Steve Jobs has died

[jye4ever]

It's weird to feel bummed out. I never really understood how someone got sad when a celebrity died or a notable because they never knew them but with Jobs it was different. I looked forward to his presentations and how candid he was about things. I'm not in tears or rocking back and forth holding my knees or anything but I can't help but admit that today sucks.

He's the 1st that made me feel this way, might happen with GL and SS as well, I don't know.

But admit it though, yes you are

Part of if for me is because he didn't kill himself or cause harm to himself with drugs or alcohol. He was one of the most powerful men in technology, but was powerless against cancer. So sad.

Billion won't stop you from dying, but make no mistake about it, his fortune definately played a hand in extending his life, even if for just a bit.

But because he was such an awesome human being, he gave back to what he utilized and supported the transplant side of medicine with his gifts of donations (ontop of his other philanthropic work i'm sure).

I am just flat out bummed.

 

[Kuzeh]

 

[jye4ever]

That's really cool.

I also like how they're also saying that they didn't announce the Iphone 5 because they wanted it to be the 4S which means "For Steve".

Even if not true, still pretty cool to say the least.

 

[mfoga]

Really people are believing they didn't release a product becaue they knew Steve Jobs was going to die the next day?

 

[devilof76]

Without the mathematical, medicinal and architectural progress of medieval Islam, we could still be in the dark ages.

Without Classical learning, we would still be in the Dark Ages, and specifically, without Western Europe getting their hands on certain works of Aristotle. The Middle East had access to the vast secular knowledge of that era from the fall of Rome forward. So did Byzantium. The latter was a stagnant bureaucratic bore of a society. The former never allowed the rational philosophy which they used to educate themselves to be anything more than a handmaiden to their faith.

Western Europe was where the collapse of Classical civilization hit hardest and for about a millenium, it was the most backwards, atavistic region of the formerly advanced world. That changed after the Cordovan renaissance, which re-introduced the knowledge that was lost. Averroes, Avicenna, and Maemonides were profound advocates of reason and their influence on Italian and French minds opened the future to Da Vinci and the Italian renaissance.

Unfortunately, their own society did not allow for advancement beyond the heights of Golden Age Spain. Europe did not have the unity of political and religious power which defined the caliphates so it was only a matter of time before the intellectual suppression on the Catholic Church eroded. Algebra and analytic geometry gave rise to Copernicus. Copernicus opened the door for the scientific revolution. By the late 17th century (less than 200 years) Newton had invented the calculus, discovered the foundations of classical mechanics, and laid the groubwork for the industrial revolution.

Cordova was the high watermark of Medieval Islam, and what stopped it was its culture (the man who stood in the way of the philosophic revolutions enabled by the Cordovan Aristotelians was Al Ghazali, guaranteeing that religion would be the power to hold dominance over the Arab mind for the coming centuries). European religion did not have the same vice grip on the Medieval European mind, and they were able to escape the Medieval limitations.

So I disagree with the statement that innovation is not culturally neautral - there are shades of gray as with most things

It's black and white, I'm afraid. Where faith dominates a culture, intellectual stagnation is the norm. Where reason dominates a culture, intellectual vitality is the norm.

Where it comes from however, is irrelevant. Cultural narrative is overrated. We're all human beings and we're all capable of being human. What is not irrelevant is the fact that there is no guarantee that any culture will maintain its humanity, and it is absolutely critical to understand what fundamentally distinguishes the human eras and regions from the inhuman ones.

 

[Phil Sierra]

This is one guy who you can definitely say left his print on the world. Such a short life yet so much accomplished.




(comment typed using my Macbook Pro)

 

[Lejuan]

I think the difference is that regardless of culture, those objects are still useful. The distilled essence of a culture like America's is not useful to those who want no part of that system of values. The thing is, the tech doesn't happen where the opposite type of culture prevails.

I can't think of a culture on Earth as diametrically opposed to ours as the culture of the Middle East. If you can show me how a microprocessor could happen in the midst of that---let alone something as comparatively crude as an internal combustion engine---I'll ____ you one gold brick, every day for the rest of my life. I'll even pay shipping.

Innovation is not culturally neutral.

Yep, that was my main thrust in putting Ford and Jobs ahead of Disney in terms of global impact (irrespective of my bias against Disney's brand of storytelling )

I completely agree that technical innovation tends to emerge from a society that also embraces artistic freedoms. It could be said that in the same way that Disney's innovation was to mediate a set of cultural values into an accessible and appealing form, Jobs did a similar thing with technology by making it accessible and appealing. But as an Australian, I can honestly say that Disney hasn't impacted on my day-to-day life in anything like the way the car or consumable computer technology has. We'd still have a storytelling film culture without Disney - it was developing just fine before Disney developed his innovations in animation production and it likely would have carried on just fine. Disney's work just doesn't resonate for us the same as it does for Americans. Maybe Disney would go punch for punch with Jobs on their home turf, but if they had a fist fight in Sydney, the punters would have all their dough on Jobs

 

[devilof76]

Ok, but is there an Australian cartoon character that would be recognized in as many places on Earth as Mickey Mouse or Tinkerbell?

 

[automaton]

words to live by….

From his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. “

“There is no reason not to follow your heart. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”

 

[Lejuan]

Ok, but is there an Australian cartoon character that would be recognized in as many places on Earth as Mickey Mouse or Tinkerbell?

Not a chance, but recognition doesn't equate to positive impact...

 

[thenammagazine]

SELL! SELL! SELL!

 

[LTM438]

I was reasonably shocked to hear the news. I think this quote from a friend of mine on his Facebook page sums up the man's influence best:

"I'm on the train and I'm playing music on the train with my iPod. Our teacher is showing a presentation on liberation theology on her iPad. We have a class assignment involving the internet and we're in the Mac lab. My mom calls my iPhone to tell me not to forget to drop off my immersion trip application. [My teacher] teaches us about instantaneous rate of change via Angry Birds. I torrent Crazy, Stupid, Love on my mac mini and Ryan Gosling berates Steve Carell for wearing shoes only Steve Jobs can pull off. Rest in peace Steve Jobs, you were an icon, an innovator, a leader, and a trendsetter, you will be missed."

 

[Chapter 2099]

words to live by….

From his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. “

“There is no reason not to follow your heart. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”

Thanks for posting that quote.

I had only heard of the speech until recently and your posted motivated me to check it out. A lot of what he said is so applicable to my current status in life, so much that I actually felt compelled to watch the entire 15 minutes (which never happens, BTW. ) There's a lot to be gathered from his speech. And I think he lived by every word of it, making it that much more meaningful. I'm still young and I think it's easy to lose sight of what is important given the influence of fear, embarrassment, pride, etc. Steve Jobs showed what a human-being is capable of when he or she places all of that aside, and focuses solely on what is important in life, realizing the 'clock' is ticking. That's something I admire to no end and to accomplish his dreams the way he did is an example to many, myself included, what amazing things we're capable of, despite the short time we have here on Earth. He was and will continue to be a true inspiration.

 

[quadcent]

words to live by….

From his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. “

“There is no reason not to follow your heart. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”

Thanks for posting that quote.

I had only heard of the speech until recently and your posted motivated me to check it out. A lot of what he said is so applicable to my current status in life, so much that I actually felt compelled to watch the entire 15 minutes (which never happens, BTW. ) There's a lot to be gathered from his speech. And I think he lived by every word of it, making it that much more meaningful. I'm still young and I think it's easy to lose sight of what is important given the influence of fear, embarrassment, pride, etc. Steve Jobs showed what a human-being is capable of when he or she places all of that aside, and focuses solely on what is important in life, realizing the 'clock' is ticking. That's something I admire to no end and to accomplish his dreams the way he did is an example to many, myself included, what amazing things we're capable of, despite the short time we have here on Earth. He was and will continue to be a true inspiration.

His words really hit home for me as well. I've never used any of his products (that I know of) Only knew of him from what a person read online, but these words he spoke have really hit me and I hope they can help my family as well.

 

[devilof76]

Not a chance, but recognition doesn't equate to positive impact...

It doesn't, but the global positive impact of Disney cartoons is undeniable.

The appeal is not unanimous, but it is universal.

 

[Centurion]

The only Apple product I ever owned was an Apple IIc computer back in the early '80s...and I'm not even sure Jobs was involved with that.

RIP now Steve. Prayers go out to your close friends and family.

 

[P1X4R]

 

[kinqcuonq]

[ame]https://youtu.be/GEPhLqwKo6g[/ame]

 

[The Ween]

We will miss you Steve

Bill gates will never measure up to the caliber and character of Jobs. Gates can only fantasize about the love and attention he'll get when he finally passes. For Jobs, he will always be remembered as a pioneer.


R.I.P. Apple's pioneer

It's always sad when someone so young has died in such a way and I'm glad he's without pain now but.....

I totally disagree with this. He was far from a saint.

 

[Spartan Rex]

I don't think 56 is "young" but his life was surely cut short. He was just a man with plenty of detractors as well as advocates. Just a mortal man who was very productive with his brief time. We should all be so focused.