
Steve Jobs has passed away. - patricktomas
http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/
======
donohoe
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever
encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything
— all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -
these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly
important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to
avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked.
There is no reason not to follow your heart."

June 12th 2005 Stanford commencement speech

Text: <http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html>

Video: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc>

~~~
wyclif
"Just over two centuries ago, in 1805, it took news of the Battle of Trafalgar
over a fortnight to reach London from the Mediterranean. The fact that, in
2011, the speed with which the news of Steve Jobs's death circled the globe
and reached millions could be measured in seconds is a profound testimony to
the connective power of the new world that he helped to create." ~ Alastair
Roberts

~~~
narag
Trafalgar is not far from the Mediterranean, but it's in the Atlantic,

------
tc
What Apple is going to be missing without Steve Jobs isn't creative talent or
even someone capable of saying 'no.'

It's going to be missing someone who has the absolute credibility to say it.

Anyone can be a tyrant. If Steve Jobs was a dictator, it was because people
thought he had the right to be.

~~~
sjtgraham
Considering how apparent it was that Steve’s health was gravely bad and
rapidly deteriorating, we all in the back of our minds knew the time we had
him in this world was limited and precious. So it comes as a complete shock to
me how upset I actually am by Steve’s passing.

Even though most of us never knew him, we all feel as if we did know him very
well; his inventions, complete labours of love, have become so central to how
we live our lives. The profound impact his creations have had on us cannot
make us feel any other way.

I didn't go to college, and I remember having a shitty job back in the day,
saving so hard to buy a PowerBook G4, but it was completely worth it because
purchasing that machine literally changed my life. Without a computer that was
an absolute joy to use, I would have never spent so many hours learning how to
code and consequently now have the career opportunities that I do.

I feel eternally indebted to Steve, despite having never met the man myself.
By creating the wonderful tools he did for us to work with, I feel he is
significantly responsible for the career I have today.

To one of the few that can say ‘I changed the world’, thank you.

Rest in peace Steve

~~~
alexbell
This. While I'd done a little scripting, I was never interested in working in
software development. It made me think of boring/painful win32 programs. After
I graduated college I skipped around through sales jobs I hated and was
terrible at. And then I got an iOS device (2g iPod Touch) for my birthday, and
I was suddenly very interested in programming. The way that device was so
effortless to use, powerful (for its size), and fun captivated me. Within a
year of receiving that that device I was roughly a third of the way through a
CS degree (post baccalaureate), going to school part time and paying for it
with my part time job (working at an Apple Store). I've been a paid
professional developer for almost two years now, primarily working on iOS
stuff. And I really like what I do. It sounds stupid, but I really don't know
what I'd be doing now if I hadn't gotten that iPod Touch.

Thanks Steve, I certainly feel like you've done something for me even though
I've never met you.

------
chaosmachine
If you watched the iPhone keynote yesterday, you may have noticed this:

<http://i.imgur.com/BsIoS.png>

This shot was shown for about 5 seconds right at the beginning of the
recording. Front row, center. Reserved. Empty.

~~~
sethg
I have this image of Steve watching the keynote on TV from his hospital bed,
and then turning to his doctor and saying, “OK, I’m done here.”

~~~
mcantor
I think it's more likely that he would have said, "I've barely begun."

------
dustingetz
_Jobs imagines his garbage regularly not being emptied in his office, and when
he asks the janitor why, he gets an excuse: The locks have been changed, and
the janitor doesn’t have a key. This is an acceptable excuse coming from
someone who empties trash bins for a living. The janitor gets to explain why
something went wrong. Senior people do not. “When you’re the janitor,” Jobs
has repeatedly told incoming VPs, “reasons matter.” He continues: “Somewhere
between the janitor and the CEO, reasons stop mattering.” That “Rubicon,” he
has said, “is crossed when you become a VP._

\-- Jobs (via secondary source [1])

[1] [http://www.macstories.net/news/inside-apple-reveals-steve-
jo...](http://www.macstories.net/news/inside-apple-reveals-steve-jobs-
anecdotes-apples-little-known-facts/)

------
kristofferR
"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die
to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever
escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the
single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the
old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too
long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to
be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be
trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's
thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner
voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and
intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything
else is secondary."

\- Steve Jobs

~~~
jquery
_"Death is very likely the single best invention of Life."_

Quotes like this get me thinking back to my fascination reading about
Cognitive Dissonance in Psych 101.

~~~
Helianthus
What do you mean?

~~~
orangecat
Death is not good; it is very bad. If given the opportunity to live "forever"
(and not age), you'd take it. In a world without death, nobody would think
introducing it was a good idea. But because we currently can't do anything
about it, we try to tell ourselves it's a good thing.

~~~
wtallis
That's only cognitive dissonance if you're hopelessly egocentric. Death is
obviously bad for you as an individual, but is crucial to the long-term
survival on a species. Without death, you can't have evolution or
adaptability. The only thing wrong here are the people responding with the
fallacy of composition.

~~~
icandoitbetter
I cannot even begin to conceive the kind of confusion that has legitimized the
"species over the individual" narrative. Just because something is natural
doesn't mean that it's good. If you consider it "hopelessly egocentric" to
think of death as a bad, bad thing since it's necessary for natural selection,
do you also consider it ethically acceptable to kill an individual once he has
stopped procreating, since he's no longer relevant to the evolutionary game?

~~~
elemenohpee
The species over the individual "narrative" exists because it is a fact of
evolution. Life is a pattern of self-replication, and it is at the level of
the gene that natural selection works to make this pattern more robust. The
whole concept of having an individual "over" a species is so quaintly human.
The universe, and the physical processes within it that are life, have no
concern for such silly concepts. To put so much stock into the individual (and
such people are always really talking about themselves), is completely
egocentric. We tell ourselves stories about how important and special we are
to validate our own existences, and that's fine, it makes some of us feel
better. But we ignore the macro-processes that even allowed our existences at
our own peril. Guess what, with no species, there are no individuals to
glorify.

>do you also consider it ethically acceptable to kill an individual once he
has stopped procreating, since he's no longer relevant to the evolutionary
game?

The evolutionary game is much more complicated than you imagine it to be.
Humans have evolved to be social animals. Someone who is too old to procreate
can still watch after young, pass knowledge on to them, etc., which increases
their fitness. This is such a fundamental misunderstanding, you have no reason
to be so confident in such matters.

~~~
Udo
Evolution is a vehicle for genes, bodies are just incidental to this process.
We are, however, more than bodies that breed genes. We are persons, we have
minds. We have developed into something that goes beyond the substrate from
which we came and we owe it to ourselves to some day outgrow the need for that
substrate completely.

Imagine what our minds could do if they had centuries to develop. Imagine what
our culture could be like if we didn't have to start from scratch every 70
years. Imagine a society without loss and scarcity. I know it's not an idea
that appeals to a lot of people, but it does appeal to me. And I do believe
it's an inevitable next step. In the end, it doesn't matter what most people
think of this idea. It's not a development that the majority of humanity has
to sign off on - we'll just move along without you, no harm done.

~~~
elemenohpee
> We are, however, more than bodies that breed genes. We have developed into
> something that goes beyond the substrate from which we came and we owe it to
> ourselves to some day outgrow the need for that substrate completely.

I'm not sure I accept that, and I have yet to see an argument that
demonstrates this convincingly. What substrate are you talking about? The
physical world? We are a part of and a result of the physical world, not
separate from it. The notion of moving beyond it is nonsensical. If you're
talking about the biological substrate, then I agree, we may see technology
evolve beyond us. But this is still the self-replication pattern that is being
propagated, not humanity itself.

>Imagine what our culture could be like if we didn't have to start from
scratch every 70 years.

We don't start from scratch, that is the greatest advantage of our minds which
have created written and oral communication. It has been demonstrated that
people grow more conservative as they get older and set in their ways. New
ideas are the purview of the young. I can very well imagine our culture
stagnating if individuals were able to live indefinitely.

>Imagine what our minds could do if they had centuries to develop.

If we're still talking about organic brains, I don't think we _can_ imagine
that. Our brains were not designed to receive more than 100 or so years of
input. The yips in golfers arise from mental maps of the body "bleeding over"
after too much training. The wiring of the brain may not be designed to handle
so much input. I can easily see an analagous process happening in more purely
cognitive situations. In short, we don't know what would happen, and it would
be presumptuous to think that we do.

> Imagine a society without loss and scarcity.

What do you mean that doesn't appeal to people? It's a utopian fantasy, of
course it sounds good. But to say that it's inevitable is wishful thinking.
Ironically, it may be our individualistic culture that does what is good for
the self, with no concern for the future good that prevents such a
development. Our plunder of the world's resources and our destruction of the
environment may very well leave the planet unsuitable for human life. This is
the idea that I was addressing in my first post, that of course the species
does and should take precedent over the individual.

~~~
jodrellblank
_I can very well imagine our culture stagnating if individuals were able to
live indefinitely_

That's shown me. I guess the death of myself, my loved ones, my friends, and
all 7 billion humans alive today isn't so bad compared to the sheer horror of
_culture staying the same_.

Where's your perspective?

 _In short, we don't know what would happen, and it would be presumptuous to
think that we do._

But it would be ridiculous to reject the idea of it based on speculation that
it might not be possible.

 _Our plunder of the world's resources and our destruction of the environment_

Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish. This self-flagellating viewpoint isn't winning
points from a kindly jury. We can't "destroy" the environment or "plunder" the
world's resource. All the stuff we've dug up is still in the universe, there
is still _an environment_ , and largely it's still the same as it ever was.

There was vastly more severe environmental change happening outside the time
of humans than there has been during it, and we don't talk about the time the
crust cooled and set as "the great environmental destruction", do we? Or when
oxygen levels dropped, or when the earth warmed and ice ages finished? Or when
plants appeared and took over the earth?

They were all enormous changes, yet today it's "greenhouse gases and global
warming, oh we're so sorry, we're really horrible, we deserve a punishment".

 _may very well leave the planet unsuitable for human life._

Then we should probably fix that, not prostrate ourselves and play who's the
most cynical and holier-than-thou games.

 _This is the idea that I was addressing in my first post, that of course the
species does and should take precedent over the individual._

Of course it does? I refute that. We, the living humans on this planet, take
precedence over all future, potential, hypothetical humans by virtue of _our
existence_ and their _non-existance_. Of course we do, any other view is
ridiculous. Can you imagine "women and children first" changing to "imaginary
hypothetical people first, women and children second"? No.

~~~
elemenohpee
> That's shown me. I guess the death of myself, my loved ones, my friends, and
> all 7 billion humans alive today isn't so bad compared to the sheer horror
> of culture staying the same.

Unless you think we're perfectly adapted to all future circumstances,
different selective pressures will require change, as they have for the past 4
billion or so years on this planet. Plus, good luck getting people to stop
fucking. We have a finite amount of resources available. Regardless of the
philosophical implications, it's not even practical to try to keep people
alive forever. You ask where my perspective is, yet you brush concerns like
this under the rug because you can't bear the thought of you personally having
to go through the experience of losing loved ones, as organisms have been
doing for eons.

> But it would be ridiculous to reject the idea of it based on speculation
> that it might not be possible.

Yes, I overreached there. I meant only to reject the idea that it will
necessarily lead to positive outcomes.

> All the stuff we've dug up is still in the universe, there is still an
> environment, and largely it's still the same as it ever was.

And a lot of it we've put through physical and chemical changes which are non-
reversible. And _an_ environment is different than one that can sustain us
comfortably. I didn't think I was going to have to defend simple facts about
resource consumption.

> There was vastly more severe environmental change happening outside the time
> of humans than there has been during it, and we don't talk about the time
> the crust cooled and set as "the great environmental destruction", do we? Or
> when oxygen levels dropped, or when the earth warmed and ice ages finished?

We probably would if we were around for it. Species were wiped out. As the
environment changes now, selective pressures will change again, and anything
maladapted to them will die out. If indeed we are changing the environment and
extracting resources at an unsustainable rate, we may die out or be radically
changed, and by definition, something more able to keep their consumption
under control will flourish. I believe that we have reached an evolutionary
point where a much quicker memetic evolution will allow humans to adapt, but
the resistance to this collective way of thinking will need to be overcome.

> Then we should probably fix that, not prostrate ourselves and play who's the
> most cynical and holier-than-thou games.

What game do you think I am playing here? I'm making an earnest argument that
maybe the life cost of trying to build the biggest SUVs is too high, and will
disadvantage our species in the long run.

> We, the living humans on this planet, take precedence over all future,
> potential, hypothetical humans by virtue of our existence and their non-
> existance.

And by definition, this is egocentric, which was the original point. Unless
you deny that people will be born in the future, calling them imaginary is
intellectually dishonest. Pretending that they will never exist achieves
nothing except to deflect your anxiety about taking actions which will make
the lives of your descendents more difficult.

------
JunkDNA
I had a feeling this was right around the corner the moment I saw his
presentation to the Cupertino planning committee. My dad died of pancreatic
cancer 10 years ago at the age of 46. In the month or so leading up to the
end, as his liver started to fail, his voice changed and at times seemed
almost "thick". When I heard Steve start to speak, it immediately made me
think of my dad.

My heart goes out to his family and friends. Steve was a childhood hero of
mine as far back as I can remember. The world was a much better place with him
in it.

------
cek
When I was 10 I visited my uncle’s factory in Michigan. He sat me down in
front of an Apple II and fired up a video game. As I played Castle, I noticed
the manual for the Applesoft programming language sitting next to the
computer. I cracked it open and realized I could break into the monitor and
see the source code.

I did just that, modifying the game to the point it was no longer playable. I
had saved the file and effectively broke it. I shut off the computer, and
never told my uncle.

The excitement of that moment stuck with me and was the enabler of the amazing
life I've had since.

Thank you Steve Jobs. RIP.

~~~
afterburner
My first computer was an Apple IIc, on which I taught myself BASIC (which
provided many memorable minor revelations). Thanks for your efforts Steve
Jobs.

------
mixmax
_Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The
round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re
not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote
them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you
can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race
forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because
the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the
ones who do._

~~~
jmatt
This is from the Think Different campaign (1997+):
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_Different>

I really shouldn't admit this but /cough circa 1997 I had abandoned Apple. I
had a PC and Linux box at home and Unix terminal at school. I remember being
impressed by this campaign and hopeful that Jobs would fix Apple. But I
couldn't have imagined what Apple and Steve Jobs had in store for the world.
What a remarkable recovery. Thanks Steve.

------
ilamont
"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."

\- Inscription on Steve Jobs' star at the Entrepreneur Walk of Fame in
Cambridge, Mass., unveiled on 9/16/2011: <http://instagr.am/p/NPa4o/>

~~~
gnosis
Would have been much more impressive if he'd proven that being rich _while
alive_ didn't matter to him.

Honestly, how many people care about how much is in their bank account _after
they die_? Probably not very many.

Plenty chase riches while they're alive, however. And good old Steve was no
exception.

~~~
mantas
If you run out of ideas, you start to help the world in the easiest way - by
giving away your money.

Jobs hadn't run out of ideas though.

~~~
Steko
Well put.

I'll add that what's even better then giving away your money is not taking too
much in the first place.

Steve Jobs was a multi-billionaire but, as Apple's stock laps the field, it
bears noting that Steve's billions are a fraction of what others in similar
positions are worth.

~~~
2muchcoffeeman
<http://www.forbes.com/wealth/billionaires/list?page=2>

Steve Jobs is 110. It's really quite reasonable if you put it into context.

------
gfodor
Silicon Valley is about to go into mourning. I am having a hard time getting
back to work. We've been getting more rain in the south bay the last 3 days
than we have all summer, it feels oddly right now.

I think Paul Graham's post earlier today had something for us to remember as
we work through this great, deep loss:

"I flew into the Bay Area a few days ago. I notice this every time I fly over
the Valley: somehow you can sense something is going on. Obviously you can
sense prosperity in how well kept a place looks. But there are different kinds
of prosperity. Silicon Valley doesn't look like Boston, or New York, or LA, or
DC. I tried asking myself what word I'd use to describe the feeling the Valley
radiated, and the word that came to mind was optimism."

Here's to Steve, and his relentless optimism. Here's to the next big idea and
the next person who changes the world like he did.

------
donw
I didn't think I'd be this emotional about Jobs, but as I sit here in my
apartment in Tokyo, surrounded by Apple products, I'm reminded at the impact
he's had on my life.

On our lives. How many people on HN own iPhones and MacBooks?

There's no more fitting tribute to the man than to throw some Beatles up on
iTunes and create something wonderful.

Gentlemen, let's make a dent in the universe.

~~~
dholowiski
Fuck,yeah!

------
100k
My dad also died of pancreatic cancer that spread to his liver (he was 55).
Tough disease. Steve died before his time, but in many ways he beat the odds.
Five year survivorship rate for pancreatic cancer is around 5%.

His vision will be missed. He left an indelible mark on a generation of
technology users, and then did it again.

------
pixelcloud
Just remember this.

"You know, I've got a plan that could rescue Apple. I can't say any more than
that it's the perfect product and the perfect strategy for Apple. But nobody
there will listen to me." \-- Steve Jobs, Sept. 18, 1995

"If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it's worth -- and
get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a
long time ago." \-- Steve Jobs, Feb. 19, 1996

The best ideas are the ones you have to force on people.

~~~
rgovostes
Last year I had the great fortune of being able to ask Steve to clarify the
first quote. He was very apologetic, but alas he couldn't recall what product
he envisioned in 1995.

------
marcamillion
Walter Isascson had better be prepared for the amount of books he is about to
sell - [http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-
Isaacson/dp/14516485...](http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-
Isaacson/dp/1451648537/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317859076&sr=8-1)

A more 'perfect' PR stunt, the official autobiographer of Steve Jobs couldn't
ask for...before you start downvoting me for a seemingly insensitive comment,
I don't mean that is perfect that he died. Absolutely not.

I am dealing with the loss just like any other tech-loving fan-boi.

Just pointing out that it the PR storm generated around this book as a result
of his passing, will be nothing like he could have ever paid for....i.e. it is
'perfect' (from a selling the books perspective).

Perfectly sad...otherwise.

~~~
chaostheory
I think Steve Jobs was prepared for it. I remember reading that the book was
originally due out in Spring of 2012. He changed the deadline 5-6 months
earlier for Fall of 2011.

~~~
marcamillion
I know...I do remember that the release date was pushed up too...which makes
me think it might have been his 'last stroke of genius'.

Talk about consistently having the right timing in almost everything he does.

------
cedsav
Cancer sucks.

If you care to learn more about the disease and the search for a cure, check
out "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha
Mukherjee. Fascinating, scary and sobering.

<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Q66B5C>

~~~
rorrr
And even having billions of dollars and access to _any_ medicine and _any_
doctor can't save you. Fuck cancer.

~~~
cookiecaper
I've become convinced that cancer is among the elite series of diseases that
are, in many cases, just _how people die_ , meaning that perhaps in many
instances the medical term for "dying" is "cancer". I think it is naive to
ever think we'll have a general cure, especially since "cancer" covers such a
broad range of specific issues.

I understand that people die in other ways too, of course, but I think cancer
is a common agent that is just _how dying works_. It's like getting gray hairs
-- you can do things to try and stop or cover it up (and some people will get
old without much graying), people can fantasize about a fountain of youth that
will keep your body at age 21 forever, but the reality is that graying is just
part of aging and nothing is going to change that despite any realistic effort
that humans can put in. Cancer is part of dying for many, many people. It's
not going to go away despite our best efforts to mitigate its effects or
eradicate it entirely.

I once read the supposed confession of a medical research assistant that
"cancer" as a general thing is not curable but they keep the myth alive
because "cure cancer" makes a really decent slogan.

~~~
Udo

      I've become convinced that cancer is among the elite series of diseases that are, 
      in many cases, just how people die, meaning that perhaps in many instances the medical 
      term for "dying" is "cancer".
    

Our bodies are machines. Biological and very complex machines, but still they
follow a system of rules and their functions are defined in machine code.
Cancer is a certain type of crash that can befall these machines, literally.
As the cells are executing their DNA code, an error creeps into its daily
routine.

There is a variety of reasons those bugs can come up: for example, the
codebase could have a pre-existing weakness that gets triggered in certain
conditions. Sometimes, the code was copied incorrectly from one cell to its
successor. Sometimes an external influence corrupts the local copy of the
code.

When cellular code develops a bug, there are a number of things that can
happen: sometimes, the cell just becomes bad or inefficient at what it does.
Sometimes it shuts down. Sometimes, nothing happens. And other times the bug
introduces an infinite loop in the cell's replication subroutines - that's
cancer.

You see, cancer is neither a medical catchall term nor is it an inevitability
of life. In fact, our immune system regularly attacks crashed cells, including
cancer cells. If it didn't we'd all be having cancer at a very early age.
However, sometimes due to the nature of the bug, the immune system is
incapable of recognizing that a cell has crashed. That's when cancer breaks
out, because those cells replicate and the immune system doesn't stop them.
This is also precisely the point where the most promising treatment options
are. We are just now figuring out how to teach the immune system to recognize
those crashed cells and once we advance this research enough, we'll have the
capability to simply correct these flaws in our systems and get rid of the bug
completely.

    
    
      I once read the supposed confession of a medical research assistant that "cancer"
      as a general thing is not curable but they keep the myth alive because "cure cancer" 
      makes a really decent slogan.
    

For your sake, I really hope you don't believe this nonsense. It's right up
there with "the Earth is flat" and "God did it".

EDIT: After re-reading my post, I realize that it could be perceived as
condescending - but I assure you, it's not supposed to be. It's just intended
as a short programmer-friendly introduction into the nature of cancer.

------
chetan51
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The
round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re
not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote
them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you
can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race
forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because
the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the
ones who do. - Apple Inc.

------
MatthewB
I (along with countless other people) lost a hero today.

Steve Jobs was the person who inspired me to join the tech industry. I first
really knew who Steve Jobs was after watching the (not so bad) made-for-tv
movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley." I always knew I wanted to work with
technology but after seeing that movie I knew I wanted to be part of the
Silicon Valley culture that Steve helped create. Steve has inspired me for
years and I am extremely sad about this loss. We will all miss him dearly.

RIP Steve Jobs 

------
edw519
"I want to put a ding in the universe."

Perhaps his biggest ding was inspiring so many of us to pursue our own dings.

R.I.P.

~~~
nirvana
Sorry to be pedantic, but it was dent. "Do[n't] you want to make a dent in the
universe?"

~~~
speleding
It was "ding" according to most sources that come up in Google
<http://quotationsbook.com/quote/215/>

------
protomyth
In the early 90's I was pretty sure I didn't want be a programmer anymore. I
really got no joy from Windows and the Macintosh was looking like it was dead.
I got ahold of NeXTSTEP 3.3 and was hooked. I remember the joy stuff like the
Apple II and the Atari 400 brought me. It was just amazing. It is such a shame
to know Steve Jobs, Seymour Cray, and Jay Miner are no longer with us. I
should be happy to have been alive for the start of it all though.

------
orky56
He poured his life and soul into Apple. When his health suffered, he fought
tooth and nail and stayed involved with Apple until the very end. When he left
Apple (feels like just yesterday), he said it was because he truly felt he was
unable to continue to lead.

I'm left with a feeling of ambivalence. I feel bad that he couldn't enjoy the
fruits of his labor by retiring and spending time with his family or whatever
other interests he had. At the same time, I know that he wouldn't have had it
any other way.

He recognized his gift and shared it with all of us. The experiences when
using his products and the emotions when hearing him speak. I feel blessed
just to have been a witness to such a human's life.

------
abstractwater
I am truly surprised at how sad I am. Even if I disagreed on some of the
decisions made by Apple (App Store review process, etc) he was to me the most
inspirational man alive. What a devastating loss.

A part of me can't help to think that Apple is now just a "normal" company.
But I hope his charisma and vision will stick and be strong enough to live on
for many more decades in Cupertino.

------
rufugee
I'd be lying if I said I was a big Apple fan. I'm a Linux guy and never saw a
need or benefit to pay the premium required for entry through the Apple gates
(well, ok, I bought a Macbook for iPhone development, but I didn't enjoy it).

That said, Steve was a great force in the world of technology, and whether you
liked their products or not, you have to appreciate Apple's effect on
competition in the marketplace...they simply continue to push the envelope,
and technology wouldn't be what it is today with Steve and his creations. RIP.

~~~
elliottcarlson
Well said - the only Apple product I've had are iPod's and I have no desire to
use Macs, but Jobs did make a huge dent and shaped a lot of people all over
the world. It's a sad day when a visionary like him passes.

------
Jun8
Ahh, I just posted a comment about missing Steve after seeing the photos of
the other guys announcing various stuff. I have never met him, or even saw him
in person, but probably wouldn't have liked him personally; he was despotic
and narcissistic. And people still debate various heavy-handed ways Apple
deals with a lot aspects of their ecosystem.

Despite all this, sitting in my living room, I am totally devastated by these
news! This is true greatness.

------
nhangen
Wow, this makes me really effing sad. What's worse is no one in my family
understands, so it's like going into mourning solo. Bummer...

RIP Steve

~~~
cyberguppy
My wife understands, even if she could never fully Understand. But that's why
we're parts of communities like this one. We all Understand.

~~~
nhangen
Well said my friend.

------
andrewl
He gave me a bicycle for my mind. That's a powerful gift, and I'm grateful.

------
spudlyo
I'm deeply and unexpectedly saddened by the news. Recently while taking a cab
from SFO into the city I monitored our progress on the iPhone maps app, and
had a profound feeling that I was living in the future I had dreamed about as
a kid. Thank you Steve.

------
cilantro
My first computer was a Macintosh Plus at age ~5. Not sure what I would be
doing with my life without his contribution.

~~~
earl
I'm another dev whose first computer was an apple IIgs. I don't know if I'd be
a dev today if I hadn't spent far too many hours poking around in basic typing
in games from magazine, modifying them, and writing my own.

For purely selfish reasons -- what could Steve have imagined next? -- he
passed far too soon.

~~~
vacri
Given that it takes years for a big thing to pass through the dev cycle and
come to market, you're still going to see some things that were up his sleeve.

------
amorphid
I was a PC guy for 26 years, making fun of Apples/Macs for most of that time.
Eventually Macs became so awesome that I couldn't help but love them. Jobs was
able to convert me, and that wasn't an easy thing to do.

------
achompas
I wanted to post this great anecdote from Metafilter:

 _Here’s a short tale of mine when I worked at Apple:

One sunny autumn day, Steve (he was always Steve) was walking across Apple’s
campus with a reporter toward Caffe Macs. I was walking a few feet behind,
enough to hear the reporter asking about Steve’s family. As we approached the
entrance, Steve stopped and opened the door for an employee carrying trays of
food outside. The employee never looked up but said "Thanks." "Sure," Steve
replied. Just then, at least two dozen people followed the employee out.
Because of where the reporter was standing, none of the employees (as far as I
could tell) noticed who was holding the door for them. Steve continued holding
that door, talking to the reporter, until I came up and offered to take his
place as doorman. "Thanks," he said. "Sure," I replied. He smiled and invited
the reporter inside.

That’s it.

Whatever else you may read about Steve, whatever else happens in his life or
to Apple or to the world of computing, know that he opened doors for people.

R.I.P. Steve. We're all better off thanks to your time on the planet._

(credit to kawika, link below)

<http://www.metafilter.com/108093/Steve-Jobs-RIP#3958050>

------
diogenescynic
He made the world a better place and he was our generation's Walt Disney,
Howard Hughes, Thomas Edison, Jack Welch, and Henry Ford all at once.
Revolutionized multiple industries.

He will be sorely missed.

------
gokhan
He was 56 years old, too young to die :(

------
ojbyrne
Someone I knew said a while back "No tech company has ever come back from
decline." I immediately thought of (what I feel is now the canonical
counterexample) Apple. So many tech companies, and CEOs who have never been
acquainted with failure, and have arrogance that's mostly a result of being in
the right place and the right time.

And one who was fired, watched his company driven right to the precipice, and
brought it back.

The arc of a hero.

August 6, 1997. Greatness doesn't happen at the top but at the bottom:
<http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-202143.html>

~~~
eropple
Apple and Jobs is probably the biggest turnaround in the history of tech
companies, but IBM was in pretty dire straits too, not that long ago.

(But I like Apple more. ;) )

------
scarmig
One has to wonder what he might have accomplished with a full life span.

What he managed to do, though, is genuinely incredible, and he has much to be
proud of. He made the world more beautiful.

RIP, Steve.

~~~
ConstantineXVI
Not to play devil's advocate, but you have to wonder if he'd have kept the
same drive for so long if he knew he was going to have a full ~80 years?

~~~
julsonl
Well, he certainly had the drive when he started Apple. Based from what I read
about him, it hasn't diminished until the day he died. I'm sure he could've
kept it going for another 30.

------
pixelcloud
"If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it's worth -- and
get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a
long time ago." \--Steve Jobs - Fortune, Feb. 19, 1996

~~~
Udo
And luckily he was wrong about that :-)

~~~
ricardobeat
He wasn't. The desktop market will be reduced to a small slice of technology
before Apple has a chance to catch up. It won't matter.

------
ltamake
I just realised something. Steve won't ever see the new Apple building in
Cupertino (the "spaceship" one). :'(

~~~
bengl3rt
Nor will he get to live in his dream house, which he finally got permission to
build on a specific spot in Palo Alto last year.

------
PedroCandeias
Just adding my voice to the millions who will be mourning the man and the
visionary. As someone who works with computers for a living, I'm thankful for
the beautiful tools his company created. As an entrepreneur, I'm intrigued and
moved by his example.

------
xelipe
What amazes me most about his life is that he revolutionized on so many fronts
and his innovations have helped people of all walks of life. Pixar movies have
entertained children of all ages, the iPhone market has been a great resource
for educational tools to help children with disabilities, and he did so with
style. (;_;)

------
juliano_q
I am not the biggest Apple fan. I love my macbook and I have a very old iPod,
but in the last few years I misliked the company attitude. Even so, suddenly I
feel that the world is a worst place to live. RIP Steve.

------
RegEx
A very respectable tribute, right down to the img src.

<http://images.apple.com/home/images/t_hero.png>

~~~
naz
"hero" is a standard term for that kind of image size and position in print
and on the web.

~~~
RegEx
Ah. Thanks for the info.

------
Folcon
I am not an Apple fan, I say that because I own no iPad, iPhone, iPod or iMac.

As someone who is starting and striving to build beautiful software and become
an entrepreneur, Jobs is an inspiration.

He has done more than few could hope to achieve.

I feel saying anything else will just sound corny, which is not what he
deserves.

So RIP Steve.

------
quizbiz
As General Electric innovates well beyond Thomas Edison, I look forward to
watching Apple continue to push society forward. Steve Jobs will in some ways
live on through the Apple brand, as a symbol for so many things that resonate
so strongly, I can't even express it.

------
juliano_q
_Every_ single link at HN frontpage is about Jobs passage atm. It may looks
obvious, but look at the importance of the guy between hackers. RIP.

~~~
zipdog
I saw the sad news on another site and came here for confirmation: saw every
single story was about Steve Jobs, and then reflected how appropriate it was.
There's few people of the stature of Steve Jobs.

------
geuis
This wasn't the "One more thing..." that I wanted.

------
aresant
Even the .png name on Apple's site is appropriate:

<http://images.apple.com/home/images/t_hero.png>

Here's to you Steve, thank you for the inspiration over my lifetime.

~~~
masklinn
That's just the name of this banner format though, I don't think it has to do
with Jobs himself/

~~~
dragonquest
True, but how co-incidentally appropriate, truly a hero!

------
artursapek
Is the black bar that just appeared at the top of HN a symbol for Steve's
passing?

~~~
nplusone
It is. See <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3078285>

------
ericd
My dad buying a Mac 128k and letting me run wild with it was probably one of
the most influential events in my life. It taught me to read, it taught me
math, and it kicked off a lifelong passion for computers and programming. It's
amazing to me that they designed a computer that I didn't even have to know
how to read to interact with. I can't believe I'm getting so emotional about a
person I've never met, but I'm almost tearing up.

------
natemartin
The news is hitting me harder than I expected. More than just the products he
made, I feel that he directly effected my life. I wouldn't be where I am in my
life today, certainly would have the job I have today, if it wasn't for the
years I spent at Apple. And I wouldn't have worked there if Steve hadn't first
created the company, then later on saved it.

RIP SJ. You certainly changed the world.

------
thought_alarm
Thank you, Steve.

<http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/6128/04nextcube.jpg>

~~~
RexRollman
Very nice. Most people love Steve for his work at Apple, and rightfully so,
but I was always a bigger fan of his work at Next (I'm one of those weirdos
who liked Nextstep more than Mac OS X; from a UI perspective).

------
jianshen
This makes me really really sad deep inside. What an incredible journey.

------
dabent
From playing on an Apple][ on middle school to typing this on a Mac - Steve
Jobs certainly influenced me as a developer. So many times the world seemed to
chase the designs he pioneered or pushed into the mainstream. Without his
leadership and his effective counterweight to Microsoft and IBM, the world
would have been much different.

------
mitultiwari
“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.” --
Steve Jobs. RIP.

------
Duff
Mr. Jobs will be well remembered. It's also sad in that his passing is among
the first of a generation of pioneers in this crazy industry we all work in.

Best wishes to his family.

------
larrys
Having written my first (if you want to call it that) program on a ASR-33
Teletype and remembering back when computers were not only expensive but
certainly not mainstream (and not cool to the masses anyway) it's amazing what
Jobs and Apple were able to do in the last decade. Who would ever think that
this "thing" that some of us had so much fun with back then would be so
accepted and talked about by everyone today. That there would be so much
adulation for someone, actually anyone, in this industry? If you're not old
enough to remember the way it was back many years ago we're really living in a
special time right now. And Steve is certainly the reason for much of that.

------
InclinedPlane
Not a perfect man (who, even among the great, is?), but in his own way he did
his fair share for the betterment of mankind. He helped people connect with
each other, he helped people do their jobs, he helped people make art. We
should all be so lucky.

------
sharmajai
I have never met Steve Jobs in person, yet I am deeply saddened by this news,
this does not happen very often.

Thank you Steve for being an inspiration in our lives and making the world a
better place. You will be missed forever. Rest in peace.

My condoloences to your family.

------
steve19
I am sad. Sad for Steve, sad for Steve's family, sad for how he could have
changed the world if he lived another 50 years and also sad, selfishly maybe,
that I will never have the opportunity to meet him.

RIP Steve, you inspired us and we loved you for it.

~~~
outworlder
This does mimic a conversation I've just had at our startup. We won't have the
privilege of seeing what was he really like.

Congratulations to all of those who had that opportunity. The rest of us will
have to make do with a mere shadow of his personality.

But what a remarkable shadow it is.

------
yojimbo311
This really made the world a little less bright for me today.

RIP Steve. Thank you for everything you've done to bring your magic to the
world. Thank you also for things you haven't done, but easily could have.

------
mwill
He stood down from Apple less than 2 months ago, I wonder if he had any idea
how close he was cutting it.

No matter how you slice it, the man loved what he did, and he did it
brilliantly. The amount of people who use a device designed under his watch
every single day of their lives is utterly astounding, through his work, he
connected with hundreds of millions of people, and changed the game of
consumer electronics numerous times.

I hope I can have a even a small sliver of his passion, commitment, and vision
in my own life.

~~~
Udo
> He stood down from Apple less than 2 months ago, I wonder if he had any idea
> how close he was cutting it.

Of course he did. I think he held onto this thing until the very last second.
I wouldn't be surprised if the actual resignation wasn't a long-ago prepared
statement sitting in his lawyer's drawer for years. End-stage liver disease
also means a rapid mental decline, so I'm assuming they triggered the
resignation as soon as he was irreversibly incapacitated.

~~~
philwelch
That's really sad to think about. I hope he had the chance to appreciate the
iPhone announcement yesterday, even though he couldn't make it.

~~~
Udo
As morbid as this sounds, he probably died yesterday morning - the close
timing to the iPhone event suggests they held off on announcing his death so
as not to overshadow the product announcement.

I have seen a few patients with end-stage liver disease during their last days
and I have to say they don't recognize their surroundings nor are they capable
of reflecting on their own state. And this is a good thing probably. At times
like these, it helps me to remember that lives are not defined by their
endings, they are defined by how they have been lived.

------
47
Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs will be remembered as the greatest inventor and
entrepreneur of our era.

~~~
jleyank
No, he won't. And I think you know that if you stop and think about it. Bill
or Larry or Sam or people like that fit that category. However, Steve Jobs
might have been the only one who gave a %!&#% about his products: what they
did, how they worked and what people could do with them.

~~~
petercooper
As an entrepreneur, he founded the now largest company on the planet, founded
a company that sold for $400m, and took Pixar from almost nothing to a $7bn
acquisition by Disney.

As an inventor, he's the main name (though with significant help and
industrial design by others) behind the iMac, iPod, iPad, iPhone - all
dominant leaders in their respective sectors.

It's curious that you'd put Larry Ellison's achievements above all of that.

~~~
jleyank
I stopped while typing and thought who was "big". I wasn't addressing the
inventor portion, merely the entrepreneur. Mr. Gates or Mr. Walton had far
greater impact on the world as a whole than Mr. Jobs. Mr. Ellison came to
mind, as I wanted a few more names to add to the list. Guys like Buffett
aren't in this category, and I could not think of other industry players of
the last 20-30 years.

I'd be willing to bet that the Amazon guy might end up on this list if current
trends continue, as continued Amazon success might have the hollowing-out
impact of Wal-Mart. And you missed the point I was trying to make. Jobs is
different because he actually saw the product as more than a dollar sign. His
"score" was lower because of this, but we're all applauding his decision
tonight.

And I don't count the computer or consumer electronics field as the best
source of inventors. The latter, in many ways, is noise. The true inventions
of the former occurred outside our date window (transistor, IC,
microprocessor, ...) To me, inventions like PCR,
medical/biology/chemistry/computer syntheses or vaccines are better, more
significant inventions.

Hell, Sony broke the ground with the Walkman. Roddenberry thought up the iPad
in a way. But, again, Jobs had taste and he made sure (a) we knew that and (b)
his products were intended to be more than revenue streams.

As a postscript, I suspect there's far, far more businesses sitting on piles
of Oracle software than they'd like (but they're stuck and getting nailed for
it).

------
happypeter
This means a lot to me

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be
truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to
do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep
looking, and don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when
you find it, and like any great relationship it just gets better and better as
the years roll on. So keep looking. Don't settle."

June 12th 2005 Stanford commencement speech

------
mantas
Steve Jobs was my idol since I knew who he is and what Apple is. He showed me
it's possible to live one's dream and that it's ok to follow your heart. And
that it's the only way to be happy and bring happiness to others. Furthermore,
his products showed me that it's possible to create easy to use and beautiful
software.

And that's what I ended up trying to do.. Thank you Steve and rest in peace.

I'll do my best to stay hungry, stay foolish.

------
lewispb
“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really
excellent. Because this is our life." - Steve Jobs.

------
hesdeadjim
I'm quite sad at this loss -- both for the people he leaves behind and for an
industry that desperately needs vision of his caliber.

On a personal note, if it weren't for Steve Jobs' relentless determination to
revolutionize the mobile industry, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to make
a living writing games for a platform I love. Thank you and RIP Steve.

------
BillPosters
I mostly avoid Macs. I prefer PC. But I dig the iPhone despite the various
lock-down restrictions. I moved on to an android phone, and for the most part
liked the new freedoms the android offered, but it was a step down in user
interface design, general UX and is less "fun to use".

I'm grateful that Steve invested in Pixar. Those animations are inspiring.

So for me it's iPhone + Pixar. The rest, with respect, is just normal computer
business - iMacs and so on. That is, build them cheap in China, sell them
expensive in fancy stores with marble floors and huge glass windows. Not a lot
going on there except manufacturing and clever business, and half-decent
product design including the OS if you're a fan of that style of computer.

But for sure, it's sad he died young and he was obviously a hero to many. I
liked his speech to the uni students, he seemed to have a calm outlook and
interest in life and death and everything in between.

------
Udo
In the face of all that he has achieved in his short life, the thing that
saddens me most is he won't get to see all the cool technologies and gizmos
we'll have in the future. He laid the ground work for a large part of this
future, it's so sad that he won't be there to witness (or shape) it.

------
scelerat
Yay Steve Jobs for making a dent in the universe. Inspiring.

------
richardofyork
May your soul continue to create beautiful things in heaven.

You have done a great deal for humanity, and for that we are very grateful for
your time on earth. You represented the best of human intellect and human
drive for perfection. We are inherently imperfect as humans, but you have
proven, with fantastic flair and awe, that humans can attain perfection.
Perfection is no longer a concept, it is embodied in the iPad, the iPhone, the
MAC OSX, the iPod, the MAC Book Pro, and all the ingenious, useful, monumental
products you have introduced to our world.

We stand proud as humans because of you and the few other men and women who
have stood strong and lead with courage and change our world for the better.
For Ever!

My condolences to your family, your fans, your friends, and your colleagues.

------
revorad
I just posted this on my blog, thought I'll share here -

The most important lesson from Steve Jobs

Don't be afraid to be wrong.

It is sad that the first time I write about Steve Jobs is when he's passed
away.

I've never owned an Apple product. So, my love and respect for Steve is
entirely based on the way he lived his life.

I've always believed that one must do exactly what one loves. Life's too short
to waste doing other stuff. What for, anyway? Money? Power? They pale in
comparison to the electric feeling of creating something new, something you
dreamed up.

Let people tell you you're crazy. You will probably fail. That's ok.

Steve failed a lot. But, what kept him going?

He wasn't afraid to be wrong.

Don't be afraid to be wrong. Make that dent.

<http://giniji.com/hrishi/stevejobs.html>

------
qubot
Jobs lived a life that he will be remembered for, which is a luxury other
computing pioneers I could name (Eckert, Mauchley) did not get to enjoy. I am
happy for Jobs in this respect, since it leaves a feeling of "completeness"
that came with his death.

However, I would feel more emotionally impacted if Jobs was less egocentric.
His world was just that: His world. If something did not meet his vision, he
was ready to talk down to it. Even if he was right, his attitude and politics
made it difficult for me to really warm up to him.

All I can say is that I wish his family and friends a good life after their
tragedy. Regardless of what I think, they knew a man they will never forget.

------
navs
One of my dreams was to demo a product in front of Steve Jobs and receive his
approval. That'll never be but the mere fact that a man can make me strive for
success without ever having met him is a testament to his influence.

------
darkmethod
My first experience with a computer was on an Apple ][. And I'm typing this
using my iMac over 30 years later. Good memories.

My life (childhood, education, and career) have been touched in tremendously
powerful way by this man and his passion.

RIP Steve.

------
jfb
I never really met him (thanked him once in person for the shuttle service),
but I'm glad that he got an extraordinary second chance -- by all accounts, he
wasted not a second of it. My God rest his immortal soul.

------
alexwolfe
I think it was surprising for many of us how emotional this loss was. There
were moments I literally couldn't/wouldn't believe this was happening. Amazing
how many people he touched. RIP Steve, we truly miss you.

------
dlss
they took our jobs :(

------
Rotor
Steve Jobs said he wanted to make a dent in the universe. I'd say he achieved
that, he fundamentally changed the world of technology. What an amazing
journey and legacy to leave behind. Rest in peace Steve.

------
rads
I think I was twelve or thirteen when my parents bought me my own Mac. I
didn't know this then, but, besides my parents and close friends, Steve Jobs
was one of my most important role models. He made Apple unstoppable, but even
during the hard times he had a dead set focus on making products people would
really love, even if many others didn't like them. He was so passionate about
his job; he loved it so much that it inspires me that one day I can start a
business and have a job that I love, making things that other people love. RIP
Steve.

------
krishna2
R.I.P Steve Jobs. Thank you for Super Breakout (game) and everything else!

And that's how I got inspired to get into computer science, learn programming,
to build games like that or do cool stuff with computers.

~~~
lawnchair_larry
Your inspiration might actually be Steve Wozniak. It was him that did Super
Breakout, not Jobs.

 _"Maybe they had an inkling that he'd actually work on Breakout with Wozniak,
who they already knew from his low chip PONG. As Allan later said "Jobs never
did a lick of engineering in his life. He had me snowed. It took years before
I figured out that he was getting Woz to 'come in the back door' and do all
the work while he got the credit."_

 _"The original deadline was met after Wozniak did not sleep for four days
straight. In the end 50 chips were removed from Jobs' original design. This
equated to a US$5,000 bonus, which Jobs kept secret from Wozniak, instead only
paying him $375."_

~~~
DilipJ
Geez. I know it's not good to say anything bad about someone who died, but
that plus other things he's done makes me think he's a real ----

I hope Woz gets a similar level of recognition and mourning when he passes
(decades into the future, hopefully)

~~~
doyoulikeworms
To be fair, he was pretty much a kid at the time.

------
tsycho
I don't know what to say. Even if this was expected at some point, I feel
really sad.....wish there were more people around me whom I could share this
with....but no one seems to care as much.

------
arc_of_descent
As with most, I'm pleasantly surprised by the emotions in me related to Steve
Jobs' death. I've only ever used an iPod. I guess this is testament to the
person he was. Screw the tech stuff.

------
axefrog
He worked up until he barely had a month left. That's passion for you.

~~~
DilipJ
yeah, that's what's so crazy to me. Others would take a trip around the world
or something. He was very devoted. Makes me think of that Dylan Thomas poem:

"do not go gentle into that good night, rage, rage against the dying of the
light. "

~~~
sabat
FWIW, Steve was a fan of Dylan Thomas.

------
Symmetry
Some people have muses that subtly guide them their entire life. Other people
have furious muses that seize them by the scruff of the neck and demand their
full attention until a work is completed through spasmodic effort.

Steve Jobs seemed to have been possessed by the second type of muse, but one
that never let go but just kept driving him. Even if some of use used few
Apple products, Steve had a vision and always kept demonstrating that more was
possible, that things could be better than they had been.

He'll be missed.

------
jpastika
I'm guessing the black bar on top of the HN menu is for Steve Jobs. Apple is
the most incredible comeback story of my lifetime. Under Jobs, Apple's stock
went from $10 to $400. His dedication to the user experience and unwavering
commitment to quality are his traits I most admire and desire to emulate. Some
would say that he didn't get to enjoy his success after conquering the
business world, but I believe he enjoyed every moment of the pursuit. RIP Mr.
Jobs.

------
WiseWeasel
I grew up on Macs (starting with a IIcx in the late 80s) and bleed in six
colors; this news is extremely hard for me to take.

Ultimately, this adds a sense of urgency to my own efforts to start a company
and help bring a piece of the future to fruition, as I can no longer count on
Steve to get us there.

Thank you Steve, for your vision, good taste, boundless drive and the
inspiration you have given me and countless others. You will be sorely missed.
:.(

------
danvideo
Knew he was sick, but wasn't expecting this.

The world has lost a unique and brilliant technology-business-design leader,
the likes of which are few and far between.

------
steve8918
The first computer I saw on a regular basis was my friend's AppleII clone that
his dad built somehow. I distinctly remember the case was made out of wood.
The kid was a jerk though, because he would play Wizardry, and would only let
me sit beside him and watch, he would never let me play at all. Wizardry,
Knight of Diamonds and Karateka were the games that I most distinctly
remember.

------
hackerbob
I don't even know what to type. I'm just simply sad.

------
rooshdi
"Almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of
embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death,
leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is
the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.
You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

Thank you Steve, RIP

------
darksaga
Wow - what a day. A tweet by CBSNEws says it was wrong when someone tweeted he
had died, then I scramble for hours trying to figure out if it was real, and
now it has been confirmed by Apple.

When I read the news, it really felt like he was hanging on until he knew his
company was in good hands and he could pass on. Just an incredible human being
in every aspect. He will be sorely missed.

------
revorad
The final page from an Apple business plan in 1981:
<http://twitpic.com/6vx2cn>

------
channelmeter
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. As with all matters of
the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” - Steve Jobs

------
biot
Fuck cancer for taking a great visionary from us.

------
pyUser
Didn't know it was possible to feel so sad by the death of non-family/friend.
RIP Steve. Am lucky to have lived in your era.

------
revorad
Steve, thanks for the dent.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD-i-yv-Mz8>

------
josephcooney
Even if you're not a fan, you can't deny that Steve (through apple) raised the
state of the art in industrial and visual design, and user experience with
apple products. Your nice Android phone, the books you can buy seamlessly on
your kindle and the slick new UI of Windows 8 all owe a small part of their
awesomeness to Steve Jobs.

------
dr_
Accomplished more in his 56 years of life than many people do in a full
lifetime.

Thank you for your vision, creativity and inspiration.

~~~
DilipJ
When I look at what he managed to accomplish before he turned 30, it makes me
feel like a total loser. But it's also a great source of motivation.

also, the Apple homepage really is beautiful in its simplicity. I hope they
leave it like this for awhile.

------
pknerd
I never met Steve. I even never got into Silicon Valley or US, Being a non
American I could only touch and feel Steve by using his products.

It is easy to love role models but damn difficult to follow them, Today I
promise myself that I'll try to follow lessons taught by Steve Jobs. Thank you
Sir for giving human side to technology.

------
Create
Report of Hongkong-based NGO SACOM about working conditions at the world’s
leading electronics manufacturer, 2011_09_24:

[http://www.ppp.ch/fileadmin/francais/Politique_developpement...](http://www.ppp.ch/fileadmin/francais/Politique_developpement/HTNR/2011_09_24_iSlave_Behind_iPhone.pdf)

------
jason_tko
Even the next day, I'm still having trouble coming to grips with this.

This affected me far more than I could have expected. Even though I never once
met Steve in person, I'm profoundly affected in so many ways by his clarity of
vision, drive, steadfast beliefs, and in the end, the way he dealt with his
mortality.

A sad, sad day.

------
grizzlylazer
This changes everything.

RIP Steve Jobs, thanks for everything. You have been an inspiration to my
entrepreneurial career.

------
dholowiski
Rip Steve. My condolences to his family, friends coworkers and employees. We
will miss you, I will miss you. I am an unabashed apple fanboy and today is a
very sad day, and in retrospect yesterday was a very sad day. Can you imagine
how Tim Cook felt up on that stage yesterday?

------
chunkyslink
I never met Steve Jobs but my house and life is jammed packed full of things
that he had the vision to create.

I can honestly say that I think my life if better because of this. Lets hope
they can continue to innovate and improve people lives to the same degree that
mine has been influenced.

------
dhughes
You know how some sick people especially older people seem to be able to hold
on until after a big event such as Christmas or Thanksgiving, whatever to them
is important.

Steve died a day after the launch of the iPhone 4S do you think he hung on
until then just from sheer willpower alone?

------
GotToStartup
Steve Jobs inspired me on so many levels. Whenever I need a boost I find
myself watching one of his incredibly powerful talks, oozing with inspiration.
The man accomplished more in an hour than most will their entire lives. This
is a hard loss for our entire industry.

~~~
enjoy-your-stay
I also find his videos an inspiration - especially those from NeXT.
Fortunately we'll have them for a lot longer than we've had Steve.

I know my contribution will just be a tiny digital drop in the tide of
condolences that's coming in right now.

But R.I.P Steve Jobs. You'll be missed.

------
marknutter
That every single story on the hacker news front page is a Steve Jobs related
link speaks volumes.

------
bane
The beginning of the end of the wave of computing that transformed society
like no invention since iron and the printing press. Steve Jobs was absolutely
on the forefront of that revolution and will be greatly missed. Hats off to
you Mr. Jobs, hats off.

------
Killah911
RIP Steve, I don't know weather to feel sad for the loss of one of the
greatest innovators of our time or to feel happy about seeing the example of a
life well lived. I'm sure yiu sill continue to inspire us and even many after
we have passed on.

------
sgt
I made a little tribute video to Steve Jobs, in his memory. I submitted it to
HN. It's actually specifically made for you guys.
<http://news.ycombinator.net/item?id=3081923>

------
andrewneilcrump
I heard this news very late last night (BST) and I didn't sleep. Absolutely
gutted that we have lost such an inspiration. His 2005 Stanford inspired to me
to go on a journey that makes me smile every day. A true founder of the modern
world.

------
elmcitylabs
Well said by Tim Cook: "No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve's
death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his
memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much." RIP
Steve

------
jasim
The hard thing to digest is that Steve never had any peers. This is one huge
world, with millions using consumer technology. But there is no one else from
which to expect the level of innovation Steve Jobs could do. There is a
vacuum.

------
kunday
Tech world will never be the same without Steve around. May he rest in Peace.

------
fosk
Thanks Steve, thanks for your inspiration. You pushed the human race forward.

------
jasontan
He built the iCloud so he could have a place to rest in peace. Thanks, Steve

------
sosuke
I didn't realize how sick he was. I wish his family well and I hope he was
able to enjoy his successors first product launch yesterday and know that he
left Apple in good hands. A sad day for everyone.

------
f7u12
I hate Apple, but I'm not going to lie, I'm teary-eyed right now reading all
this. I can certainly see from the comments how much he has inspired everyone,
and for that I am grateful. Thanks Steve.

------
ubi
very tasteful, props Apple.

------
RobertKohr
Computer technology tends to become a commodity. You took it and shaped it
into art. You gave a machine a soul. You set the bar high, and it was a bar
that most people left sitting on the ground.

------
sneak
:(

I haven't the words.

------
pbreit
The saddest thing is to think what kind of further impact Steve could have had
over the next 20, 30 or 40 years.

What a remarkable career and life. You have inspired millions (billions?) and
will truly be missed.

------
maxwin
It just reminds me of how impermanent life is. It's still hard for me to
swallow the fact that Steve Jobs has already passed away. RIP Steve. Your
inspirations will continue to live with us.

------
kennethologist
Good but never forgotten! The spirit of Steve Jobs will live on in each of our
minds and hearts born and unborn. Steve Jobs lives in every product apple has
and will ever create.

------
ww520
This is truly sad. Steve Jobs is like an iconic representation of our
computing generation. In some way his passing away signifies the diminishing
of our generation. Sigh.

------
aforty
My thoughts go out to his family and close friends. We all will miss Steve but
few of us really knew him, his family and friends must be devastated this
evening. Stay strong.

------
vsl2
A man who built possibly the most successful company in the world (not to
mention what I believe is the best movie studio in the world). So sad that he
died so young...

------
Ulankgz
R.I.P. Steve. I respect him for that despite all the difficulties he was doing
what he wanted in his life and enjoyed it. He achieved his goal - to change
the world.

------
jimqin
After a day of reflection of the tragic news, I think we should all have a
sense of optimism.

<http://www.jimqin.com/?p=102>

------
denisonwright
In honor of Steve Jobs. <http://www.smileecards.com/card/in-honor-of-steve-
jobs>

------
_frog
Cancer is such an ugly way to go, we lost a great man today.

------
beaker
The first time I heard the word "icon" was when I was introduced to the new
Macintosh 128k as a young child. Seems very appropriate now. Steve Jobs, Icon.
RIP.

------
madhancr
RIP Steve. My career got a boost because of technology you created. I wonder
what you would have created if you had lived another 10 or 20 years

------
chunky1994
Finally shakespeare has his answer, here came a man greater than Ceaser, when
comes another Steve Jobs? RIP Steve, you're memory will never die.

------
patrickk
I'm employed right now because of Steve Jobs incredible vision (iOS
developer). I might not have work in this economy right now if it weren't for
Steve.

RIP.

------
earplug
I find it sad to think that I cannot email sjobs@apple.com and hope for a
reply any longer. What a strength he pushed onto this company...

------
gbsi
I never knew the man, but somehow he always knew what I wanted. An incredible
leader and source of inspiration. Stay hungry, stay foolish.

------
melvinng
Love him or hate him, and the company he created, this man was an icon who
changed the way we interact with technology. This is a sad day.

------
jayfuerstenberg
It's sad that it takes the death of a man like Steve Jobs to make the rest of
us realize that we're not living our lives to the fullest.

------
ericb
Pixar, iphones, ipads, macs, macbook air, the apple II, the ipod.

I am so very sad, but when I think of his life and gifts, all I want to do is
applaud.

------
gord
sadness.. Steve Jobs built beautiful useful things. This solid alu keyboard
with rounded corners tells a story of someone who cared.

------
dm8
A true visionary, maverick and someone who had healthy disregard for rules and
status quo. RIP Steve. You'll be sorely missed.

------
BadiPod
Steve Jobs embodies everything I strive to be.

------
plq
the world is a scarier place now.

a moment of hush for mr. jobs.

------
littlegiantcap
I know there may not be many Catholics on this board, but just in case. In
nómine Patris et Fílii et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

------
dhughes
Steve Jobs was quite the guy, everyone had their opinion of him but he ignored
the critics and kept his dream going.

------
keveman
As engineers and logicians, we almost always ask, how? But this is one of the
times that I want to ask, why? :'(

------
emp_
I'm late in the thread but just want to wish the best to his family, they
helped make him what he represented.

------
sakibanda1
Its very sad to loose him so early. We should move in the paths he has shown
us. May his soul rest in peace.

------
mlok
RIP Steve Jobs. He's been a great inspiration for me. Making tech simply work
in the hands of human beings.

Think different.

------
martinkallstrom
Steve Jobs held the world up to his standards. Maybe that's why we are at such
a loss now when he's gone.

------
lyime
It is amazing to see that there are millions of other people that care about
same person as much as I do.

------
dasil003
Art and computers are my two passions. No one did more to unite them than
Steve Jobs. A great man.

------
nirav
R.I.P. Steve, You inspired many of us to rise above and beyond what we would
have been otherwise...

------
guimarin
Personally inspired me to get into computing when I was a young child. He will
be sorely missed.

------
sbochins
Did the site layout and color scheme change because Jobs died? Or was this
planned earlier?

------
candre717
Even in the face of death, Jobs was a great visionary until the end. Now
that's inspiring.

------
erreon
Sad news about Steve Jobs, but I'm glad he's through the pain he must have
been in. RIP

------
ossama-web
RIP Steve Jobs, we hope see some creative and inspiring people like him in the
future.

------
shriphani
This was his decade - thanks for making the personal computer personal steve.
RIP.

------
felipemnoa
A truly sad day for humanity. Thank you so much Steve Jobs for giving us so
much.

------
sharmajai
A very sad day for humanity.

------
sort3d
Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

------
azulum


~~~
bauchidgw


Sent from my iPad

------
vaksel
happened way too soon, sure he was sick, but you'd think with all the
resources under his disposable he'd be able to hang on for at least a couple
of years...as it is it happened almost overnight

~~~
orangecat
He kept working right up to the point where it was no longer physically
possible. Almost anybody else would have left their company years ago.

------
MikeCapone
He will be missed. Thank you for making a dent in the universe, Steve.

------
kylek
An Insanely Great loss. :(

------
nrbafna
Black band on above the links on HN, a pay of respect to Steve Jobs?

------
guzzul
iPhone 4S = iPhone 4Steve

------
RichardVanStark
RIP Steve.

I think we need eat an delicious apple today in memory of Steve Jobs.

------
ankimal
RIP Steve Jobs, one of the greatest visionaries of our times.

------
DiabloD3
After 4 days, this has finally dropped off the front page.

You did good, HN.

------
taphangum
I'm surprised by how emotional i am about this. RIP Steve.

------
paul9290
What a life; legacy left. Thank you and rest in peace!

------
thomasfl
Steve Jobs deserved an upvote record on hacker news.

------
pyrmont
I miss you, Steve.

------
paraschopra
Steve, you are going to be missed terribly! :(

------
macak
would like to point out every article in the top 30 is on steve. have a jpg
too if someone can host. picasa is being lame.

------
jts
Thanks, Steve. You put a dent in my universe.

------
sidwyn
The site has changed to a trove of eulogies.

------
pullo
terribly sad news! what wonders he could have created if had lived for another
decade..I am grateful to you Steve.

------
mml
I told my daughter a great man died today.

------
veyron
The world lost a great industrialist ...

------
seanl
Some realities can't be distorted. RIP.

------
wvs
Later, Steve. May your vision live on.

------
mikeryan
Thanks Steve.

------
bond
R.I.P. Condolences to his family.

------
aespinoza
This is indeed very sad news....

------
toblender
Make everyday your masterpiece.

------
Tycho
One of the best people ever.

------
yoda_sl
This is a sad day in History

------
Sym3tri
RIP

------
macak
won't be drinking an sugared-water today. Thanks, Steve.

------
robert_nsu
RIP Steve Jobs

------
incub8or
Sad, sad day.

------
purak
R.I.P Steve

------
umfana
R.I.P.

------
anishk123
RIP Steve

------
anand_nalya
RIP Steve.

------
pitdesi
I'm surprised at how sad (devastated?) this news makes me. I use Apple
products now, but I am not at all a fanboy of the company and for many years
defended the other side. I really hate the proprietary nature of many of their
products and only use them if there is nothing else equivalent in the "open"
world. That I own a few Apple products speaks volumes in itself.

But Steve has been an inspiration for the past decade or so. Brilliant,
passionate, energetic, and visionary in a way that no one else can ever be.

I don't believe any company in history has had the 10 year record of Apple in
the 00's. He's a genius in technology and business... but you can't study him
like any other company. Case studies on Apple don't work. Because other
companies don't have Steve.

Sidenote: You know he had a profound impact when the news of his departure
slows down HN this much. R.I.P.

~~~
dholowiski
Devastated. Forget hn it crashed twitter and slowed down Google plus. Think
about donating 10% of your next hardware purchase to charity, possibly
pancreatic cancer research. Think about what Steve Jobs has done for your
startup (both technology wise and inspiration wise)

~~~
johnx123-up
Do you know where and how to donate for cancer research?

~~~
pitdesi
Randy Pausch, another tremendous person who died too young of pancreatic
cancer, had some recommendations: <http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/>

~~~
mirkules
I was too reminded of Randy Pausch, specifically the last pages in his book
"The Last Lecture." In my mind, there was an obvious parallel between the
ending chapters going by much quicker than beginning ones, a lot shorter, more
succinct, reading the words of a dying, and now-dead, man.

On one hand, we never experienced this with Steve, he never really gave an
indication of slowing down (except for his resignation speech), and I never
noticed the energy sucked out of Apple like I did from Randy's book. That's
obviously because Steve made all the right moves in transitioning the company.

On the other hand, the empty-chair photo made me visualize how he was watching
the presentation, and that in itself reminded me of the last pages of The Last
Lecture. The fact he died the day after the presentation is Steve's version:
The Last Keynote.

RIP Steve.

------
puredemo
My first computer was an Apple IIE. My favorite computer is the one I'm on
now, a 13" Macbook Air.

RIP Steve, thank you.

------
sabat
I keep waiting to hear from Woz. I think we in the Nerd World need to hear
from Woz tonight.

------
m0wfo
Apple was born out of obsession and makes some of the finest hardware around,
running BSD with a touch of class that is unrivalled. But as my granny would
say, there are no pockets in a shroud... poor Steve.

It's nice to have a sexy laptop, but life's just too damn short.

