I suppose everyone has heard by now of the death of Steve Jobs at age 56. He was co-founder, long-time CEO, and the genius behind Apple. He revolutionized computers with the Macintosh, revolutionized laptop computers with the MacBook Air, invented a new market segment of tablet computers and then dominated that marketplace, and also put music libraries in fans' pockets and posed a challenge to brick-and-mortar record stores and radio with Apple's iTunes and iPod. To say that the man was a genius does not fully describe his many talents.
Perhaps one of the most fitting tributes came from President Barack Obama who said (in part):
"...there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."
Indeed, that happened to me. I first read of Steve Jobs' death yesterday when looking at a news feed on my Apple iPhone while traveling in the Denver, Colorado suburbs.
Even those who never purchased a single product from Apple were influenced by Jobs' creativity. Time and again, competitors copied many ideas from Steve Jobs' inventions, including software and hardware and design philosophies. His creativity permeates the computer industry.
I suspect Steve Jobs' life will some day be considered to be the equal of most of the other geniuses of the business world, including Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and others.
He will be missed.
