RIP Steve.
My general dislike of apple is no secret. However, Steve Jobbs has to be given credit for what he accomplished with the company, taking it from the relative underdog it was to the titan it is now takes smarts, passion, skill and balls. The man made technology "cool". Let's face it, portable media players, tablet computers and smart phones all existed before the iPod, iPad and iPhone but nobody can deny that the latter have become the yardstick by which all other devices in said categories have become measured.
Likewise, NeXTStep was cool, MacOS was atrocious. Nobody really remembers, or more likely wants to remember MacOS before OSX and even though I don't really like the latter I'd be disingenuous to suggest it isn't the ideal OS for many people. So, under his tenure operating systems became "cool" for a lot of people too and again OSX has become a yardstick for many.
On a personal note, having lost several close relatives in only a short space of time to particularly aggressive forms of cancer, my condolences go to his family and friends. And yet, to live as long as he did after his particular diagnosis was again, pretty remarkable.
I don't envy his successor. Whoever has to step up next for apple has pretty big shoes to fill.
