Steve job just died today, age 56. This kinda caught me by surprise. I knew he recently retired because he had cancer and was trying to recover from it but I didn't realize he was this far gone.

News article here.

A rather nice obituary

Truly, he was the people's princess.
…like an Apple in the wind. icry = ;_;

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The outpourings are very reminiscent of the Diana thing. It's like people imagine a personal relationship or something…? I half expect flags to be half mast and there to be a day of mourning and a minute of silence in the US.

Oz, in fairness he had a huge impact on the products and technology that people use and was a very public figure. You should know that! He was a person that people liked and respected even if they weren't keen on all the products his company developed. He also has that whole “pulled himself to the top from the bottom” thing going and Americans like personable successful businessmen.

I won't deny that he was an amazingly successful CEO with a great sense of vision and strong leadership. All that is more than true. But public outpourings of grief and “respect” for a celebrity businessman leave me a little mixed.

I don't understand the grief part either, but the man deserves respect and appreciation for what he's achieved, even from people like myself who aren't really big on Macs. RIP Steve Jobs.

I saw Steve Jobs in the “David” role, versus Goliath – and I tend tio root for the “David”s.

I'm saddened by his death because I think 56 is too young to die. I think he had a lot more in him to do (maybe not) and I always find it sad to see a ife cut short.

For me, Steve Job's death is like any 56-year-old's death. So, like ayesinback said, it's sad because he was too young to die, and had potential. But that applies to so many people who are dying every day. To mourn his death just because you may own one of his products and/or saw him on TV seems hypocritical to me.

-Apple IS a Goliath. In the old Windows Vs days maybe not, but definitely ever since ipods.

This is interesting:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2011-10-06/steve-jobs-death-reaction/50678146/1

It's a story about people leaving flowers and stuff outside Apple shops… and this:

PALM DESERT, Calif.

Apple is like a religion for John Carr: He owns nearly ever Apple product, listens to biographies about Steve Jobs on repeat and preaches about striving for Apple-like perfection.

Yep, death is sad and respect for the dead and all that is only an natural, normal part of our culture, but going the extra mile for public figures is something that is unusual. It reminds me of the public devotion shown for heads of state; with those people you have a lot of psychological investment, they're identified with hopes for your country, way of life, and your future, so grief for them is connected to real worries for preservation that way of life.

For those people (in the article), it seems they regard Jobs as people once did Lenin, Stalin, JFK etc.

Has commerce, branding, and celebrity become so ingrained in our culture that it now shares the same space as politics, nationalism, or religion?

ozoneocean wrote:
Yep, death is sad and respect for the dead and all that is only an natural, normal part of our culture, but going the extra mile for public figures is something that is unusual. It reminds me of the public devotion shown for heads of state;

Yeah! First off, I agree that showing/feeling grief for a public figure just because they are a public figure is – weird (for lack of a better word). Regretably, I don't think it's unusual from the standpoint that it happens frequently.

I suspect that the yanks in particular take their public figures Way Too seriously because we never really cut those chains to royalty and we want some kind of leader. When we lose a good leader, Lincoln, JFK, Martin Luther King, our sorrow is real and profound.

But as the generations progress and our political leaders disappoint again and again, becoming cartoons if not outright embarrassments, there are many who look for leadership in other fields entirely.

Considering the “role models” many Americans have, we Do do worse than someone like Jobs.

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ironic about his name, what with the state of our economy and all. “Losing Jobs”

I don't own a single apple product, nor do i live in the US, but i still respect the man. Since i plan to be a programmer i might as well think of him as an icon now that he's no longer with us.
A lot of people here in chile were walking the streets with their ipods on held up… not like 200000 or anything but a decent amount

It's also worth keeping in mind that Steve Jobs did have sort of an oracle-like aura about him, and people viewed him as a revolutionary “idea guy.” Also, Apple for a lot of people has become a major statement about who they are. It's about more than just phones and music players, or worshiping the financially successful for that matter. Jobs was a cultural icon for a great many people. You're not going to see the same reaction when the CEO of Chase Bank dies, or of some major energy company.

I want to throw this in here. Since we can't embed videos anymore, I'm throwing in the youtube link.

It's a rather nice commencement address by Steve, during the 2005 Stanford graduation. Very inspirational. It's a little sad that he mentions that he had developed cancer a year earlier and now believed it being cured.

Anyways, here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

That vid wasn't entertaining or edifying, to me at least.

There was quite a humorous vid on the Onion site about Steve Jobs Version 2…

It's interesting that both the guy that pioneered the C computer language and the Unix operating system (Dennis Ritchie), and the guy behind Motorola who is basically responsible for the development of the entire mobile phone concept and industry (Robert Galvin) died this week and nary a mention of them… There is but nothing compared to Jobs.

When it comes down to it those guys really and truly DID have a direct influence on all our lives, far, far, far greater than Jobs would've if he'd lived 3 times as long.

This just goes to prove that it really all was about marketing the “man” and people loving their silly gadgets and connecting that to a person, with no greater understanding of anything else.

Ritchie just died? Aww, I just learned about that guy, last semester. As for why they didn't get the same publicity, the answer is quite simple; they weren't public figures. They weren't throwing themselves into the spotlight like Steve did. I'm sad to see all those figureheads die but Steve death's still caught me by surprise since I didn't realize how sick he was.

As for that video, it wasn't supposed to be entertaining. I just liked it because it taught me a little bit about his high school days. I'm allowed to throw in links to videos that aren't jokes, from time to time, right?