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RIP, Steve Jobs

October 5, 2011 22:37:32.866

Sad news tonight - Steve Jobs has died. I guess it's not a huge shock, given that he stepped down from Apple a bit over a month ago. It seemed pretty clear that running Apple was what he wanted to do more than anything else, and he only left when the universe intervened.

There's a huge hole in Silicon Valley with his departure, and, in my opinion, in the world in general. I'd go so far as to say that Steve Jobs brought more joy to more people than just about anyone. He'll be missed.

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posted by James Robertson

Comments

Re: RIP, Steve Jobs

[anonymous] October 5, 2011 23:44:15.632

Perhaps he brought joy to people. But the joy of having nice looking possessions is fleeting. Contrast that with Bill Gates, who's legacy someday may very well be the driving force behind the elimination of major diseases that have plagued civilization for thousands of years. From that perspective, Mr Jobs' legacy looks rather small to me.

Re: RIP, Steve Jobs

[james Robertson] October 6, 2011 7:37:19.155

Possibly. But there's good in doing well at something you love, and Steve Jobs exemplified that. The track record of foundations started by wealthy people just isn't that good.

Re: RIP, Steve Jobs

[Arden] October 6, 2011 9:41:34.076

Steve Jobs "got" Smalltalk, and the bigger picture of what Smalltalk was all about - [link 1]

[1 http://tinyurl.com/6xv2sg4]

Re: RIP, Steve Jobs

[W^L+] October 8, 2011 14:59:00.566

anon, you may want to take a closer look at just what Mr Gates and his foundation are doing. I think they are doing almost as much to hinder the cause as they are to advance it. I also do not think that giving away money erases the questionable things done to "earn" that money.

One thing they could do i sadvocate for reduced length and scope of patents. Limiting the ability of drug companies (and software / music / movie / publishing) to restrict the dissemination of their products into other countries would help make medicines for everything from malaria to HIV more readily available.

I have to say that I think Mr Jobs' legacy is much more impressive just because so much of it is available from multiple vendors, in multiple places, at a wide range of price points.

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