RIP Steve Jobs
 

Died today, apparently.

I don't own (or have installed) any Apple products, but still sad to see such an influential guy go to that big computer in the sky (or whatever you prefer) at a relatively young age.

I just found out as well. Can hardly believe it.

It doesn't come as a surprise as He had pancreatic cancer that forced him to get two kidney transplants. Look at the before and after you can see he was sick.

I'm not an apple buyer or supporter. In fact I never bought any apple products. Still I give his surviving family my condolences as I dont want anybody to go through this as I lost two family members to cancer.

Very well said and seconded. In the end it all comes down to who you have around you. RIP

You don't have to have touched an Apple product to have been impacted by Apple. As makers of the first real PC, the first commercial GUI system, the first true 'laptop' and so on … they led and the industry went along and often surpassed or took novel directions. Jobs is one of the very few people who are truly legendary in technology in the last half century.

It's very true. I don't necesarily like apple as a company, but I can't deny the massive influence and innovation that they have had in the world of computers. My first computer RPG was played on a green screen apple 2e.

doesnt matter how much money or power you have - there's some awful disease out there that can kill you and there's nothing you can do about it. Depressing, really.Youd think by this point we'd have solved this particular rubix cube (cancer).

Goodnight, geek prince

Don't really have anything moving to say other than I wish him well on the next big adventure. The only adventure that everyone at some time must take.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs. A man very investive, who made other companies to copy his inventions. Without him, Apple would be < M$+Sony+etc.

Yes, depressing indeed. It just shows how much work still remains.

I'm not an Apple fan myself but I respect the impact the company has made, like the Apple II which I believe being a vital instigator for gaming on the personal computer.

A man with a remarkable 6th sense for how to turn technology into a product that people want. As Mike said, his visions and his products have transformed not only the industry but the way we live and work in many ways. Respect, Steve.

I don't know, while I too wish that we could defeat cancer (I lost both my parents to it) I also think its reassuring that power and money can not buy you life. At least death still makes us equal.

R.I.P. mr Jobs
I believe that his death will have unforeseen consequences on the world of technology.
It will be interesting to see what will happen from now on.

Personally, I certainly agree with that.

If my ipad had tear ducts I think it would cry.

"He is dead, Jim."

May he rest in peace. The world owes him some bits and bytes.

What would the world be without people like him ?

www.apple.com

May he rest in peace.

RIP.

His impact can't be underestimated.

There wouldn't exist facilities with 12 hours of working time with paymet of 1 cent or similar per day and there would be less suicides.
Guys, honestly, I respect his vision, but the price was too expensive. The world lost just another dictator which is not a bad thing no matter anyone says.

Feel free to spit on me, but I won't change my opinion just because now he's dead. I only hope that now when he's gone, Apple will stop the practice of turning ppl into slaves.
May he rest in peace.

Yes there would. They'd just be supplying someone else. There are far more of the facilities you reference than just ones that supplied Apple.

Back on topic though, I've never owned an Apple product and I severely disliked some of the draconian controls Jobs insisted on at Apple (which was why I never owned any). That said, the man was a visionary and had a profound impact on our society. RIP.

wow - sad news indeed, if not entirely unexpected. He definitely stands out as one of the great icons of the computing world. My condolences to his family, I've been there and its not a nice place. I guess they had a long time to say goodbye, which is something at least.

RIP

I am saddened by his death. But that is life…

RIP from me too.

>Youd think by this point we'd have solved this particular rubix cube (cancer).

I wouldn't. It is a very complex group of diseases and we're far from solving it. For some cancers prognosis has improved significantly. For others there haven't been any real progress for more than 30 years. Pancreatic cancers are bad. Although Jobs had a rare form with better prognosis, I'm still surprised he stayed with us as long as he did.

He was a brilliant innovator and even more brilliant in business actually what he did to apple is unsurpassed in business history.

RIP Steve Jobs

Thought I would add this that I stole from another board. It really sums up how I feel about his death:

I lost my mom to pancreatic cancer and it's a devastating way to die. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I really feel for his family. The billions won't really offset the grief. On a more positive note, I still get to see my mom in dreams and it's really helpful. May his family dream positive dreams of Steve for years.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs.

And thanks for being a visionary man, an uneducated man, nonetheless, who always followed your heart.

And by that, I mean, the head the courage and the vision to see opportunities in how for instance tablet pcs could be improved, smartphones could be improved - and made user friendly for all.

In one of the eulogys in a Danish newspaper it was said that the (greek) gods finally called him home - because they feared he would compete with them. And maybe he would :) I'm sure his family will have positive dreams of him just as Steve Jobs had (has) positive dreams of what technology can do for us. And the means to realize it….

RIP

And one more thing,

I agree with that. That's sadly how "the markt" works.

And the worst thing is that we just can't do much abourt it - apart from telling people how the stuff used for the manufacturing of these "small devices" is taken from the earth.

I personally don't correlate what people say about people with the sadness of their death, so I don't really see what relevance Apple has.

Way too young and sad indeed.

I don't want to turn this thread into an argument but there's a substantial chance whatever device you used to type that reply had some componentry supplied by Foxconn, which makes you (and I) as much a part of the problem as Steve Jobs.

People would be slaves with or without Steve Jobs. I'm sure he felt that his influence was for the better, which is extremely in keeping with how people are raised in the capitalistic world.

I find the focus on individuals over other individuals extremely disturbing and destructive, but I think that's the topic for another thread.

Either way, it doesn't take away the sadness of human beings that don't get to live a full life.

Throughout the history of the industrial age the products we use have been made by and large by underpaid, overworked, oppressed and exploited workers.

First in Europe and the US, moving after WWII to Japan, then to Korea, and Taiwan/Hong Kong, then to India and China.

In each place an atmosphere of low wages, low regulation over work conditions and environmental regard and treatment of workers and a desperate desire by the government to seek prosperity through importing work allowed these things to perpetuate until they were brought to light and workers demanded more money and better treatment … then the manufacturing moved elsewhere.

Blaming the entire history of labor strife on one person whose products have been made at one place for 4 years is … well, out of touch with reality. As is the assumption that the death you celebrate will do ANYTHING to help the downtrodden workers of FoxConn (and other places waiting in line to replace them!)

Its is sad that someone died so young however I don't like many things Apple and him stood for… so I won't miss him personally…

I thought this was interesting, if a bit heavy handed

A really great man died recently but that did not get much press like this one. He was called Dennis Ritchie and one of the creator of the C programming language and developer on Unix.

Well no one said life is fair….

So .. trashing someone else who died is a good thing … what a fucking douchebag approach!

Dennis Ritchie was about increasing knowledge, and was reportedly a generally good man - never met him but certainly benefitted from his innovations. I somehow doubt that he would support the total a$$hattery in your image.

Right now Im doing stuff on ipad that month ago I didnt even know was possible. Steves memory lives on through his devices. It was his life's work.

cool your jets, Mike. It's not MY image, it's an image that someone sent me and I thought was interesting, because of the fact that this guy was undoubtedly a geek god too - yet I havent seen or heard anything of his passing.

Have you considered that he posted that image because he found it interesting, and not because of the "asshattery"?

I'd never heard of Dennis Ritchie, which is exactly what makes it interesting.

Just another example of how worshipping individuals can be so destructive to reality.

Actually … for those who DID know of Ritchie, DID use K&R extensively and DID know about his death - there were PLENTY of available POSITIVE sources that highlight his contribution without belittling another recently dead person in order to push a personal agenda. Just because Ritchie isn't on the cover of a dozen magazines doesn't mean his passing wasn't noticed or appreciated.

Words matter.

And by choosing to publish THAT image rather than one simply celebrating the life of Ritchie, be belittles the memory of one who HAS contributed greatly to our lives.

And I agree that the worship of individuals - and the subsequent bent of those who do 'anti-worship', or seek to tear down at all costs - can definitely have negative effects. That has been a side-effect of pop culture for a very, very long time.

I'm not claiming it was unnoticed - I'm just pointing out the obvious truth that it was noticed A LOT less.

I'm not going to get into what it means to contribute to life with you, but I don't see how it belittles anything. Probably because I don't recognise the difference in "size" between individuals I don't know.

I agree, though I hope you're not implying the posting of the picture was part of an effort to "tear down at all costs".

Likely, it was an effort to demonstrate the problem with worshipping individuals, and as such I'm fine with it being "anti-worshipping" because that's exactly what I think is the most healthy approach for everyone in the world.