Thanks Steve
Sunday, October 9, 2011 at 1:18PM Steve Jobs died this past Wednesday, October 5, 2011. Although it was not unexpected given that he had resigned as Apple CEO at the end of August; it was still a shock. I'm still in shock even after several days of reading posts on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, blogposts, etc. Love Apple or hate Apple, you can't deny that Steve Jobs' drive and vision have made a significant impact on how the average person interacts with a computer.
I wanted to acknowledge Steve's passing because his work has had a profound impact on my life and my career. His focus on creating products that are easy to use, get the job done, and are beautifully designed is the reason so many of us love our Apple products. I'm sure some will dismiss this as mere fanaticism and point out Steve's many flaws and that he didn't invent any of the technology used in Apple products. But without Steve, there would be no Macintosh, no iPod, no Apple Stores, no iPhone and no iPad. Without the Macintosh with it's graphic user interface and ability to render fonts using Adobe's Postscript we would not have had a massive transformation in the graphic design industry. Suddenly the job that took many people to accomplish (design, typesetting, paste-up/production) could all be done by one person with a Mac. For all this I want to thank Steve Jobs.
As I think about Steve Jobs, I am reminded of 2 other men who died too young and who's work I adored. Jim Henson died suddenly in 1990 (on my birthday, no less) at age 54. I grew up with Sesame Street and adored The Muppet Show and the Muppet movies. Jim Henson's death upset me (and many people) very much. I was so happy when Steve Jobs included Jim in his "Think Different" ad campaign for Apple. I still have that poster of Jim with Kermit on his shoulders, with the original rainbow Apple logo and the tagline set in Garamond. In 2001, Douglas Adams, writer of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, died at age 49. His books were brilliant, hilarious, insightful and so fun to read. Adams was also an avid Mac user and a big fan of Apple computer. It's so sad that he died 9 years before the iPad debuted. The iPad is the living embodiment of his "Hitchhikers Guide" tablet as it is described in his books. He would have loved the iPad.
Many articles have been written about Steve Jobs and his passing, and many more will be written. But here are links to my three favorites so far. Andy Ihnatko, tech writer for the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote a lovely story on his personal blog that illustrates the strong emotional connection people have with Apple. MG Siegler, writer for Tech Crunch, wrote about the emotional connection that we have with Steve Jobs himself. And for Wired.com, Steven Levy wrote a comprehensive article about Steve and his life.
Apple, Steve Jobs 
