The technology world mourns the death of Steve Jobs today. Steve Jobs is the founder of Apple and shaped how we know Apple today. Jobs was CEO of Apple until he stepped down due to health conditions. He kept a position at Apple as Chairman of the Board.
I feel that I am entitled to use my voice on the internet to share some thoughts about Steve Jobs and Apple as a whole. Below is a letter that I wrote to Apple about this tragic event. You can write your own letter to Apple and email it to rememberingsteve@apple.com. Read my letter after the break.
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I never met Steve Jobs or had any personal contact with him at all. I’m just an Apple fanboy and customer. The only Apple products I own are an iPod touch and iPad. So while I’m not the most avid of Apple product users, I am a huge Apple fan and am saving up money for my first Mac.
The news of Steve Jobs stepping down as CEO of Apple was depressing. However, I was overjoyed to hear that he would still serve at Apple as Chairman of the Board. As a freelance technology journalist, I watch all of the Apple keynotes. Through watching numerous product announcements, Mr. Jobs quickly became a large part of Apple as I knew it, even though some argued that he had very little to do with product design and functionality. The fact still stands: Apple wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Steve Jobs.
As the news of Mr. Jobs’ death rolled in on my Twitter feed, my heart started beating. Just to confirm the reports, I quickly searched Steve Jobs in Google, only to be faced with a long list of news reports indicating that he has, in fact, left us. I didn’t know what to think. At this point, I was on my PC but with my iPad sitting next to me. I felt an awkwardness between me and the iPad. I didn’t want to use it, or even look at it. I just wanted Steve Jobs back.
Out of curiosity, I made my way to Apple.com. There, I found the most heart-warming thing ever: a remembrance of Steve Jobs covering the entire home page. The most amazing thing about this remembrance was that this unfortunate event occurred one day after the announcement of the iPhone 4S. Therefore, Apple’s website was quickly updated with pictures of the iPhone 4S and news about what’s new in the iPhone 4S and iOS 5. One day into the announcement, Apple strips all of that information from the home page and replaces it with a picture of Mr. Jobs. Only Apple could do this. Only Apple could have the heart to temporarily forget about the new iPhone 4S to remember Mr. Jobs.
I want to thank Apple for being our friends instead of just a company. Companies want to make profit. Apple wants to change the world.
-Mike Bednarsky
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Feel free to write your own letter to Apple and email it to rememberingsteve@apple.com. If you’d like, share your letter in the comments below.
