Steve Jobs, one of the most important entrepreneurs and innovators of both the 20th and 21st centuries, has died.
Will he receive the sort of veneration reserved to politicians when they die? That’s unlikely, although Steve Jobs typically did more good for humanity every day before lunch time than any politician has ever done in his whole life.
Jobs should be considered a great American icon in the same way that Michelangelo is associated with Italy or Mozart with Austria.
When foreigners walk into “American-themed” gift shops in America, they should be greeted with commemorative plates bearing Jobs’s face.
Unfortunately, that is unlikely to happen since we have to honor great humanitarians like nuker-in-chief Harry Truman instead.
And of course, Jobs did great things for all humans, and not just Americans.
Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs.
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And the countless entrepreneurs that don’t live in the limelight that die every day, unnoticed even by us. I dedicate this day to all of them.
I constantly am marvelled at the contributions of these faceless entrepreneurs whenever I use a product I couldn’t create myself, I always have ‘I Pencil’ like thoughts.
That said Steve Jobs at the helm of Apple arguably did far more than any other entrepreneur to change an industry, Look at the design of smartphones before the Iphone, the interface was woefull and ‘OS’ even less useful.
Look at tablet computers before and after the Ipad:
http://www.redmondpie.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/376167502.jpg
I personally don’t have any Apple products but without the companies innovation and mobile phone hardware and software whether Apple or Android based would not offer nearly the utility they do today. Hell, the idea to bring about an app store has probably created more jobs in development positions than exists at most top companies. I think Steve Jobs is one of few who deserve a special dedication, you sound like a broken record bashing him and apple on every relevant mises post.
Since you brought it up, not I, the only group I’ve ever “bash” are those with the unhealthy emotional attachment to a company. I have said nothing ill toward Jobs or the company and any comments made were purely analysis of the business operation. I will bash you all day for turning Jobs into a Jesus figure, and your compatriots’ sick obsession over one person, but I will never speak poorly of him as he has done nothing to deserve it.
I don’t have an unhealthy attachment, as I said I don’t even have a single apple product, not even an ipod. I am not “turning Jobs into a Jesus figure” either.
I’m simply stating my opinion which holds Jobs in very high esteem, without a doubt he will be remembered for decades as a leader, as someone who lead a paradigm shift (in more than one industry). His effect on both the computer and mobile telecommunications industry perhaps ranks only below a couple other game changers such as Johannes Guttenberg with the movable type printer, Henry Ford with the mass produced automobile, Thomas Edison with the light and motion camera etc in terms of the effect on the world… this is not an emotional statement, it is a rational one, just look at the growth in mobile data usage figures post iphone, look at the massive development communities for the app store and it’s immitator the android market…
Steve Jobs is someone well deserving of a special tribute, no need for sour grapes.
Thomas Edison with the light
Edison just copied Joseph Swan—not that there’s anything wrong with that, but claiming to have invented it is kinda sleazy.
Michael,
We see things exactly the same. I sent this out earlier to everyone I knew. I name the same “game changers” as you do while adding a few (Tesla, Newton, Copernicus) who I am sure you omitted only for brevity. Enjoy the following read I entitled “Requiem for a giant… Steve Jobs… The passing of a truly great man”…
I am entirely and profoundly “affected” and shaken by the death of Steven Jobs. I am unable to sleep and have been awake for several hours. Steven Jobs has enriched us all beyond the ability of our imagination to even contemplate. He was a hero in truest sense. He tapped into the transcendent “other” and brought treasures from beyond to earth. He has birthed innumerable jobs and changed the landscape of society, even of the entire world. Almost an entire field of human endeavor owes its existence to him. And we are talking about no ordinary field of endeavor. Not merely ubiquitous in a neutral sense, personal computing affects us in a positive sense. It facilitates, enables, enhances, expedites, enriches and permeates almost everything mankind now does while continuing to open new doors such as the internet and social media. The decentralizing and politically empowering effects of which are yet to be seen. As Gary North puts it: “The gatekeepers are still in place but the walls are down.”
The passing of Steven Jobs is truly a momentous event. Though not entirely unexpected, the news came with sudden finality. His death leaves us all poorer because it ends his almost unparalleled contribution to mankind. He walked among us as a quirky bespectacled hipster geek but his legacy is in the Pantheon along with such history changing luminaries as Copernicus, Guttenberg, Newton, Alexander Graham Bell, Nikolai Tesla, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford.
Too me his death is right up there with the death of John Lennon for it personal impact. Lennon, for better or worse, was a visionary who spoke to a generation at a time of great upheaval. I will always remember watching the Miami Dolphins playing the New England Patriots http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n73GFvAyIjs
Both the death of John Lennon and the death of Steven Jobs involve more than just an “ordinary” great loss. Please indulge me for a brief moment in a bit of sacrilege. Do not get offended at me as if I seem to be winking at great human tragedy. I assure you I am not. I am laboring to draw a distinction as to the TYPE OF LOSS the passing of Steve Jobs represents opposed to the QUANTITY OF LOSS other events represent. A whole generation expired in the wilderness of Sinai without comment but the narrative focuses upon the character of Moses and his death is expounded upon. OK? On with the sacrilege then, eh?
As bad as 911 was, as bad as the tsunamis of 2004 was, as bad as the earthquake and tsunami of 2011 was, these involve ORDINARY DEATH and destruction of property. Steve Jobs was an individual who simply and profoundly changed human history entirely for the good.
First he revolutionized personal computing and brought it to the masses. Then he changed the way we store/record/enjoy/share and relate to music. And then he recognized the embryonic germ of a useful tool in Blackberry type devices and took the idea beyond the stratosphere by aggregation (combining camera, video camera, music player, audio recorder, messaging, GPS device, PDA, timepiece, laptop, phone etc.), by refinement and by popularizing another innovative interface in the touch screen. He then took everything to the N’th degree and added the wonderful innovative idea of “apps” bringing to the everyday man a wonder device that exceeds anything that the wildest imagination the writers of James Bond or sci-fi writers ever dreamed of when he unleashed the first smartphone upon a world that has been shell-shocked ever since. Nothing James Bond ever had as recently as 2006 in “Casino Royale” even approached what the fertile vision and imagination had in mind when he unleashed the first iPhone months later. In the next James Bond film “Quantum of Solace”, the writers didn’t even try to muster up a Bond “wonder gadget” which has been a staple item for Bond films ever since their inception. For the first time the writers were forced to sheepishly nod a tip of the hat to the modern smartphone showing Agent 007 with nothing more than a mostly ordinary Erickson model which had much less power and capability than the off-the-shelf iPhone of that period.
I have been somewhat verbose and risked accusation of blasphemy or sacrilege in my efforts to communicate fully Steven Jobs’ contribution. Legacy alone is one thing being merely the record, the focus or amplification of one’s upon succeeding generations but “visionary”, “momentous”, “impactful”, “revolutionary”, “extraordinary”, “innovative”… these words only approach describing the “aftermath” of the life of Steve jobs. I would have to exhaust the lexicon of all positive adjectives and adverbs to describe that and even then, I would fail.
R.I.P. Steven Jobs….
Sincerely,
Graham C. Dugas III
Hilton Head, S.C.
PS. It would be an unforgivable injustice if I wrote all this and omitted any mention the “other Steve”… none other than Mister Wozniak. He too was a visionary and an untethered [to or by conventional thinking] radical of almost equal degree in the development and marrying of personal computing with the previously unrecognized and unfulfilled potential of the “graphic user interface” (GUI). This was truly earth-shattering. Call it fate or providence, the “two Steves” were brought together and “synergized” for a season of time than can only be described as “magical”. (Though certainly a visionary, Bill Gates is more “evolutionary” and of a secondary, dare I say lesser, order.)
PPS. There may still be another person living among us now who, I believe, is a visionary of the Jobs/Wozniak “pantheon” order. His name is Pranav Mistry. You can learn about his radical vision for the future here: http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html Where this could lead us is beyond imagination right now. It is almost telepathic. In fact, we could call it “virtual telepathy”.
After my initial reaction to the news, I had just that thought. But I found it difficult to word it without seeming critical in some way (which I’m not, Jobs was amazing and will be greatly missed).
It does not take away from his remarkable life or from our emotion to also recognize and thank the unsung heroes, all who compose the long tail of innovators and each produce a more modest impact than Jobs.
I just saw the front page of http://www.apple.com. They have a small message about him dying and how he is the foundation of the company. Then there are tabs at the top where they offer ipods, ipads, iphones, laptops, speakers, and subwoofers and dozens of other products to anyone and everyone. Simply amazing.
That’s the standard website. Its like getting Mises to not display the “Daily, About, Blog, Literature, Media, Events, and Donate” tabs.
Retard
hrm. I think you may be misunderstanding.
The guy obviously loved his company and what he did. Otherwise he would of gave up working on it a long time ago and just relaxed in billionaire retirement. Those products are his legacy and a monument to his genius. I don’t think it’s safe to assume that Tyrone meant a negative in mentioning it.
Sorry I forgot this was Mises, my first reaction was that he was angry at the site pushing their storefront despite Jobs dying.
But yeah, Jobs was great and the other replies are better than mine.
I was mentioning how amazing this was you silly goose.
Go smoke more pot and keep misconstruing comments on this blog. You’re only making yourself look retarded.
In case you are unaware the purpose of apple.com is to sell products and offer support for those products.
Steve Jobs is being honoured on the front page of the site for founding one of the greatest capitalist success stories in history, if the company wishes to remain a success story in the future it cannot simply cease to sell it’s products at a whim, if it was to do so it would falter. Unlike government Apple Inc can’t simply print up money.
But he never paid his fair share of taxes. And now he’s dead. Oh, the injustice. Maybe his estate will pay up?
Jobs is one of the greatest entrepreneurs ever and his passing is a loss to us all. His story amazes me. A adopted child that grew into a unfocused youth involved in a counter-culture drug movement, drops out of college, and then with a brilliant ideas and extra-ordinary charisma, he changes the world.
I don’t think the comment by Tyrone Dell is negative towards Apple… it seems positive to me.
I think Jobs’ best accomplishment was coming back and saving Apple, after MBAtards had kicked him out and ruined the company.
I think this article from Mark Steyn properly tempers the hyperbole.
http://www.steynonline.com/4545/flight
The fact that I’m making this comment through my iPhone is my best testament to the man.
I was at disney’s Epcot this weekend, and rode inside the giant sphere ride where they use animatronics to zoom through 3000 years of technology. One of the scenes you pass on the ride is, I believe, a young Steve Jobs hunched over an early microcomputer in his garage. To be on the list of great technological achievements, along with fire, wheels and papyrus, is not a bad legacy.
Dear Steve Jobs: “No. There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own — NOBODY!
“You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police-forces and fire-forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory — and hire someone to protect against this — because of the work the rest of us did.
“Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea. God bless — keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is, you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.
“RIP, Steve, and now that you’re dead the rest of us are going to tax the pants off your heirs and give it to deserving folks like those progressive youngsters who are occupying Wall Street. I’m sure they’ll spend it more wisely than you or your heirs would have. Remember, WE are as much responsible for Apple success as you were. We built the roads; we also built the Brooklyn Bridge so we have a right to shut it down. That’s just part of the social contract we forged your name to.”
Sincerely, Elizabeth Warren
Go to hell Elizabeth
(no offense to Ned intended)
Steve Jobs and Apple sure have made a lot of people around the world better off in their own subjective ways of perceiving it, and for that I laud the man.
With that said, I’ve always found him to be rather insufferable, and his drooling fans even more so. Fortunately, for those who don’t care to pay a premium for slickness, coolness and brand name, there’s better, and cheaper, alternatives to Apple out there (no thanks to Apple’s patent attorneys). I personally get an extra dose of satisfaction out of buying stuff that’s completely opposed to the iFluff standard, so for me cheaper is even better!
In other words, thank goodness the bureaucrats’ tiny minds can’t understand computers well enough to regulate them. The firms, left mostly alone, have filled the market with products that cater to every taste. I won’t remember Jobs very fondly but at least I can recognize that he made people happier without preventing me from building a PC gaming rig.
I am touched by the innovation and competition derived from the heart and mind of Steve Jobs. The creative industry relies on Macbook’s. The smartphone industry was redefined by the ingenuity of the iPhone. The tablet industry was taken to mainstream market by the iPad. These are tools many of us use everyday. Steve Jobs RIP technology has affected multiple industries and allowed millions to make a comfortable living.
Thank you Steve … You were great man… You changed the world … Thanks … Russia mourns for Steve Jobs…
I’m sitting in a big café in Hong Kong working at the moment and there are dozens of people working and studying here using their Macbooks and iPads while listening to music or talking using their iPhones. Imagine how many people using Apple products to enrich their lives and productivity each and every day. It’s mindboggling.
Steve Jobs will be sorely missed but I’m sure his legacy will be present at Apple even if he’s not there and we will see more exciting products coming for a long long time.
Jobs was either a visionary or a pirate; that said, his company’s
tendency to sue anyone who even thought too hard about an apple was
troubling; also forcing the first iPhone users to use AT&T — the
company that had listening rooms set aside for the NSA.
I used his products from the Apple II up to OS X, when I moved to the
superior OS Linux (which I do run on old Apple hardware).
Still, he cast a long shadow, and the company was once the coolest
tech company out there — who else could imagine using as a system
sound a human saying the word “quack?”
You think that Jobs violently took over ships at sea?
No, of course. Just my bit of exaggeration — I’m talking about his using others’ ideas, viz. the mouse, followed by his (or Apple’s) war on other IP borrowers.
Hehe. Jobs was a terrific marketing genius and Apple is fantastic at producing desirable consumer goods.
But there is extremely very little in terms of actual new technology they put into the market. Their OS is not more secure then Windows. Their hardware is not more reliable then similarly priced goods from other companies. In fact their devices are made in the same production facilities and by the same companies that produce devices for HP, Dell, IBM, etc. The majority of the hardware chips and other components in the machine’s internals was designed for other company’s devices and are used by other people in other products.
They were not the first company to popularize mp3 players. They were not the first company to popularize mp3 downloads. Apple didn’t produce the first home computer, in fact the Apple II was expensive and largely overshadowed by the likes of the Commodore 64 (which was massively more popular and introduced far more people to computing then Apple ever did). They didn’t create the first GUI interface. They didn’t create the mouse. They didn’t create the file and folder metaphors. They didn’t create the first app market. They didn’t create the first touchscreen smartphone.
What they did was they took ideas, hardware, and software from other companies and other groups and turned them into something spectacular and desirable.
It’s pure genius. Fantastic work. Nobody else could do what Apple and Jobs did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU
By and large, astonishing remarks.
At least I’m not completely alone; J. Murray and a couple others get it.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/last-american-who-knew-what-the-fuck-he-was-doing,26268/
“It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy.” [1982, quoted in Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple, 1987]
Future headline: “World mourns passing of Goldman-Sachs CEO.” Or maybe not.
R.I.P.
yes, he was not only an inventor and he has also done many great things to accomplish or possible between us
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