Today-Wednesday, 5 October 2011-America lost one of it's most innovative and enigmatic men.
Steven Paul Jobs, age 56, died earlier today from complications related to poor health. Mr. Jobs had been suffering from pancreatic cancer since at least 2004, and underwent a liver transplant in Tennessee two years ago. He had taken medical leave from Apple in January, and had announced at the end of August that he would be stepping down as Chief Executive Officer of Apple. Mr. Jobs lived long enough to see the unveiling of the iPhone 4S-the latest in the iPhone line, one of Job's greatest achievements. He is survived by his wife of 20 years, Laurene, and his four children.
Mr. Jobs did a great deal to inspire adulation from the legions of Apple "fanboys"-extremely loyal Apple consumers and advocates-not to mention derision, scorn, and mockery from PC and Microsoft consumers. Whether you loved him or hated him-and his computers, for that matter-you can't deny the impact he made on the worlds of computers, information technology, and business. The New York Times referred to Jobs as "one of the great innovators in the history of modern capitalism"-and rightfully so. Jobs had a gift for winning over consumers with a mixture of simplicity, reliability, aesthetics, and showmanship. Perhaps two of the things most commonly said about him were that he made products that you didn't know you needed until he had created them, and that, as a businessman and executive, he was utterly ruthless. Maybe so, but both these characteristics simply go to show that the Jobs model worked: Apple went from being a computing nomad, increasingly isolated by a Microsoft-backed competition, to the world's leading technology company-one that, despite still not having double-digit annual sales figures in the computer and laptop categories, managed to kill the tablet program set up by HP-the world's PC sales leader and the company where Jobs began his career and met Apple co-founder Steve Wozniack-less than a month after it's introduction, and is now threatening to push HP out of the PC market altogether. All this does nothing if not command respect.
I've already said much of the same when I wrote my piece on Jobs's retirement. But at the end of that piece, I also ruminated on Jobs enjoying retirement (he was still Chairman of the Board) as he sees more and more people becoming Apple users. Mr. Jobs, unfortunately, will not get that chance. So, I think it best to pay condolences to his family and friends for their loss and pay tribute to his legacy-one that, appropriately enough, might be summed up by one of Apple's old advertising slogans: Think Different.
Farewell, Mr. Jobs, from one last new Mac fan.
Originally published 5 October 2011.
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