life that he hasn't helped transform?  Whether all his ideas were "original" or not is not the issue.  His vision and sense of design helped bring them to fruition.  I can't believe he died so young.  I for one, will miss him deeply.

    You forgot one thing . . . (5.00 / 5) (#16)
    by nycstray on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:45:58 PM EST
    his passion and belief about where the future of these ideas would go.

    Part of what I really liked about his presentations was his 'love' for what the products could do. And he had a way of making you see where they could go. Just look at the expectations of apple users towards new products. That's a special skill. The sky is not the limit . . .

    Thank you Steve Jobs.

    Parent

    And his own high expectations (5.00 / 6) (#28)
    by ruffian on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 08:53:42 PM EST
    for his products. I most appreciate the insistence on quality. It paid off in the long run.

    Parent
    Steve Jobs' 2005 graduation address (5.00 / 3) (#20)
    by oculus on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 08:26:01 PM EST
    at Stanford:  Inspirational

    Interesting to read about his (5.00 / 1) (#21)
    by brodie on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 08:26:28 PM EST
    biological sister the successful author Mona Simpson.

    Even more surprising, Jobs while at Reed College somehow hooking up romantically with Joan Baez.  I want more details on that one ... Funny thing, just last night I was YTg her prison concert with her lovely sister Mimi Farina, from the early 70s.

    Cool Guy (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by SOS on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 08:29:59 PM EST
    Transformed Technology the way The Beatles transformed Music. Makes you wonder whats next and who's going to come along to do it.

    Read the news and am posting on my iPad (5.00 / 3) (#26)
    by ruffian on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 08:44:06 PM EST
    Certainly he had more impact on my everyday life than any other technologist. People can and will argue about original vs derivative ideas, but it takes a real visionary to put it all together at the right time. RIP Steve. I have a feeling I will be saving a lot more money from now on.

    Peace to his wife and children (5.00 / 3) (#33)
    by Militarytracy on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 09:39:12 PM EST


    not to be harsh, (5.00 / 1) (#35)
    by cpinva on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 10:11:02 PM EST
    but mr. jobs didn't "generously" share anything with us, we paid a pretty penny for it. not that there's anything wrong with that, but altruism wasn't what got him where he ended up.

    i am kind of bummed though, he was a talented guy.

    He gave us much more than the hardware (5.00 / 1) (#36)
    by nycstray on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 10:39:58 PM EST
    that we paid for, imo.

    Parent
    There are the things for which we pay (5.00 / 2) (#38)
    by Towanda on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 10:49:31 PM EST
    and then there are the things that we can do with them, that we could not do before.

    Jobs invented more than machines.

    Parent

    it's not about whether we paid (5.00 / 4) (#42)
    by Jeralyn on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 01:21:05 AM EST
    for the products but the enjoyment we received from them. He contributed to the products and the company that sells them.

    We enjoy music we purchase and the artist or composer gets paid. We enjoy movies and the actors get paid. They generously share their talents with the public. To equate being generous with one's talent with a requirement that it be donated free of charge is really off-kilter.

    We gladly pay for all kinds of things we enjoy. If you need a free lunch to show appreciation, that's a sorry state of affairs.

    Parent

    Another thing about Steve (5.00 / 4) (#39)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 10:59:54 PM EST
    is that he was an excellent communicator. Only Bill Clinton is as good, to my mind.

    Heck, an entirely cottage industry has been built up based on trying to teach people how to present like Steve.

    inappropriate comment deleted (5.00 / 3) (#41)
    by Jeralyn on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 01:13:49 AM EST
    There's one in every crowd. We don't speak ill of the dead on this site, especially on the day they die. The comment has been deleted. If you want to complain about Apple and the plight of workers, do it elsewhere.

    Thank you. (none / 0) (#43)
    by nycstray on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 01:29:19 AM EST
    I never considered (5.00 / 1) (#50)
    by CST on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 10:47:50 AM EST
    myself an Apple person.  I've never owned a mac, and never really wanted to.  I don't have an Iphone or an Ipad.  That being said, I do use itunes and an ipod, and I recognize that my droid would probably not exist if it weren't for Apple.

    My point to all this is that even people who aren't "into" Apple, are influenced by it.  The sign of a truly revolutionary inventor/artist.

    Steve Jobs to Terri Gross - (5.00 / 2) (#55)
    by ruffian on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 11:56:31 AM EST
    Apple's main contribution was bringing a liberal arts point of view to the use of computers.

    Yes.

    I had a fairly geeky friend from HS (none / 0) (#61)
    by andgarden on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 03:08:05 PM EST
    comment a couple of days ago that Apple should have made the new iPhone bigger to accommodate the heat that LTE would generate.

    You should understand why I highlight this whether you know what LTE is or not! Most Apple customers would rather have slightly slower speeds (LTE is almost nowhere right now) than a huge, hot iPhone. Steve (and Apple) understand this point of view. Most of the other phone manufacturers side with my friend.

    The engineers are not the customers!

    Parent

    Sad (none / 0) (#3)
    by andgarden on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:11:50 PM EST


    Jeralyn (none / 0) (#4)
    by CoralGables on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:11:56 PM EST
    I believe he was only 56 (February 24, 1955 - October 5, 2011)

    I was told there would be no math! (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:25:17 PM EST
    Amazing not only that he was dx'd with rare pancreatic cancer 8 years ago and a liver transplant in '09 and was able to not only survive, but remain so active in the company.    

    Pancreatic cancer is one of the most heinous diseases there is.  An 8 year survival is definitely beating the odds.  

    Parent

    Amazingly (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by CoralGables on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:40:27 PM EST
    two people both did the math and typed more than me, and up to 45 seconds faster. I sit in awe of MO and Donald.

    Parent
    In reading up on pancreatic cancer due to (none / 0) (#17)
    by oculus on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:55:35 PM EST
    a friend's husband's diagnosis, I learned the type Mr. Jobs had was more treatable and rare than the more widely diagnosed and known type.  

    Parent
    What did your research (none / 0) (#24)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 08:40:14 PM EST
    ...tell you about the average five (5) year survival rate is for PET's across all stages and with/without metastasis?

    Parent
    LAT re Jobs' diagnosis: (none / 0) (#31)
    by oculus on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 09:20:25 PM EST
    Yep (none / 0) (#29)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 09:03:27 PM EST
    my Dad had it and lasted a few weeks after the diagnosis. Patrick Swayze lasted what? about 1 1/2 years after his diagnosis and even that was a long time for this horrible disease.

    Parent
    Mother of a friend of mine (none / 0) (#44)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 01:54:16 AM EST
    lasted 8 days after diagnosis.

    Parent
    Condolences to his family and friends (none / 0) (#7)
    by MO Blue on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:16:52 PM EST
    RIP

    Cancer ends many lives much too soon.

     

    Pancreatic cancer (none / 0) (#8)
    by Dadler on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 07:19:50 PM EST
    Guy lived a pretty damn healthy physical lifestyle.  What we know about cancer sometimes, sheesh, I tell ya.  Very talentd cat.  RIP, my man.  Hope you can inspire Apple to be a better corporate citizen from on high (they haven't been a very good one).  

    Maybe born in '68 (none / 0) (#23)
    by Inspector Gadget on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 08:30:49 PM EST
    I know he was younger than me, so he is under 60.

    He was born in 1955 (none / 0) (#25)
    by MO Blue on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 08:44:00 PM EST
    10 Things Some of You Didn't Know about Steve Jobs (none / 0) (#30)
    by Mr Natural on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 09:17:26 PM EST
    IMHO (none / 0) (#32)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 09:21:45 PM EST

    Steve was in the same class as Edison.  

    fixed it thanks (none / 0) (#34)
    by Jeralyn on Wed Oct 05, 2011 at 09:40:20 PM EST