Well, I thought about it this morning and realised that there was no way that I could do the life of Steve Jobs justice in such a small piece. I saw that Neil Diamond (who is still cool in my book) tweet simply: "iSad", that pretty sums up the passing of Steve Jobs for me too. iSad too. My kids and I actually listened to some songs from the Toy Story movies last evening, the favourites include from Toy Story 2 the "Jessie Doll" song, and You've got a friend in me, in both English and Spanish I might add, the kids like both versions.
I found what I thought the best people to reflect on the life and legacy of Steve Jobs, first up, Walt Mossberg from the WSJ: The Steve Jobs I Knew. That is a nice personal take on the visionary. Another less personal, but equally good read is the WSJ cover titled: Steven Paul Jobs, 1955-2011. It got personal, real personal when folks like Mark Zuckerberg in his Facebook status update had a few words to say. Thanks Zuck.
The Apple website has possibly the simplest and best obituary though: Steven Jobs 1955-2011.
"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."
The one though that I liked the most was actually the Barack Obama one, the fact that the president (speechwriters or him, who cares) could put out something so personal was to me fairly touching. Here is the short sweet piece:
President Obama on the Passing of Steve Jobs: "He changed the way each of us sees the world."
How true a line:
"By building one of the planet's most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity." That is why I think America will continue to be great, long after this scuffle in Washington DC comes and goes. More on that in a second I assure you.
How will my kids or your kids remember him? Like we read about Thomas Edison or Henry Ford? Or will it be more like we remember Marie Curie and Benjamin Franklin? As Paul said, perhaps Andrew Carnegie. Or will it just be Steve Jobs. The man who did not invent it, but re-invented it and made it cool. And hopefully for all those customers and employees and fans of Apple, he has been an inspiration in attracting new talent to the company which will see it, ala General Electric and IBM to continue to evolve. I always say, talent attracts talent. Goodbye Steve and thanks for everything!!