Leander Kahney: Steve Jobs’ death is a horrible shock and very sad — even though we all knew it was going to be sooner than later. Steve had a lot of fans — a strange thing for a mega rich businessman, but he was a singular character, and had a singular influence on all our lives. His products are near universal. It’s a great shame, because I truly believe that he was really just getting started.
John Brownlee: Steve’s mortality has been written upon his gaunt face for years, ever since he was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, yet now that he’s gone, it’s so hard for me to process. I always knew this day might come, but in the back of my head, there was always this belief that if any man could indefinitely stave off the cancer that was killing him by the mere strength of his personality and the truth of his soul, it was Steve Jobs.
Even dead, though, he still feels here to me. His spirit is part of the keyboard I type this on, the display that illuminates these words as they come into being, even the black slate in my bag that told me he had died from half a world away. How can Steve Jobs be dead? And, of course, he can’t be, because his life and vision changed our world forever. He is immortal.
Adam Rosen: If I had to name the single person who has had the most impact on both my personal and professional lives it would have to be Steve Jobs. I was wowed by the Macintosh from the first time I saw that 1984 commercial (during the Super Bowl), and became a Mac user soon after. That computer, and the company behind it, saw me through college, a professional career using Macs, then a subsequent career supporting Apple products. That’s astounding – and I am but one of many who feel this way.
Few people directly or indirectly brought more innovation to the world and touched the lives of so many people. Apple has changed the face of personal computing many times over. Today’s a sad day, but the legacy Steve leaves will live on for decades. RIP Steve Jobs – and thanks.
Buster Heine: As a kid I think I had two people in my life I looked up to as heroes – my grandpa, and Steve Jobs. To me, it wasn’t just about how huge of a visionary Steve Jobs was that I admired, but it was how dedicated to his craft he became. Nothing less than perfection was acceptable. Steve pushed not only himself, but the world to become better. I wouldn’t care about trying to achieve perfection in my work if it weren’t for the beautiful Macintosh my dad showed me as a kid. Steve always was concerned about every detail of his products because he loved them so much. I’ll never have his dedication and discipline, but I hope that someday I’ll love something as much as Steve Jobs loved the products that he made at Apple.
Alex HeathSteve Jobs is my hero. He ushered in the age of personal computing and then buried it with the new age of post-PC computing. He will forever live on through Apple and his legacy.
I feel like I lost a friend today. I never met Jobs, but I’ve heard countless stories about those that have been fortunate to come into contact with him over the years. He has definitely left a ding in the universe.
David Martin: I don’t know where to start since there are so many things to say, but to put it bluntly — Steve Jobs was one of my heroes. He helped create a number of products that helped make me creative and I know they’ve made many of you creative too.
It was Apple products, particularly the iPhone, that brought me back to my writing career. A career I left in 1991 and found again in 2008. If it wasn’t for Steve’s passion that drove me to be just as passionate about what I was doing with Apple products I don’t know where I would be now.
Thank you Steve Jobs. Rest in Peace.
Pete Mortensen: Steve Jobs is the person outside of my family who had the greatest impact on my life. It’s fairly safe to say I would never have become a journalist if not for the hope that I might one day get to cover Apple, it’s likely that I would never have developed a lifelong passion for technology and design, and I know I would not have had the drive to fight my way into working in design and innovation in the Bay Area he made his home despite a shaky sketching hand and a total lack of patience with the kind of rigor required to be an engineer.
Ultimately, he showed that business and technology can be an art worthy of a life’s ambition just as much as literature, music, or fine art. He showed the vital role that a humanist can have in making our tools more human, more relevant, more revolutionary, and more significant. I will miss getting to see him introduce big ideas for the rest of my life.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
36 responses to “Cult of Mac’s Remembers Steve Jobs, Remember Him With Us [Open Thread]”
This is a personal blow to myself, as I aspired to work for Apple in my future endeavours and looked up to this man as the incredible genius that he was.Although he’s gone, we will always be able to see his spirit, power, innovation and imagination live on through the generations of impressive youthful aspirations and inventors.You will be greatly missed Steve Jobs, for the man that you were, and the generation that you are.
Oh yeah…and I’m getting an Apple tattoo first thing in the morning. Already added to the appointment to my iCal. I’ll send pictures into COM. Â
Steve Jobs, a very great man. I talked to him a few times in my life so far… and I must say, he always knew what to say and how to inspire me. Him and his family I wish best wishes too and hope that all goes well for you guys! You have always inspired me Steve Jobs, you where that great friend of mine.
My iPhone4 is an extension of me, without it by my side I feel lost.
Thank you for making the coolest most useful piece of technology I have ever owned.
As a close friend of mine just said, “Someone had to be up in heaven to keep an eye on the icloud servers.” You will be missed.
Cult of Mac, thank you for your commitment to bringing us quality Apple news through the years.  I personally have been following CoM since day 1.  You have brought me closer to Steve, Apple and the “cult of mac.”  Steve will be missed, and as Leander says “It’s a great shame, because I truly believe that he was really just getting started.”
RIP Steve Jobs – 1955-2011
Thanks Steve, without you technology today would be years behind. Music, entertainment, and fun would have never been the same without you. You have done great things to the world, and don’t worry about your beloved company, Apple is in good hands.Â
I will never forget the moment I bought my first iPod 2Gen about 8 years ago or so. That was my first experience with Apple and since then I have not looked back. Steve, you had been an inspiration and a role model to me and today’s news brought immense sadness to my soul as well as joy knowing that in my lifetime I had the privilege of seeing and experiencing through your products what a true genius and a remarkable human being you were. Thank you for making Apple what it is today. Thank you for changing the world as we know it. Thank you for touching the lives of millions around the world with your uniqueness, brilliance, vision, and all of your creations. You will be truly missed but never forgotten. Your life and your legacy will live on… and there is “one more thing…”rest in peace, Steve!”.Â
My thoughts and prayers are with Steve’s family at this hour and my word of condolences to the big Apple family! Let’s honor Steve’s life, legacy, and memory by continuing to make Apple for years to come the best in the world.
ES – Virginia
A great visionary and a sad loss
Goodbye Steve non ti dimenticheremo mai
There is certainly a hole in my heart this evening. Like so many of you I saw Steve Jobs as an idol of mine; I appreciated every single move he made and how much it all mattered to him. Every single detail thought through and perfected, and while it took the amazing team at Apple, Steve’s undeniably guiding hand was there every step of the way.
 Steve Jobs defined digital culture. He shaped computers and electronic devices from the merely utilitarian to the astonishingly artful to the sublimely useful. More than a CEO, more than a businessman, he was a visionary and unnervingly so. Throughout the years, many lauded his style while at the same time mocked his uncanny “reality distortion field.” It certainly made for good drama, well beyond the important but mundane discussions of gigahertz and drive speeds and power supplies. Under his watchful eyes, silicon and wires and plastic and glass moved from being a calculator to an artful experience. The idea of Industrial Art and Design and User Experience took hold and became the way of building “good stuff.” At times messianic and always charismatic, he shifted technological tides that brought us Pixar, NeXT, along with Macs, Powerbooks, iPods, iPads, iPhones. iMiss him already.Â
There will never be another. Somewhere, a deity realized that their operating system and computing network needed upgrading. So they reached down and told Steve it was time. I can imagine a bright light approaching him with a similar question he asked John Sculley all those years ago. “Do you want to stay here for the rest of your life or come with me and change the universe?”Â
I am looking forward to what Steve is cooking up in his next position. Perhaps a newer, cooler UI (Universe Interface)? A more stylish and easier-to-use reality? Something that continually champions the user over the task? Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be insanely great.
Get your Facebook profile pic and top banner (for timeline activated accounts) in honor of #SteveJobs http://bitÂ.ly/pBhDD1 #RIPSteveJÂobs – See my profile as example: https://wwÂw.facebookÂ.com/valenÂtinvesa
iSad 2
I am terribly sadden by Jobs passing, the man deserved more time on this earth. My condolences to his family and Apple. He did change everything. He will be missed.
Goodby Steve, rust in vrede
Steve will be deeply around the globe not only for his technology foresight but also for humanising the high tech inventions experience. He put the “i” in the word innovation and made a fruit into a phenomenon. Rest in Peace Steve Jobs.
My first thought when I heard Steve Jobs had died was this: WHY was I whining only yesterday about not getting all the devices I wanted to see? Steve was on his deathbed and I was mourning the fact that my technolust had not been completely sated. There are much more important things. Poor Steve – the last thing he heard about his company was a collective “we want MORE!”
But the longer I thought about it, the more I realized this is how Steve CHOSE to go out. Nothing about this man’s life has ever been left to chance if he had ANY say in it. So the last launch he would see would be an incremental upgrade? Why?
Because Steve Jobs wanted Apple to be his legacy. He wasn’t looking for a last minute thrill, a “go out on a bang” experience. He was looking for longevity. Memory. Accountability.Â
He has long held Apple to the highest standard in the industry, and now that he is gone, that task falls to US. We must remember the standard that Steve set, and hold Apple to it. They are ready to fulfill our desires, but we can’t falter in our expectations simply because Steve is no longer there.
What was the best thing Steve could hear about his company as he shuffled off this mortal coil? We want MORE. What is the best thing we can do to remember him? Demand more from Apple.Â
Cheers Steve – you are already missed.
Goodbye Steve Jobs, rimarrai per sempre nel mio cuore, sei sempre stato un genio… Quando ho saputo della tua morte, mi è scappata una lacrima nonostante non ci siamo mai conosciuti… Ti ricorderò per sempre…