Take the downvotes (no, I didn't) as a read of how at odds your PoV is with that of, well, however many people took the time to downvote you.
I'm not a Mac fanatic, I'm not a worshipper of all things Steve, I don't use any of Apple's products on a daily basis (though I work with a bunch of people who do).
And despite this, his contributions shape and influence my life every day. The WIMP interface, proportional fonts, WindowMaker (derived from NeXT), much of the Web (as others noted, Macs dominate both graphic design and much Web development), music, electronic books and media, movies, and probably a bunch of stuff I'm forgetting.
Look around you right now. Wherever it is you happen to be right now. Every human artifact in your presence was designed, marketed, and manufactured by someone. Every idea in your books, video, or music collections. The scientific concepts behind your electricity, plumbing, and communications. The artistic concepts behind literature and (again) music.
Some people's influence truly outshines the ordinary, and some of these people are even recognized for it. Occasionally you'll be fortunate enough to share time on the planet with such a mind.
Sure, they might be assholes in person or have other flaws, but their contributions are still real and recognizable.
We've lost a genius, a visionary, a creative force, and someone who's touched billions of lives.
As I said: I'm hardly among Steve's biggest fans. But I recognize his greatness and mourn his passing.
Maybe someday you'll understand. I hope so for your sake.
Thanks for explaining, but it is not to the point. I did not express any disregard for Steve Jobs, it would have been displaced. I did express concerns about the fact that during one day, HN had nothing else on the front page.
You ask to much. Maybe you can stay calm and read the 10'000th article on node.js while half of the world mourns one of the greatest visionaries of the last decades. I can't.
Steve Jobs had a huge impact across numerous fields.
Computing and tech, from the hardware side.
Business. Wall Street doesn't much like being told it's wrong, but there's one refutation that it will accept: taking a loser and making a winner out of it. When much of the world (myself included) was writing off Apple in the late 1990s, he lit off a rocket that's still burning bright.
Music: iPods, iTunes and more.
Movies: Pixar and Disney, as well as presentation on his devices (Macs, laptops, tablets, handhelds).
Design: much of the creative world literally couldn't operate without their Macs.
News: Apple's pretty well represented there as well.
Popular culture: Because of all of the above, and the huge success of his products, he's among the most recognized of tech/business leaders.
There are a few holes. He wasn't an engineer himself (though he had a very strong grasp of what good engineering was), and he wasn't publicly philanthropic to the extent some (notably Gates) are (though I don't know what he's done on a private front).
But across a large swatch of contemporary popular culture, he was recognized as a leader.
Again: the HN headline smash was organic. I think it's fair to say that it accurately reflected the interest of the day.
I'm not a Mac fanatic, I'm not a worshipper of all things Steve, I don't use any of Apple's products on a daily basis (though I work with a bunch of people who do).
And despite this, his contributions shape and influence my life every day. The WIMP interface, proportional fonts, WindowMaker (derived from NeXT), much of the Web (as others noted, Macs dominate both graphic design and much Web development), music, electronic books and media, movies, and probably a bunch of stuff I'm forgetting.
Look around you right now. Wherever it is you happen to be right now. Every human artifact in your presence was designed, marketed, and manufactured by someone. Every idea in your books, video, or music collections. The scientific concepts behind your electricity, plumbing, and communications. The artistic concepts behind literature and (again) music.
Some people's influence truly outshines the ordinary, and some of these people are even recognized for it. Occasionally you'll be fortunate enough to share time on the planet with such a mind.
Sure, they might be assholes in person or have other flaws, but their contributions are still real and recognizable.
We've lost a genius, a visionary, a creative force, and someone who's touched billions of lives.
As I said: I'm hardly among Steve's biggest fans. But I recognize his greatness and mourn his passing.
Maybe someday you'll understand. I hope so for your sake.