
Steve Jobs passed away one year ago - HN Frontpage - duck
http://www.waybackletter.com/archive/20111005.html
======
andrewljohnson
My mom sometimes talks about how she felt when John Lennon died, and I always
sort of scoffed at the notion of being overwhelmed by the death of a celebrity
stranger.

I understood what she meant when Steve Jobs died - I was really overwhelmed, I
think because I derived such a big part of my life, livelihood, and identity
from iOS over the last 3-4 years.

~~~
markmm
Jobs was a good business man and decent presenter, to compare him to John
Lennon is utterly inappropriate.

~~~
thornofmight
Also, humans have spent a lot more time on computers and iPhones than they
have listening to the Beatles.

~~~
sampsonjs
Or going to the bathroom, driving their cars, sleeping... For example, I've
only seen the Godfather once. My electric toothbrush, on the other hand? I use
that every day! Take that Coppola! I think Jobs himself proved that software
isn't art, and "hackers" are not artistes. I submit the following conjecture:
The complaints about the app store approval process would be nothing compared
to the shitstorm if Apple started blocking songs and films from iTunes.
Remember, Jobs is the one who, if he had gotten his way, would make all
software go through a central committee before you could use it. ¡Viva la
Revolución! Also, eff the Beatles. Put on some Wilson Pickett or Motown, or
your pick of their better contemporaries.

~~~
thornofmight
"I think Jobs himself proved that software isn't art"

How so?

Also, I don't think it's too crazy to say that the toothbrush has had a larger
effect on mankind than The Godfather.

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singular
It's funny to see this as I (and I suspect probably many others) felt
compelled to take a screenshot when this happened, because it was so bizarre
to see the front page consist of a single story -
<http://dl.dropbox.com/u/140966/hn_jobs.png>

I also did the same when Dennis Ritchie died, though not every story was about
that - <http://dl.dropbox.com/u/140966/hn_ritchie.png>

RIP to both of them.

~~~
angersock
That's so unfortunate. I'm kind of bummed that (at least in your sample) the
HN community seems to spam more about a businessman than an engineer.

I'm curious what will happen when Woz passes.

~~~
mkramlich
Jobs wasn't just "a businessman". It's unfortunate you haven't recognized what
was so special about him.

~~~
angersock
He very much was "just a businessman". An effective one, perhaps, and one who
lucked into a new market, perhaps, but he was indeed very much a businessman.

He wasn't an engineer of any outstanding merit--see how he tried to nix
expansion slots on the old Apples, or the Atari debacle, or other such things.

Moreover, he's done nothing but create lasting damage as a role model for
future CEOs (have you ever dealt with a CEO doing something stupid because
"Steve was right"?) and foster a culture of isolation and consumerism in
technology. Apple v. Samsung is rubbish, and the petulant Android vendetta is
hardly something we should celebrate.

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huhtenberg
That's when I had my _flag_ option taken away by mods, because I flagged all
of these except for the top one.

~~~
kyro
And rightly so. If your reaction to his death here was to go into flag-mode
and just not let the front page be filled _for one day_ with a story that so
clearly affected the community, then I've got no problems with your flag
rights being taken away.

It's an odd reaction that's honestly somewhat puzzling.

~~~
zeru
So every time someone important in the tech world dies its ok that the front
page is filled with the same story but different from sources? I don't see why
one can't be enough and still have some other topics. There are many stories
that clearly affect the community, but you don't see them take up all 30
spots. It's not like the story wouldn't be #1 or go unnoticed.

Though the mass flagging was of course unnecessary, it's not like mods didn't
see that every single post was the same thing.

~~~
kyro
_> So every time someone important in the tech world dies its ok that the
front page is filled with the same story but different from sources?_

Sure, if said person is as influential to this community as Steve clearly was.

------
stevenj
When news broke about his passing, I started putting together a small archive
of stories about him. I continue to update it when I come across new stuff.

<http://www.hausmag.com/steve-jobs.html>

Miss you, Steve.

~~~
sachitgupta
Got the same here: <http://pinboard.in/u:sachitgupta/t:stevejobs> 90+ articles
bookmarked if anyone wants to check them out.

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dakrisht
Wow. Time certainly does fly. I remember browsing Twitter that afternoon,
outside my office, having a smoke. All of the sudden, I just see Steve Jobs
everywhere in my timeline. Texts starting coming in. It was a sad moment. Like
him or hate him, he gave himself to the craft, sought perfection, never gave
up. RIP to one of the greatest innovators of our time.

------
redthrowaway
Someone could have proven P=NP, and we wouldn't have noticed.

~~~
chrislloyd
Minefold (YC W12) launched 3 hours before Steve Jobs died and got, uh, 23
upvotes[1] before disappearing into oblivion.

[1] <http://cl.ly/image/371P0B3j3g3H>

~~~
taybenlor
Haha, I remember this. Worst launch day ever.

~~~
Tyrannosaurs
My favourite is the novelist Chris Cleave had his first book "Incendiary"
(about a terrorist bomb attack on London) released on the same day as the 7/7
London bombings.

The publisher pulled all advertising and all copies were hidden at the back of
book shops as a mark of respect / so as not to be seen to be trying to profit
from such an event / out of general decency.

Pretty much killed it.

~~~
gadders
See also the film "Gone Baby Gone" [1], a really good film (and book) that had
its release delayed due to the search for Madeleine McCann [2]

[1] <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0452623/> [2]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Madeleine_McCa...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Madeleine_McCann)

~~~
prawks
Donnie Darko opened the month after 9/11, and many theaters refused to show it
due to its depiction of a plane crashing. Didn't go positive in the box office
likely as a result.

Absolutely excellent cult film for anyone interested.

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plainOldText
I keep listening to this audio of a talk Steve Jobs gave to an audience in
Aspen back in 1983 and I believe everything he said in that talk was exactly
what Apple became years later. I can't help but wonder how he nailed it so
perfectly (well except for the time frame which was a bit longer, 20+ instead
of 10-15 years, but still).

Link to audio:
[http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/62010118/download?client_id...](http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/62010118/download?client_id=0f8fdbbaa21a9bd18210986a7dc2d72c)

From where you're watching Steve, thanks.

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Heliosmaster
And also Dennis Ritchie died almost one year ago. RIP

~~~
rbanffy
We'll get to him next week.

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pixxa
To get a sense of clarity of his vision, read Jobs's 1985 Playboy Interview
where he predicts the future before setting out to spend the rest of his life
to invent it.

<http://www.txtpost.com/playboy-interview-steven-jobs/>

RIP Steve Jobs

~~~
revelation
Soo.. can some of the older people around here tell me why this interview by a
freelance writer for the Playboy is better and more comprehensive than
everything I've read in a month? Just what exactly happened to journalism?

~~~
elorant
First of all Playboy been as controversial as it was invested a lot in
interviews just to show that it wasn’t another porn magazine. They managed to
take interviews from people who are generally considered inaccessible.

Second although Jobs was known to be whim back in 1985 he wasn’t as successful
as it was when he died so my guess is that the interviewer wouldn’t have any
problem to push him a bit and make the best out of an interview. Years later
people seemed to be frightened of the idea asking him the wrong question.

Lastly, in 1985 Jobs was like thirty years younger than when he died. He would
be burning to express his thoughts and his vision of the future. Plus he was
still the underdog back then, there were some huge corporations around and
Apple compared to them was nothing.

------
elorant
Although I generally dislike Apple I felt sad that day. Jobs was by any
measure a giant of our industry. Even if you didn't like him as a person, and
many don't, his passion inspired a whole generation.

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sampsonjs
Worth a read: www.gawker.com/5847338/steve-jobs-was-not-god

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jjordan
Wow, has it really been a year?! It feels like it happened a few months ago,
tops.

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zsherman
Wow, literally every single post.

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mansoor-s
I felt nothing.

~~~
jyap
2 troll comments in the same post.

Man, I wish PG or someone would just ban some people.

~~~
mansoor-s
not a troll. I seriously don't feel anything for him more than any other
human.

~~~
czr80
But then why do you feel the need to post that? Do you often randomly walk up
to groups of people and tell them you don't care about what they are
discussing?

~~~
ta12121
So comment threads on HN are now private discussions one has to be invited to?

Like the original commenter I am also tired of the celebrity worship that goes
on here (and pretty much everywhere else). Yes, the man died. So do millions
of others every day.

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pixxa
Has there ever been another story (besides Jobs's death) that took over the
front page of HN?

~~~
ableal
There was the all Erlang front page, a few years ago, if memory serves.

(HN got airplay somewhere, it was a scare-away-the-newbs prank.)

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bajsejohannes
Here's a screenshot I took of the Apple home page as well:
<http://i.imgur.com/xrO47.png>

And from Amazon: <http://imgur.com/eJ77c> (upper right corner)

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taytus
I wrote a post about this (Spanish only for now):
<http://taytus.com/2012/10/el-steve-que-extrano/>

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veermishra0803
i genuinely believe that the efforts and work that Late Steve Jobs did,
brought a revolution in that industry and touched the hearts of millions and
millions of people. and i believe this is the reason y we all cant ignore the
fact of his greatness

------
CoachRufus87
RIP to one of the greatest innovators of our time.

~~~
Tomis02
I agree. RIP Steve Irwin.

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desaiguddu
Hello if you like Apple.com new video you will certainly like our tribute as
well - <http://tmblr.co/Zpw4yxUgp9Mi>

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npguy
A year already? Time flies, agreed.

~~~
nprasanna87
It's scary too. No matter how we spend our time, every single second is
marching us towards our death, maybe even sooner (56?). The only consolation
we can have is if we ever did something that we are proud of. That's why my
greatest regrets come from wasting time.

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kleiba
Oh, please. Indiana... let it go.

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ger_phpmagazin
The took our jobs!

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Cbasedlifeform
He was some kind of a man.

~~~
mansoor-s
what kind

