I feel genuine bereavement on what has to be the death of one of the most influential men in history. His visions and his ethos is shaping the world around us and to know he isn't here, to see his amazing products and services thrive under conditions moulded by the man himself saddens me. It's not just through apple his effect on this world is felt but through cinema. His involvement in Pixar has brought us some childhood classics such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo. His charm and charisma is unconquered throughout the technology world and his transformation of media gatherings and product launches to fully blown events has been unsuccessfully duplicated (much like his products).
He turned desire into necessity through design, interface and advertising. His way with words firmly plants his position as one of the top wordsmiths and can strike cords in most people. A few SteveJobs quotes:
"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."
"You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new."
"When you're a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you're not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You'll know it's there, so you're going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through."
"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me ... Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful... that's what matters to me."
It's a regrettable shame that Steve merely had business recognition through profit and product acceptance and not through sentimental recognition. He was denied a knighthood by Gordon Brown for a not attending an event hosted by Gordon. If ever a man deserved it, it's Steve.
He is the modern day Edison of whom wasn't afraid to explore unknown routes when he asked himself, "if today was my last day alive, would I be happy doing what i'm doing?"
Thank you Steve for absolutely everything. Not for the immediate, but the past and the future.
