RIP Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

[dfmaverick]

Rest in Peace

[Harakiri]

Despite the controversy rants about his character he showed that there was another way to make use of computer technology.

Rest in Peace Steve, you will be remembered.

[TopJimmyCooks]

I'm no apple fanboi (who here is, really) but no question he was a great force of nature for computers and good product design.  There was definitely more work left to come from him; he left too early.  Rest in peace. 

[Dervacumen]

I saw that headline a while ago and it still doesn't seem real.  IMO Steve Jobs will be remembered as one of the best CEO's in American History, and we got to witness that.  That he died so soon after he resigned is a testament to his unyielding dedication to his cause.  Truly a remarkable man, at least in the western business sense.

[Pixelhugger]

His loss will change the course of consumer electronics for the next 15 years, so sad the ride was cut short.

[t3design]

I'm no apple fanboi (who here is, really)

I am.

[dfmaverick]

I may have to throw in my old VHS tape of Triumph of the Nerds to see the beginnings of Jobs and Apple.

[TopJimmyCooks]

I'm no apple fanboi (who here is, really)

I am.

No disrespect intended.  Just noting that this is not an apple love site as so many have become, due to the heavy pc/linux subject matter bias.  

[Necro]

Honestly, while he did some cool stuff with apple in the beginning, in the end (and what everyone knows him for) he was just a CEO that was willing to take major risks that aesthetically pleasing products would sell over those that had better specs, capabilities, etc., and was a complete ---meecrob--- bag businessman in dealing with competitors (and customers).  To say he personally redefined everything is ridiculous - he let the engineers and designers at Apple have more of a say than the did at other places, he didn't invent the iPod, iPad and OS himself - and half the features/things Apple devices have are simply redo's/ripoffs of features smaller software companies tried in their own software that Apple saw, liked, ripped off, and didn't pay them for (e.g., bookshelf view on the iPad for one).

Sad he died so young - just goes to show you that for some things, money doesn't mean anything. 

(Note on the above: the way he's been deified in the past and the similar treatment now just pisses me off...sorry...that and if I don't vent I'm going to start a shitstorm by posting something similar on facebook)

[saint]

I cut my teeth back in the day on an Apple II during a summer "introduction to computers" course taught at the local college when I was in high school, and my life and career were set in motion after that. I jumped ship to a Commodore 64 but if not for that class who knows where my life might have taken me? This site might not exist for one thing. Thank you Steve.

[Ond]

I cut my teeth back in the day on an Apple II during a summer "introduction to computers" course taught at the local college when I was in high school, and my life and career were set in motion after that. I jumped ship to a Commodore 64 but if not for that class who knows where my life might have taken me? This site might not exist for one thing. Thank you Steve.

Funny you should mention the jump to the C64, back in the day I was installing Apple IIe units in a College i was working in at the time, but on my desk I had a C64.  Students running 'Zardax' (a prehistoric word processor) on their Apple green screens could hear the dude in the office playing err,  I mean 'using' his C64.  As history showed us Commodore didn't move with the times and Apple did.  I got my start in puters on a Tandy (Radio Shack) TRS 80 with 4K of ram.

[drventure]

Yep. I too started out around that time.

First on an HP48 (I think) programmable calculator, then on a Trs80, the a Commodore 64, and finally, my dad popped for an Apple II+. I remember being super excited about getting the "80Column video card extension" for that.

Jobs certainly made his mark on computing. Not sure I'd have wanted to work with or for the man, but there's no denying he was a visionary.

Definitely a sad day.

[BobA]

Jobs definately left his mark and was a great mover in the computer industry.  I do not believe that Apple will be the same without him.  RIP Steve  

[danny_galaga]

Honestly, while he did some cool stuff with apple in the beginning, in the end (and what everyone knows him for) he was just a CEO that was willing to take major risks that aesthetically pleasing products would sell over those that had better specs, capabilities, etc., and was a complete ---meecrob--- bag businessman in dealing with competitors (and customers).  To say he personally redefined everything is ridiculous - he let the engineers and designers at Apple have more of a say than the did at other places, he didn't invent the iPod, iPad and OS himself - and half the features/things Apple devices have are simply redo's/ripoffs of features smaller software companies tried in their own software that Apple saw, liked, ripped off, and didn't pay them for (e.g., bookshelf view on the iPad for one).

Sad he died so young - just goes to show you that for some things, money doesn't mean anything. 

(Note on the above: the way he's been deified in the past and the similar treatment now just pisses me off...sorry...that and if I don't vent I'm going to start a shitstorm by posting something similar on facebook)

Yes, because being an amazingly successful CEO is childs play 

[Howard_Casto]

I was never a fan of the "new" apple.  I was never a fan of it's products.  I was never a fan of Job's business tactics. 

For me the new apple was a symbol of everything that's wrong with modern society.  Since the late 90's apple would take a product or concept that already exists, spend millions of dollars designing  a new case and a fancy marketing scheme, and come up with a "pretty" product that costs roughly 2-5 times that of thier competators.  These products sold well anyway, because there is a huge chunk of society that refuses to carry around anything "ugly" and an even greater chunk that can't be bothered to properly learn how to use a complex device.  Sure many apple products are user friendly, if by user friendly you mean that you lock down the software and third party development on a device so tight that nothing useful can be done with it. 

Apple has started to change over the last couple of years though, going back to the "old" apple where they just built a really nice product and left it up to you with how you should play with it.  (See the ipad.)  Unfortunately for the church of Jobs, this probably has to do with the fact that his illness kept him from having as active a role as he used to. 

So I agree with a lot of the comments thus far, apple won't be the same without him.  That is a GOOD thing though. 


That being said, his early contributions in the computer industry cannot be ignored.  People forget that there was a time when apple made computers, and not over-priced art pieces like they do today.  Anybody alive in the 80's and early 90's grew up on those systems, myself included and they were a joy to use, inspiring a lot of what a modern computer is.  Back then Job's was almost directly responsible for the products the company made, and for that, I will always respect him.  If he hadn't made increasingly stupid decisions like not allowing windows to run of apple computers, I honestly feel that apple would be more dominant today than they are now.

Of course a man has died, a man that from everybody's account was a farily decent individual who also went to great lengths to give back to his community.  We should remember him for that, and not the over-priced consumer-electronics graveyard he left as a legacy.

[Ed_McCarron]

Yes, because being an amazingly successful CEO is childs play 

Gotta have something to sell to be a CEO.  Without Woz, he wouldn't have had anything to sell.

[lordnacho]

Gotta have something to sell to be a CEO.  Without Woz, he wouldn't have had anything to sell.

Woz spoke at my company recently.  Before it, I felt sort of bad for him being booted out and all, didn't know all the details.  But after I realized Woz was the one who loved technology and Jobs was the one who wanted to make money off of it.  I was(and am) a long time Apple hater yet have their products scattered around my home.  Just goes to show how good of a salesman Jobs was.

[Vigo]

Yeah, Jobs was a salesman. In the last 15 years, we have seen apple transform from a company name into a brand name. Not that their products are bad, but they are not as innovative as people make them out to be. Tablet PC's were around long before the iPad, it is just that people didn't realize they needed them until Apple told the world that they needed the iPad. I have to get them credit for marketing a product like none other, but that is pure salesmanship.

Oh, and I jumped ship from Apple when the iMac came out. If they couldn't figure out a mouse needed more than one button by the late 90's, then they were not the face of technology innovation. 

[lordnacho]

Yeah that was pretty bad and was probably was one of the reasons I didn't like them either, but slowly their mobile devices settled me down enough to let my wife get a Macbook then iPad.  I was going to take the Macbook over and install Win7 on it for my side gig/dev work, just didn't like the feel of it so gave up.  Dumb apple key gets in the way.

[HaRuMaN]

Last Apple product I used was a Macintosh SE...  lol

I did get my start computing on an Apple II and Commodore 64.

[SNAAKE]

^ ipods are pretty good tho. I have this 16gb TINY ipod I could use for like a week without recharging it

rip SJ.

[ark_ader]

We knew it was coming.  He looked so unwell.  At least he tried his best to beat the cancer.

Thanks Steve for the best ride, we Apple techs had this past twenty years, and for my original Ipod, still going strong.  RIP.

[hyiu]

RIP Steve Job...

I believe Apple  II was the first computer that I programmed on... and it does set things in motion for me in a sense... (since I'm a programmer now...)

One thing I realized is that if I read it correctly, Steve Job has been CEO but only on a salary of $1. Also, he basically worked till the last days of his life... I guess he really love his work...

[Mikezilla]

I played oregeon trail on a apple II E. That was awesome times.

Halloween costume : Zombie Steve Jobs. Too soon?

[hypernova]

I always considered him an ass.  Since I never liked him, I avoided Apple products like the plague.

Now that he's gone, perhaps I'll purchase one.

Yeah, right.  Now it's just a disgust with society's boner for anything with the word "Apple" on it.  So I still hate 'em.

[Vigo]

Halloween costume : Zombie Steve Jobs. Too soon?

Ooh! I'll have to see if I have any black turtlenecks, cuz that's pretty much all the dude ever wore.

[Dervacumen]

Halloween costume : Zombie Steve Jobs. Too soon?

Ooh! I'll have to see if I have any black turtlenecks, cuz that's pretty much all the dude ever wore.

Thank you.  My daughter wants to be a Zombie and I usually dress to match.  And I have a mock turtleneck.
Too soon?  Whatever.  It works precisely because it is so soon.  I respect the man, and giving homage to him through pop culture is not bad taste IMO.
I think I may do it.

[t3design]

I don't think Steve Jobs should be deified. He was not perfect. However, he was very good at what he did. You may not agree with everything he did (or anything). But some facts are irrefutable:

He started the computer revolution that made what all of us do every day possible.

He made computers into machines that not only anyone could use, but that everyday people would enjoy using thanks to the art of great design.

He made Apple into the most valuable company in the world.

You can sit in the dark in your mother's basement and type whatever you want from the security of an anonymous handle, but I ask you the same question Steve Jobs asked of his detractors:

"what have YOU done that's so great?"

[Pixelhugger]

While you may dislike Apple's products (or more accurately their reputation and adoption) imagine taking away not only the products Jobs hyped, but the imitations they engendered. Windows really owes it's existence to MacOS, at the very least because Apple was able to successfully market and evangelize a GUI. I'm not saying it wouldn't have eventually been developed, but I think it's significant that it was released 1 year later. I remember early arguments of hard core DOS users who hated the idea of a GUI. Take a look at your (keyboardless multitouch) smartphone. It's easy to forget the RIM exec's laughter at the initial release of the iPhone for not "even having a real keyboard" If they were willing to go on record laughing at it, I think there's a pretty good chance they wouldn't have developed their own for a good long time.

Most everybody who pans Apple either uses one of their devices directly, or uses an inspired knock off. Just sayin.  

[Ed_McCarron]

at the very least because Apple was able to successfully market and evangelize a GUI.

That they (claimedly) stole from Xerox...   

It's like BASF.  They don't make the items, they make them better.

[danny_galaga]

at the very least because Apple was able to successfully market and evangelize a GUI.

That they (claimedly) stole from Xerox...   

It's like BASF.  They don't make the items, they make them better.

Well, it's not just a claim. It was so. Xerox didn't go ahead with the windows format (not actually being in the business of computers might not have helped. Why did they design it in the first place?) but like a lot of things, Apple saw potential in someone elses design. That makes them great in the same way that Ford saw the potential in motor cars and assembly lines. He didn't invent either of those things...

[dfmaverick]

My understanding is that Xerox's PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) had many items that would have made Xerox the greatest company ever, but the Xerox administration didn't understand what they had (GUI, ethernet, laser printers, mouse, et al). Xerox admin had PARC demo their items to Jobs, and there it went.

Jobs saw the potential and capitalized.

[Vigo]

The whole history of GUI is very interesting stuff...and if you read up on Steve's hand in it, it really proves that he was a brilliant salesman who took from other people's ideas and made them successful, and not necessarily the visionary by himself. Xerox had designed it's first GUI, with keyboard and mouse, back in the 60's, about 10 years before the Apple II. When the Xerox released it's first commercial version in 1981 with the Xerox Star, every computer company and their Grandma scrambled to develop a GUI OS computer, all very closely based off of the Xerox system. The Xerox system used icons, files, and folders. It also utilized keyboard, mouse and ethernet connection.

Since there was a antitrust ruling against Xerox, from fear that Xerox was dominating the printer ink market, Xerox was unable to patent their GUI designs. Steve Jobs had gotten himself a demonstration at the Xerox PARC of the methods behind the GUI. Xerox reportedly did not know Jobs was a competitor, but who knows if that is true or not. After receiving a demonstration and meeting the team behind the project, he turned around and hired out a good chunk of the team to work for Apple. This gave Apple the edge to produce a GUI before it's competition with the Lisa computer and further crippled Xerox from really getting in the computer game. Apple, being able to patient their version of a GUI OS, had then turned around and sued or threatened lawsuit against a number of other computer companies who had developed a Xerox based GUI as well. The personal computer industry was very cut-throat at the time, and Apple had won that round.

Another interesting tidbit is that Since Jobs was not fully in charge of Apple at the time of the Lisa project, he was actually kicked off of the Lisa team. He had bungled up the Apple III big time, and he was starting to bungle up the Lisa project as well. Apparently he decided that the Apple III should have no vents or fans, and the components should all come clustered together. When the computers pretty much overheated right out of the box, it was obvious he was better suited as a businessman than an engineer. He was a George Lucas of the computer industry, great at putting together successful ideas, but should not be in direct charge of the product. The difference is that Jobs was smart enough to admit to his own limitations and step aside as needed.

[Mikezilla]

Exactly. Its easy to improve on something when someone else already did the work, he just took the risk of making his face synonomous with the brand. I dunno, I dont get why people are going to apple stores and lighting candles and that he "changed the world". Cmon.  I was reading an article that he was compared to Thomas Edison. Really?! Cmon people. Is there anything that Apple has made that really "changed the world" in comparison to what Edison accomplished? Not to mention, can you really live without a specific Apple product?

Also, delete your Facebook if you have one. Its so ---goshdarn--- annoying with all the people that act like they personally knew Steve Jobs. I heard from a friend that worked at Apple that he was kind of a ---tallywhacker---.

[Pixelhugger]

I dont get why people are going to apple stores and lighting candles and that he "changed the world". Cmon.  I was reading an article that he was compared to Thomas Edison. Really?!

Agreed. The cult like reverence is ridiculous. I do think that people associate Apple's products with Jobs, as though liking the iPhone equates to liking Steve Jobs. I'm pretty sure most people would not have liked him much personally. Apparently he only agreed to a biography so his kids would know him. Combine that with his paternity denial after getting his girlfriend pregnant in his 20's and turning his back on that responsibility going so far as to lie in court documents that he was sterile.... not exactly the behavior you should hold a candle light vigil for.

I've always been an Apple fan and have had a great deal of respect for Jobs' role in directing product development but to confuse that with the individual is wrong. I thing the Onion put it best with their article on an Apple user acting as thoug his dad just died.

[Donkbaca]

If you don't think the iPhone changed the world, well than... well good for you I guess.  That device has changed my life more than any other product I can think of.  I use it ALL the time for a million different things.  I have in my hand, a little device that lets me call my wife, video chat with my daughter when I am out of town, it will store hours of music, I can read libraries of books on it. If I am lost, it will tell me where i am and how to get home.  If I am out of town and want a mexican restaurant, it well tell where the closest one is and with one click it will call it for me.  I can watch movies on it, play games on it.  I can buy stocks on it, do my banking on it. I can shoot HD movies on it, take pictures with it and share that stuff with just about anyone around the world in seconds.  I can do all this ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- in something that is smaller than a deck of cards in size and only cost me a few hundred bucks.  That is some straight up Jetsons space age ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- right there.

Here is what you people don't understand.  What matters most is how people interface with their products, design and ease of use are almost, if not more important than capabilities.  Don't believe me?  Get a linux desktop for your grandma and see how much she uses it.  Give her an iPad and she will use the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- out of it.

When I got my iphone, and I was an early adopter, I remember talking to someone about it and saying, "It doesn't really do a whole lot of things that other smartphones can't do, it just does them better."  This is Jobs' genius.  The iphone is easy to carry around, does a ton of ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, and you can learn how to use it in 5 minutes.  He realized that you can have the most capable machine in the universe, but if its a pain in the ass, people won't use it.  Get an iPad and see how often you turn on your dektop PC at home.  Unless you are a hardcore gamer, you probably never will. 

Yeah, there were tablets before, but they were pieces of junk, clunky interfaces, annoying styluses, OSes that weren't optimized for tablet use.  The iPad just works well.

Silicon Valley is FULL of people that understand technology, Jobs is one of the very few tech geeks that understood people, and his products have brought people and technology together in a way nobody else ever has.  To me that is genius.

[Hoopz]

Love him, hate him or look at him with indifference, he definitely did the right thing with Pixar.  He bought them, bought into their vision and gave them the freedom to do it their way.  That, by itself, is tremendous leadership. 

[Blanka]

I'm no apple fanboi (who here is, really)

I WAS a fanboy. After OSX 10.4 it started to wear.

Steves most genuis products IMO (I visited Stylectrical in Hamburg to see all in one room):
- SE/30 (the Plus and Mac 512K were too much a clown machine, the SE/30 made it serious).
- NEXT Cube. WOW, saw it for the first time, but I remember getting the bruchure with the specs back in the day. Damn that was a sexy machine. Especially the optional video board that could be installed.
- G4 Cube
- Powerbook Lombard. Still Apples most sexy laptop ever.
- Macbook AIR. I have to say, the tiny ones in there current lineup are the stars
- MacMini. My personal Apple love. From the illegal 1.5Ghz G4 (my first) to the Core2Duo 9400M version, and now the latest Core i7 (running Windows 7 in my case, since Lion is crap). The best desktop computer ever made.
- And a Strawberry matte iMac for the ladies. Cute machine
- And a 17 inch CRT Cinema display. OMG that beast was mean looking with its matte grey sprayed internals.

[Mikezilla]

I dont get why people are going to apple stores and lighting candles and that he "changed the world". Cmon.  I was reading an article that he was compared to Thomas Edison. Really?!

Agreed. The cult like reverence is ridiculous. I do think that people associate Apple's products with Jobs, as though liking the iPhone equates to liking Steve Jobs. I'm pretty sure most people would not have liked him much personally. Apparently he only agreed to a biography so his kids would know him. Combine that with his paternity denial after getting his girlfriend pregnant in his 20's and turning his back on that responsibility going so far as to lie in court documents that he was sterile.... not exactly the behavior you should hold a candle light vigil for.

I've always been an Apple fan and have had a great deal of respect for Jobs' role in directing product development but to confuse that with the individual is wrong. I thing the Onion put it best with their article on an Apple user acting as thoug his dad just died.

+100000.  

@Donk: Yeah it CAN do all that stuff, but do YOU personally use it for all of that?! To be honest, I use mine to text, call, GPS, and read the news on it. Thats it. I dont really think of it as "changing my life" or the world for that matter. Its sole purpose is to be a communications device. I just dont think its genius to take what other people have done and improved on it. If I were to say Jobs was a genius, then I would be referencing marketing ability. My grandma wouldnt use either, she is my grandma, she bakes pies and sews ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.

Now, Im not fully educated in Jobs backgroud, but did he actually create any of the technology used in his devices, or does he have a R&D department within Apple? REAL genius/innovation to me, is actually creating those things. If he did, then Ill agree with the masses, that he was in fact a genius.

Yeah, it works well because there were products before it to improve upon. Thats the easy part. Thats in all aspects of business. Look at stupid Hollywood.

He doesnt understand people. Look at what Pixelhugger said. He understands that people are stupid, and that they will buy anything you tell them to buy. Name a person from another company that is the personal face of that company that tells you to buy stuff. Its usually a company, not a face. I feel as though thats what Jobs was, a REALLY good marketing guy. He dumbed the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- down and made it easy to use after watching everyone else fail. Read up on his personal life, I dont really think people should be holding candle light vigils at a store for a person like Jobs. Look who released the info about his death. Apple did, no family member or anything. What does THAT say about a person?

[Mikezilla]

Love him, hate him or look at him with indifference, he definitely did the right thing with Pixar.  He bought them, bought into their vision and gave them the freedom to do it their way.  That, by itself, is tremendous leadership. 

I agree with that 100 percent.