MILLION MAN wrote:
Cancer's gay.
He was a visionary. Don’t know if there’s ever been an executive so closely tied to his company’s products, at least in the eyes of its customers, as Jobs. And people do love his products. Probably isn’t any other brand out there that carries that sort of loyalty. I mean it transcends being just a “brand.” For a lot of people it’s almost an ethos.
Which is weird, but I almost get it. He was the kind of CEO we wish all CEOs were. Driven by innovation (at least on the surface) more than profit and greed. He was the poster boy for the Silicone Valley duality of wealth and substance, the Birkenstock-and-ponytail billionaire.
Anyway he was important dude, and by all accounts not evil. Sad to see him go.
I am a big fan of Jobs and I am saddened this evening. I loved his vision, his marketing prowess, his understanding of his customers and his work ethic. I was an early adopter of Apple but when I moved into the BBS world in the early 90s and eventually the world of Internet development and marketing in the mid 90s, I left Apple behind - but with iPods, iPhones, and soon an iPad, I am making the move back (as I type this on my Windows 7 Toshiba laptop). That being said, he was no alter boy and was a ruthless business man and early in his career a real control freak and slave driver. He did mature and change over time - became wiser in some undescribable way, he had a zen like quality to him that I always liked. With him, I don't think it was PR, that was the way he was later in his life/career. But unlike many, I admire the ruthless to a certain degree - those who get what they want but still have the ability to give the market what we want (or think we want) and make the world better for it. Jobs was one of very few people who did that. Capitalism isn't always pretty and that's OK, Jobs seem to understand that, embrace it and make it work for his company, customers and shareholders. I too am sad to see him go.