By now, most people who have been anywhere near a social network or news site know: Steve Jobs, founder of Apple has passed away at age 56 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. I'm not a huge Apple person myself, but some of you may have heard of this little thing called the iPod. Or maybe the Mac. Or quite possibly the iPhone or iPad. Or maybe you know about Pixar's amazing films. Or perhaps you know he was a techological wizard.
My point is, Steve had a huge impact on the world as we know it today. Seriously, he's responsible for more than you think. Without the iPod, music sharing and the mp3 has we have come to know them today would not exist. Hell do a quick check with your friends and see if more than half don't own an iPod. I know among my friends I'm the only one that doesn't. He was one of the first to realize the potential of the mouse driven graphic interface, the very computer interface most of us use every single day at home. He is responsible for a large chunk of the technology we use today either directly or indirectly. He's also partly responsible for Pixar's venture into films with Disney. Pixar was not initially a film making company, they produced software. In fact, if you look in the credits of Toy Story, you will see Steve Jobs listed as Executive Producer.
Steve's importance the on these past fifteen years of technology is obvious. His ideas have ingrained themselves in our everyday livelihoods and no one speaks about Apple without at least mentioning Steve Jobs name a few times. When we talk about mp3 players, we immediately think 'iPod'. When we think of someone who leads the innovation of our technological world, he is usually one of the biggest names in the discussion. Losing him is a significant blow for the technology world. Few people have had the impact he has had on the world and without him there is a significant hole in the tech world. The legacy he leaves behind will be felt for years to come, far off into the foreseeable future at the very least.
It speaks levels about how influential he was that people from all over are mourning his passing. I've seen facebook posts from bands like Blink-182 and The Ataris. I've seen them from fan groups of all sorts of organizations that are in whole other ballpark from Apple or Steve's work. And of course, from more obvious places like G4TV and Kotaku.
In fact, it's so hard to believe he's gone, I've been writing 'he is' most of this article instead of 'he was'. And I sincerely felt sadness at having to change that.
Goodbye Steve, we will all miss you greatly.
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