We all knew this day would come — but not so soon. My reaction was a sudden exclamation of “holy crap” after seeing the USA Today headline pop up on my iPad while on a conference call.
You can read about how Leander was shocked and saddened when he heard the news in his reaction post. Cult of Mac contributor Adam Rosen was frustrated with the timing: “I got the news simultaneously from NPR and the NY Times website, and thought ‘of course this happens when I’m out on vacation…’ ”
Additionally David W. Martin another Cult of Mac contributor was cooking dinner when he heard the announcement, “I was watching NBC news while cooking one of my favorites meals — turkey tacos. I had just prepared a plate and I was carrying it to the table when the news announced Jobs’ resignation as Apple CEO. Needless to say I just about dropped the plate full of food when the news burst out of the TV. I’ll never look at those tacos the same way again…”
Of course, at the Cult of Mac we’re steeped in Apple stuff all day — it’s no wonder we’re all a little dazed. But what about you? What was your reaction? D’you feel as if it’s as big a deal as we do?
When he was eight, Eli Milchman came home from frolicking in the Veld one day and was given an Atari 400. Since then, his fascination with technology has made him an intrepid early adopter of whatever charming new contraption crosses his path. He calls San Francisco home, where he works as a journalist and photographer. Eli has contributed to the pages of Wired.com and BIKE Magazine, among others. Hang with him on Twitter.
59 responses to “We’re All Pretty Stunned by the News — What About You? [Reaction]”
i don’t think apple will be as good as it always been anymore I’m still shocked
He needs to focus on his health….running apple I probably stressful..and let’s be honest…he probably isn’t healthy again….
Of course it’s a big deal. He steps in, takes a dying company and turns it into one of the largest, wealthiest companies in the world, and forever changes much of the way we interact with data. Whatever Apple becomes after he steps down, it will be different. And that saddens me a little.
One. The news was expected (perhaps, not the timing). Second, of course Wall Street has a little panic attack, nothing surprising. Third, Steve Jobs remains as Chairman, the same way that Eric Schmidt moved from CEO to Chairman at Google. Bottom line remains: Steve Jobs’ DNA will pretty much continue to permeate every aspect of Apple, as it has for years. Altering any of that would require a seriously incompetent CEO and complete 180 turns. The products Apple plans to launch: iPhone 5, iPad 3 and etc. have all been signed off by Steve Jobs, and so will much of Apple’s future product roadmap for at least 2-3 years. Plus, the new campus. The speculations we hear about Apple’s future are, in my opinion, way overblown. What I do worry about, is his actual health.
People keep talking about Steve Jobs still being chairman but that doesn’t really mean anything. As sad as it is, he will likely pass away before he can make any new products.
iphone 5, ipad 3, and i’m sure many other products are done and have been done.
It’s not the fact that he resigned that saddens me. It’s the fact that his genius ideas and innovative creations will leave the world in a short period of time.
this day had to come sometime, we should all wish him well for the future , he has done a great job over the years to create products we have come to love and hate, thank you Steve
Let’s get one thing absolutely clear…Steve Jobs stepped away today from his career, only his career. He didn’t die. He’s still alive and, presumably, will be with us for some time to come. With the day-to-day stresses of Apple behind him I’m sure he’ll now focus on his health, both mental and physical. No career on earth is worth driving yourself into the ground for and, despite his passion for it, I’m sure he concluded today that he was no longer able give his best effort. I’ve always had the sense that this man settles for nothing short of excellence in everything he does. This announcement from him today was, I’m sure, the conclusion to much knashing of teeth and buldging of forehead. It must have been very painful.
Kudos to him for having the strength to make this choice and put himself first.
Let’s remember that Steve is a human being, not a god. He has health and wellness needs just like the rest of us. I’m sure that Apple will continue on sailing the course that Steve has set. I doubt he would have made this decision today if he wasn’t 100% sure that he’d charted the right course for his ship and left the right man in charge.
For the most part, I respect Apple as a company and I like their products. On the upside, they have a complete and cohesive vision that any other company has yet to truly match. On the downside, Apple as a company has an arrogant, know-it-all, overconfident air that is annoying in the extreme. They’ve released some duds over the years and iTunes, don’t get me started on iTunes. :) Despite these complaints, I have, and will continue to, buy into their vision going forward. I don’t particularly care whether Steve is at the helm or not. If Apple continues to make products that satisfy a need I have, I’ll give them equal weight when considering the solutions.
I’m not convinced that Steve is going to be all that far away, despite his announcement today. I bet that if the steering wheel slips briefly from Tim Cook’s hands, Steve will be right there behind the scenes to set it right.
So, let’s not slip into despair and depression over today’s event. Life is really too short.
He did an amazing job to turn Apple to be the Apple we know today. And I second that I use Apple because they made great products. As for Steve, he’s such an inspirational figure.
It’s sad that his health is to the point that this had to happen, but I dont think the quality of apple products will be hurt much. As other people have pointed out, he will still be chairman and still have power at Apple. I do also feel bad for Tim Cook, because from this point on, any problem with a device or software people will say “Steve Jobs never would have let this happen.”
Imagine if the iPhone 4 Antenna situation happened in the post-Jobs-as-ceo era. There would have been endless commentary about how Steve would have never let it happen, and its all Tim Cooks fault. When the fact of the matter is there will always be hardware and software issues, no matter who is in charge.
Anyway, I am sad to see Steve Jobs go, and I hope he has many years ahead of him to enjoy his time with his wealth… I mean family :)
It is sad, but I knew it was coming. Steve’s health is obviously not great and, let’s be honest, he has taken a company that was an inch away from closing to making it the most profitable company on the planet. What else could you ask from the guy?
Steve – you will be greatly missed. I wish I had been elite enough to work with you. All of us true Mac fans wish you the very best and thank you for making the entire brand a thing of beauty.
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. (Steve Jobs Commencement Address at Stanford University 2005)It’s time for Steve being cleared away to make way for the new…
I guess this is the begining of the end for jobs.
To honor Steve Jobs I will remember 2011 as his year. And to make his year significant, I will buy 3 units of every Apple product (including the iPhone 5) and give them away to those who deserve them and never had them in their life. Then..they too will remember Steve and his unmatched dedication to delivering superior quality products to human kind.
Shocked. Didn’t think it would happen this soon or this quick. I’m still in denial. My heart tells me though that steve is just giving up his day to day duties as CEO, but that he is still calling the big shots. I hope for as long as he lives that he still calls the big shots. Apple is in Steve’s DNA and he is not going to just hand over every decision to someone else. Especially of the company he started, and the company he saved. Not only did he just save it, but turned it into the most profitable company in the world. I hope steve doesn’t give up that easy on all of us. He fed us the apple pie, and i hope he won’t turn his back….
I think that this is the perfect time for Steve Jobs to retire. This week. This
day. And the really shocking thing is that nobody predicted it a week
ago… In the context of all this industry-wide uncertainty, Apple will be the calm port in the storm, even with Steve Jobs retiring… But it would compound the lack of foresight to think that Steve Jobs would leave without having vetted and given his direction to the next few innovations in the pipeline. BLOG ARTICLE: http://goo.gl/0NfsX
I owned a hand-me-down iPhone 3G for a scant week before the home button finally gave out after years of faithful service to whomever had owned it before me. It was free, and I was thrilled. Didn’t matter that it broke. It was still an amazing piece of tech that I loved to tinker with and use.
I had never owned an Apple product of my own before that, and to be honest with you, I may not in the future. But anyone with the slightest interest in technology would have to be a serious moron to not feel even a slight confusion or sadness, hell, any sort of sudden emotion regarding this news.
Guy was a flat-out genius. I hope the “DNA” theory holds true and Apple continues to do great things.
Addendum: Guy IS a flat-out genius.
8 hours later and I am still in shock, sadness, and denial…. Ahhh… I feel like I need to go and buy something from the Apple store to cheer me up. I hope Steve Jobs’ presence within Apple continues for a long time.
Jared, thank you for putting my thoughts and feelings into words. I’m on the exact same page as you.
I’m hoping that this decision is based purely on the practicalities of business, the more Apple can ‘distance’ themselves from Steve Jobs and Apple being viewed as a single entity the smoother things will be from a stock market fluctuation point of view. Every photo of Steve looking tired, every report that Steve cancelled an appointment or failed to give a keynote would continue to be given unrealistic significance as far as the share price and product launches were concerned. It also places an extra burden on him to always have to think about how a certain action or non-action would be viewed by the media. It’s also unreasonable to expect a man with serious health issues to battle to be the sole go-to-guy for every problem, I’m sure that it’s not in his nature to take a complete back-seat role and I’m sure that his approval and unique slanted opinion will always be sought. Hopefully a clearly defined consultants role that relieves him of the day to day stuff, will help him to focus even more on his health and his family. I find it uncomfortable and in poor taste for people to be talking of him in the past tense. He needs support through privacy. There are millions of people around the world who feel a great affection for him and who are grateful every time they make an iPhone call or produce anything on a Mac that his vision and drive has improved their lives and rescued them from the nightmare of a Windows life! The thoughts and prayers of those from all nationalities and faiths, religious and no-religious is a very powerful karmic force! Whatever selfish reasons people might have to want him to continue as CEO nothing is more important than the man’s health and his family.
This is you Steve, thanks for changing the world!
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
Nicely put man.
Can i just say a lot of people`s comments sound as if mr jobs has died
he only stepped down as CEO
he is now chairman of the board and apple employee
Apple seriously needs to re-run the “Think Different Ad” and add Jobs to the the ending.
It would be a nice gesture to Steve, he did after all… change the world.
Apple seriously needs to re-run the “Think Different Ad” and add Jobs to the the ending.
It would be a nice gesture to Steve, he did after all… change the world.
Though expected, it’s still hard to grasp that Steve Jobs has now left Apple. Sure, he’s still on the board, but that’s just a symbolic, honorary title – a homage to his persona and creative contributions.
I’ve been a user of Apple’s products since the late 1980s and have probably invested close to a 100k in their offerings. As a creative tool, Macs (and now iPhones and iPads) have certainly contributed positively to my artistic life and thus my business. I’ve converted my wife Charlotte and among our daughter Elle’s very first words was the pleasing sound, ”Mac”.
Previously, us Mac users were considered a bit snobby. Especially among Window’s folk whom couldn’t comprehend why on earth we were so damn fixated on our Macs. If you’ve never had a creative profession, I’m convinced it’s almost impossible to see the obvious advantage of working with aesthetically pleasing tools. Tools that promote the creative process. Or, at least don’t inhibit it.
Today, there are of course many, many more who appreciate Apple’s products. It makes me both happy and just a tad subdued seeing so many people using Apple products. It’s no longer a cult of sort. I’m just one of an exceedingly growing crowd now. Apple’s are everywhere.
What I’ll miss most now that Steve Jobs is handing over the reign? Firstly, his charismatic presentations and all the wonderfully broad sweeping quotes he’s authored over the years.
But most of all, I’ll miss how he, through the company he once founded in a garage, presented us with so many gorgeously designed and smartly built (as well as a few completely failed) products.
And let’s not forget Steve Jobs unique ability to attract some of the world’s smartest people to work with him. Herein lies the new chief executive Tim Cook’s biggest challenge. To not only manage the legacy of Steve Jobs – but also to develop it looking forward. So that I can continue to invest in awesome creative tools. Like the one I’m writing this on.
Think Jobs.
I’m sure I’ll remember where I was when I heard the news, just the same as remembering when I heard about 9-11. Ironically, I was at a Mexican restaurant having chimichangas with my mom.
Apple fans may need to avoid Mexican food.
Sad to hear he’s stepping down, Steve is a god, you’ll be missed big time…
I remember how I felt when he came back after the neXt acquisition, it was the opposite of how I feel now, very numb.
A perfectly executed succession road map …