We were talking about much the same sentiments over dinner tonight. He did have an impact on society in more ways than one can wrap your mind around. Thanks for all you have provided us with in your relatively short life.

It makes me face reality (once again) that all the money in the world can't save you from your own body.

Very sad. He'll be missed. What a legacy. I hope he was aware of the incredibly cool newest iPhone rolled out this week.

Very sad, but not unexpected. He truly changed the world for all of us. He seemed like a really decent guy, too.

Thanks, Steve!

His suffering is over, but I'm sad to see him go.

He did so much in the time he had here.

Google has a link midpage, leads to Apple's tribute. RIP, and thanks for all you have done. The world is not the same.

A great human being. Hard working and a creative thinker. No question that he changed the world. Life is too short for him at 56.

Like everything else, food, cars, one thing that helped Apple a great deal is the aesthetic appeal of the packaging. All Apple products are superior industrial design examples.

Actually, there was an unknown hero who made personal computing popular. The inventor of the first spread sheet, Visical, made PC a very useful tool for businesses and individuals. Everyone was buying PC just for that.

I still have my fully functional Apple II Plus, with dual disk drives.

dcarch

Isad.

We're still using an old G4 Mac, that's probably at least 12 old by now. It doesn't do Youtube or other modern videos, but it does most of what we want, and all of what we need.

Sally

I liked this a lot, from a tribute on August 26 when he resigned, and republished today:

What comes to mind now is a forgotten PBS show in the 1980s that tried to explain what was then known as the "quality revolution" in business. Interviewed was some wise old MIT professor who said, if memory serves, "Quality is love." Mr. Jobs's determination to make superb products was, one likes to think, an expression of love for the world, life and possibility.

Here is a link that might be useful: WSJ column on Steve Jobs

I penned my thoughts to a friend this morning so I will repeat them here:

"Steve Jobs death smacked me harder than I expected. Though I knew he'd been gravely ill I was not thinking about his imminent demise when it occurred. Truly, my work and life have been transformed by his innovations. I first sat down in front of a Mac with a black and white monitor while pregnant with Daniel and was told to learn it. So I did, 21 years ago. I can't imagine still being on a drafting board with a triangle and Rapidograph pens. I will ever be amazed and grateful. When Apple was struggling and I suffered the derision of many PC users I was staunchly vocally loyal. I knew OS 9 like an old friend whose quirks I learned to love and cope with. I developed a symbiotic relationship with my desktop. And that was before I ever used the internet."

Over the years I have owned many Macs, even one of the few Power Computing Mac clones. Everyone of them has been a durable workhorse and lasted at least 4 years without requiring more than minimal repairs. And I use the heck out of them. Aside from being a sturdy product, I have always found them to be intuitive to use.

Bless his soul.

barnmom, "---So I did, 21 years ago---"

Those good old days. No viruses, no spams, no Trojan spyware.

dcarch

@DC: Actually, not too long after that time I acquired the one and only "worm" I have ever had. It caused all kinds of problems with locking up my computer as it did its evil work. Thankfully it was fairly easy to get rid of. I didn't get it online as I rarely used the internet at that time. I got it via a Zip disk from a service bureau. It made the rounds of all the graphics folks at the time.

So you were in graphics?

I was dating a girl in graphics. To impress her, I bought a color monitor for my Apple, 9" screen, $2,000. A graphics card for the monitor $1,000.

Didn't you dread to touch the "refresh" button? To refresh a gaphics screen, in the old days, it would take about half an hour, now 1/10th a second.

dcarch

Regarding graphics: Not "were," am still. Oh the redraw time could take a LONG time. Saving large complex files could take a lunch break. Work tests my patience much less these days. A good thing as I seem to possess a lot less patience than I did long ago. ;)

Prices have come down a lot. I recall the last desktop tower and monitor I purchased was in the range of 5000. I have purchased 3 MacBook Pros since then.

So, was she impressed? :)