When I first heard the news, I was walking back from the library on Marquette University's campus. Like much news in today's technologically driven society, I read the news via Twitter. #RIPSteveJobs. #thankyouSteve. #iSad. All worldwide trending topics that seemed to change the mood of my Twitter feed. The news even broke on Google's homepage.
"Steve Jobs was an extraordinary visionary, our very dear friend and the guiding light of the Pixar family," says Ed Catmull and John Lasseter of Pixar. "He saw the potential of what Pixar could be before the rest of us, and beyond what anyone ever imagined."
One of the first articles I came across was the Barack Obama's reaction, where he endearingly referred to Jobs as "bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it." I could not agree more. Steve Jobs was not only a talented man in technology development, but he had the genius to go beyond the necessary, and develop the extraordinary.
On the Youtube homepage, there is a sidebar dedicated to videos about Jobs and his Apple release conferences, but one of my favorite videos is from Forbes Editors, released in August 2011, honoring the memorable moments of his career. An erie moment as Jobs buries Mac OS 9, announcing OS 10.
"All he had was his showmanship....And that was Jobs at his best, just selling," says Quentin Hardy, Forbes.
Time's Techland released a listing of reactions from Jobs' family, New Apple CEO Tim Cook, Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. "It's like there's a big hole left in you, and it's very hard to go back and reflect on all the feelings... Everyone knows what he did—how much life he brought to the world," says Wozniak. "I think if he had a goal, he certainly far, far overachieved any goals he had from the start of things."
One of the other chilling articles I read was a Storify from the Apple employees and their reactions to the news. "Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in square holes. The ones who see things differently," Robert Padbury (@padbury), Interface Designer, says in honor of Jobs. The round pegs in square holes. That's exactly what Jobs was to the industry. He went beyond the expected, and that's what happened today with the press release of the iPhone 4S. A wonderful and fitting tribute to his genius.
The Oregonian posted Associated Press coverage of Jobs' death at 56, but surprisingly limited coverage for neighbor state of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. (Update: Three days later and the Oregonian has nothing to share about Steve Jobs. Their lack of coverage is disappointing to me, especially since their only coverage was from Associated Press.)
It's almost chilling to me that both of these monumental and life changing events happened for Apple in one day. But the homepage for the iPhone 4S reads, "Picking up where amazing left off." In this case, Jobs, not just the technology behind his name, was the amazing. This video of Apple's 1984 release of Macintosh was very emotional, especially the standing ovation Steve Jobs received, and deserved, for his inovations.
My thoughts go out to his family and those personally affected by his loss.