Apple today announced that Steve Jobs has died, at the age of 56:
We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today.
Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.
His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.
Jobs died peacefully, surrounded by his family.
His family has shared this statement:
In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family. We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve’s illness; a website will be provided for those who wish to offer tributes and memories.
We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.
Under Jobs, Apple made many important music applications and platforms, ranging from the iPod to GarageBand and Logic Pro to the iPhone and iPad.
Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) had been struggling with health problems publicly since 2004, when he announced that he had pancreatic cancer.
He announced his resignation as head of Apple on August 24, 2011, saying that he could “no longer meet his duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rwsuXHA7RA
This unaired Apple commercial from 1997, for the Think Different campaign, probably sums up his vision as well as anything.
Remembering Steve Jobs
“For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor,” said Bill Gates about Jobs. “I will miss Steve immensely.”
“Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world,” said Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. “I will miss you.”
Google’s Sergey Brin said “From the earliest days of Google, whenever Larry and I sought inspiration for vision and leadership, we needed to look no farther than Cupertino. On behalf of all of us at Google and more broadly in technology, you will be missed very much. My condolences to family, friends, and colleagues at Apple.
“Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a letter to employees. “We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.”
Rest in Peace Steve
My first computer was a ][+, and it started me on the long, strange path to where I am today. He was a genius, and will be missed. RIP.
My first job was doing desktop publishing on a Mac 512.
I got the job because they needed somebody who could do desktop publishing – so I went to the library, read a book on the Mac and on Pagemaker and knew enough to get the job.
Not because I was smart, but because Apple and Aldus made it easy.
I still have a Mac Classic – from 1990 – and it still works.
Never really was big into Macs, but my first machine was an Apple 2 back in the early 90s and I still have fond memories of it.
I’ve criticized Apple and Jobs in the past and I don’t agree with Apple’s stance on some things (Flash implementation into the Ipad/Ipod touch, etc…), but credit is given when credit is due, and if there’s anyone who has truly and honestly changed this world in the past few decades it’s him. Truly a legend in modern times. The reason we’re all here is because we love music, and Apple has had a profound impact on the way music is made and performed these days. We all should show our thanks to this genius. My condolences to his family.
Now, being a non-Apple fan I think you’re stretching it maybe a little to include this topic here since its sort of offtopic.
Being also a human being I applaud you for it.
(most of you probably don’t understand one bit of this, see me no care).
This is a sad day indeed…
It’s a rainy day here in Helsinki. I’m on my way to school and I’m reading the news of his passing on an iPad. Without his contribution I would’ve probably just stared aimlessly out of the window of the bus. Now, that’s really something.
And to think that at first I doubted these things.
R.I.P. Steve
Remember, that when Steve Jobs was doing most of his visionary thinking or was having inspirations or learning about different things that would later have an influence on design decisions he did not have an iPad that constantly kept him “entertained.” In part I think that the creativity of some of the “older generation” is due in part to their ability to embrace the moment and pay attention to seemingly trivial or unimportant things. I love my bicycle ride to work and back. It’s where I’ve had some pretty neat ideas in the past. And I also love the ability to just be unavailable and concentrate on something or let my mind wander. And today I will wonder about what it means for the world (of commerce, of creativity, of desktop computing etc.) to be without Steve Jobs. I hope that Apple does not blow it and the world will still have a place for people who don’t want to be slaves to information and communication technology.
I really feel like I’ve lost a family member. It’s crazy. I think we’ll see the change at Apple around 2013 when his pipeline probably ends. I hope we don’t though.
My First MAC was bought in 2004. A 04 Dual 1.8 G5 (That I still own and is Still Running) I Bought it for two things: Protools and Photoshop
R.I.P Bro
R.I.P Steve.
Apple stuff helps me out everyday, and that’s what its all about.
You will be missed
Simply, Rest in Peace.
I had no idea what the iPad was for when I got it – I just thought I could write apps for it or something. Then I discovered that it was absolutely one of the coolest music-making devices I’ve ever had the pleasure of using!
Thank you Steve for so much awesomeness from the Apple ][ to the Macintosh to the iPad. Synthtopia readers may argue about it, but there is no question that the iPad has shaken up the world of electronic music and delivered a tantalizing first taste of multi-touch music software and tablet-based virtual hardware. Only time will tell, but right now it looks like the beginning of a wave of creative and wonderful things! We’re in your debt.
Synthtopia readers may argue about a lot of things – but i think we can agree that Steve Jobs was amazing at what he did and that he died too young.