R.I.P. Steve Jobs

[SteveRiley]

1955-2011.

Statement from Apple's board of directors.

[bsniadajewski]

Re: R.I.P. Steve Jobs

I second that. I may have never owned Apple stuff (though I used them in my HS days), I still appreciate what the Steves (he and Woz) has done to help kickstart the PC (as in personal computer, not the IBM PC) revolution, among other things.

[MoonRise]

Re: R.I.P. Steve Jobs

+1

[The Liquidator]

Re: R.I.P. Steve Jobs

+1

[dibl]

Re: R.I.P. Steve Jobs

He (with Steve W.) started with $1200 (borrowed) in a garage. What an inspiring example of entrepreneurship at its best!

[GreyGeek]

Re: R.I.P. Steve Jobs

His 2005 commencement address was outstanding!
"Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."
...
"If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right."
...
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
"
...
"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 is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true."
..
"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. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."


At 56 he was wise beyond his years.
May he R.I.P.

[MoonRise]

Re: R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Again, +1.

[Telengard]

Re: R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Warning: skip this post if you are offended by long, ponderous, philosophical writing.

I confess, I'm a little surprised to see this thread isn't full of cries that Apple is "restrictive", "anti-competitive", "anti-freedom" or other such stuff. But that might seem distasteful given the occasion.

I think Jobs' words reveal some things worth thinking about. He was not afraid to speak plainly and directly about a subject most of us are afraid to even ponder: our own mortality and what it implies about the place of individuals in the larger scheme of life.

Ants don't think different. Every ant ever born is the same as every other ant of its kind, and performs a singular function. There is no room in ant life for diversity in thought or action in ant society. As a result, there has been no need for ants to evolve; not socially and not biologically. They are what they are.

Not so with humans. Every human is born already unique in some way. We all have a great many things in common, and human civilization demands that we respect those commonalities, but the human spirit needs to be free in order to reach its full potential.

If Steve were born in the old Soviet Union could he have become what he did? I strongly doubt it. We do need more people like Steve, who aren't afraid to pursue their visions, make hard choices, and stick with the results consequences be damned.

I have to say that some of the eulogizing on the web has been a bit overblown. Steve was a man like the rest of us. He had just as many character flaws and made just as many mistakes as the rest of us. The difference is that Steve never let his own failings become an excuse to give up on his ideals.

Guess what? Steve's vision for personalized technology which is easily accessible by anyone hasn't yet been achieved. More than "room for improvement", in his relatively short lifetime Steve was only able to give us a glimpse of his vision and the ideals he believed in so strongly. I actually believe he'd be a little offended to see all the praise for "accomplishment" being directed at him, when the job he started is not yet done. So what would Steve want? I don't really know, of course, but I'd like to think that he would want us to say something like this:

"Thanks for everything you did, Steve. We appreciate all your work, and we honor you for sharing your vision with us. But it isn't enough and the work isn't complete yet. We can do better, Steve, and in honor of your memory we will continue this work until it is done."

So what am I grateful to Steve for? He didn't invent the personal computer, mouse, GUI, portable music player, or any of the other things some people seem to want to credit him for. Most of those "inventions" are the product of skilled engineers building upon past work to create something newer, more functional, and overall better (aka doing their jobs). Instead, I'm grateful that Steve was able to put all those things together into neat packages for us to enjoy (aka "vision").

I truly believe that without Steve the Macintosh would not have happened, and therefore Apple's competitors would have had no reason to provide GUIs for consumer computers. It arguably could have meant another decade of MS-DOS dominance, especially because UNIX was not designed for consumer machines.

So, whether you're an Apple fan or not, I think it's hard to deny the importance of Steve's contributions. Just don't forget that he was never satisfied with the status quo, and he always strived for ideals which have yet to be achieved.

Thanks, Steve! We will miss you.


Those are my thoughts, considering what little I really know about the man from years of reading about him. A person I never met, but for whom I hold a measure of respect and admiration. He really did accomplish some worthwhile things in a relatively short time.

edit: Added some emoticons to convey my sincere feeling of sadness. Fixed an errant paragraph break. Wrote this edit note in a fit of OCD.

[bsniadajewski]

Re: R.I.P. Steve Jobs

@Telengard

A big +1 to that.

[MoonRise]

Re: R.I.P. Steve Jobs

@Telengard

A big +1 to that.

+1

[woodsmoke]

Re: R.I.P. Steve Jobs

I came to his realization many decades ago.

Each morning I woke up and put my feet on the floor and I thanked the Lord for getting me through Viet-Nam.

After a massive car wreck in which everybody says that I SHOULD have died, and spent four months in bed with a completely shattered right leg, I then started putting my feet on the floor each morning and thanking the Lord for getting me through Viet-Nam and then a car wreck.

There have been a few other blips along the way but the first two make everything else pale by comparison.

so good on for his thoughts, others should take them to heart and mankind would be just that much better off.

woodsmoke

[Qqmike]

Re: R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Reminded of a quote, Don Juan/Yaqui shaman/Carlos Castaneda:

Death is the only wise advisor you have. When you think everything is wrong, ask Death. It will tell you that you are wrong. Nothing really matters outside its touch. In view of Death, fears and annoyances are nonsense ... The only deterrent to despair is the awareness of our Death. There's no need to see your Death; it's enough to feel its presence around you. Death is our eternal companion. It is always to your left. When impatient, or in doubt, or fearful, turn to your left and ask advice from your Death. This is also the prescription for pettiness. Don't worry about your Death -- Use it. Let each of your acts be your last battle on earth. Otherwise, they will be the acts of a timid man. Timidity makes you cling to something that exists only in your thoughts. It soothes you, and makes you feel sure. But then the awesome world opens its mouth to swallow you up. Being timid prevents us from examining our lot as men and taking advantage of that fact.

[woodsmoke]

Re: R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Telengard's wondering about why there hasn't been any Jobs bashing has been answered because it has begun.

woodmoke