"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."
"Just over two centuries ago, in 1805, it took news of the Battle of Trafalgar over a fortnight to reach London from the Mediterranean. The fact that, in 2011, the speed with which the news of Steve Jobs's death circled the globe and reached millions could be measured in seconds is a profound testimony to the connective power of the new world that he helped to create." ~ Alastair Roberts
Now I realise why this news is so sad to me. You see, I watched that speech at a time when I didn't know what to do with my life and career. He's the one who inspired me to finally quit my job and do the "foolish" thing. It's not about the products he created, it's the person he was.
What need have I to fear--so soon to die?
Let me work on, not watch and wait in dread:
What will it matter, when that I am dead
That they bore hate or love that near me lie?
'Tis but a lifetime, and the end is nigh
At best or worst. Let me lift up my head
And firmly, as with inner courage, tread
Mine own appointed way on mandates high.
Pain could but bring from all its evil store,
The close of pain: hate's venom could but kill;
Repulse, defeat, desertion, could no more,
Let me have lived my life, not cowered until
The unhindered and unchastened hour was here.
So soon--what is there now for me to fear?
My absolute favorite line of that entire speech is the very last, "Stay hungry. Stay foolish." I live by it and will continue to do so. What an iconic brilliant genius the world has lost.
Considering how apparent it was that Steve’s health was gravely bad and rapidly deteriorating, we all in the back of our minds knew the time we had him in this world was limited and precious. So it comes as a complete shock to me how upset I actually am by Steve’s passing.
Even though most of us never knew him, we all feel as if we did know him very well; his inventions, complete labours of love, have become so central to how we live our lives. The profound impact his creations have had on us cannot make us feel any other way.
I didn't go to college, and I remember having a shitty job back in the day, saving so hard to buy a PowerBook G4, but it was completely worth it because purchasing that machine literally changed my life. Without a computer that was an absolute joy to use, I would have never spent so many hours learning how to code and consequently now have the career opportunities that I do.
I feel eternally indebted to Steve, despite having never met the man myself. By creating the wonderful tools he did for us to work with, I feel he is significantly responsible for the career I have today.
To one of the few that can say ‘I changed the world’, thank you.
This difference, I suppose, is between someone bending your will to theirs, reducing you terribly in the process, and someone who sees you failing to deliver everything you're capable of, and pushing you (hard) to do what he thinks what you can.
The former doesn't care about who you are. The latter cares deeply, and expresses in by placing genuine faith in you. Everything being said by the people who worked with him indicates that they feel humbled and honored by the experience. It's hard to get upset with someone's approach when you know in your bones that it got you to the top of your game.
What people feel in response to that is love.
[EDIT]
"He was dubbed a megalomaniac, but Steve Jobs often gambled on young, largely inexperienced talent to take Apple forward; Jony Ive and his team prove that such faith was spot on."
Whether this chair was for Steve or not, it felt very symbolic/struck a chord with me. I'm surprised at how sad this single photo made me feel. We all knew it was coming, but it still hit me in a way I didn't think it would.
He shall be missed.
I never met you, but you were an inspiration. Rest well, Steve.
Jobs imagines his garbage regularly not being emptied in his office, and when he asks the janitor why, he gets an excuse: The locks have been changed, and the janitor doesn’t have a key. This is an acceptable excuse coming from someone who empties trash bins for a living. The janitor gets to explain why something went wrong. Senior people do not. “When you’re the janitor,” Jobs has repeatedly told incoming VPs, “reasons matter.” He continues: “Somewhere between the janitor and the CEO, reasons stop mattering.” That “Rubicon,” he has said, “is crossed when you become a VP.
"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
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. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
As amazing and wise and wonderful as this quote is... I doubt many people actually get the chance in life to do this. I know I am on the wrong website with this but once you look just a bit outside of silicon valley and a bit outside of the (comparatively very) rich western world, you start to realize: there are just very very few people who were or are ever as blessed as to not only be able to follow their heart but become so influential and important by doing so.
This makes me just more sad. Or maybe I am just at a bad place in life.
When I was 10 I visited my uncle’s factory in Michigan. He sat me down in front of an Apple II and fired up a video game. As I played Castle, I noticed the manual for the Applesoft programming language sitting next to the computer. I cracked it open and realized I could break into the monitor and see the source code.
I did just that, modifying the game to the point it was no longer playable. I had saved the file and effectively broke it. I shut off the computer, and never told my uncle.
The excitement of that moment stuck with me and was the enabler of the amazing life I've had since.
My first computer was an Apple IIc, on which I taught myself BASIC (which provided many memorable minor revelations). Thanks for your efforts Steve Jobs.
I had a feeling this was right around the corner the moment I saw his presentation to the Cupertino planning committee. My dad died of pancreatic cancer 10 years ago at the age of 46. In the month or so leading up to the end, as his liver started to fail, his voice changed and at times seemed almost "thick". When I heard Steve start to speak, it immediately made me think of my dad.
My heart goes out to his family and friends. Steve was a childhood hero of mine as far back as I can remember. The world was a much better place with him in it.
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me ... Going to bed at night, saying we've done something wonderful... that's what matters to me."
- Inscription on Steve Jobs' star at the Entrepreneur Walk of Fame in Cambridge, Mass., unveiled on 9/16/2011: http://instagr.am/p/NPa4o/
Silicon Valley is about to go into mourning. I am having a hard time getting back to work. We've been getting more rain in the south bay the last 3 days than we have all summer, it feels oddly right now.
I think Paul Graham's post earlier today had something for us to remember as we work through this great, deep loss:
"I flew into the Bay Area a few days ago. I notice this every time I fly over the Valley: somehow you can sense something is going on. Obviously you can sense prosperity in how well kept a place looks. But there are different kinds of prosperity. Silicon Valley doesn't look like Boston, or New York, or LA, or DC. I tried asking myself what word I'd use to describe the feeling the Valley radiated, and the word that came to mind was optimism."
Here's to Steve, and his relentless optimism. Here's to the next big idea and the next person who changes the world like he did.
I didn't think I'd be this emotional about Jobs, but as I sit here in my apartment in Tokyo, surrounded by Apple products, I'm reminded at the impact he's had on my life.
On our lives. How many people on HN own iPhones and MacBooks?
There's no more fitting tribute to the man than to throw some Beatles up on iTunes and create something wonderful.
My dad also died of pancreatic cancer that spread to his liver (he was 55). Tough disease. Steve died before his time, but in many ways he beat the odds. Five year survivorship rate for pancreatic cancer is around 5%.
His vision will be missed. He left an indelible mark on a generation of technology users, and then did it again.
"You know, I've got a plan that could rescue Apple. I can't say any more than that it's the perfect product and the perfect strategy for Apple. But nobody there will listen to me."
-- Steve Jobs, Sept. 18, 1995
"If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it's worth -- and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago."
-- Steve Jobs, Feb. 19, 1996
The best ideas are the ones you have to force on people.
A more 'perfect' PR stunt, the official autobiographer of Steve Jobs couldn't ask for...before you start downvoting me for a seemingly insensitive comment, I don't mean that is perfect that he died. Absolutely not.
I am dealing with the loss just like any other tech-loving fan-boi.
Just pointing out that it the PR storm generated around this book as a result of his passing, will be nothing like he could have ever paid for....i.e. it is 'perfect' (from a selling the books perspective).
If you care to learn more about the disease and the search for a cure, check out "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Fascinating, scary and sobering.
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. - Apple Inc.
I (along with countless other people) lost a hero today.
Steve Jobs was the person who inspired me to join the tech industry. I first really knew who Steve Jobs was after watching the (not so bad) made-for-tv movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley." I always knew I wanted to work with technology but after seeing that movie I knew I wanted to be part of the Silicon Valley culture that Steve helped create. Steve has inspired me for years and I am extremely sad about this loss. We will all miss him dearly.
In the early 90's I was pretty sure I didn't want be a programmer anymore. I really got no joy from Windows and the Macintosh was looking like it was dead. I got ahold of NeXTSTEP 3.3 and was hooked. I remember the joy stuff like the Apple II and the Atari 400 brought me. It was just amazing. It is such a shame to know Steve Jobs, Seymour Cray, and Jay Miner are no longer with us. I should be happy to have been alive for the start of it all though.
He poured his life and soul into Apple. When his health suffered, he fought tooth and nail and stayed involved with Apple until the very end. When he left Apple (feels like just yesterday), he said it was because he truly felt he was unable to continue to lead.
I'm left with a feeling of ambivalence. I feel bad that he couldn't enjoy the fruits of his labor by retiring and spending time with his family or whatever other interests he had. At the same time, I know that he wouldn't have had it any other way.
He recognized his gift and shared it with all of us. The experiences when using his products and the emotions when hearing him speak. I feel blessed just to have been a witness to such a human's life.
[+] [-] donohoe|14 years ago|reply
June 12th 2005 Stanford commencement speech
Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
[+] [-] wyclif|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Casc|14 years ago|reply
Not sure about anyone else, but the quote above does a lot for me, no matter how many times I've reread it.
[+] [-] daveungerer|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nordsieck|14 years ago|reply
AEneid, iv. 604.
What need have I to fear--so soon to die? Let me work on, not watch and wait in dread: What will it matter, when that I am dead That they bore hate or love that near me lie? 'Tis but a lifetime, and the end is nigh At best or worst. Let me lift up my head And firmly, as with inner courage, tread Mine own appointed way on mandates high. Pain could but bring from all its evil store, The close of pain: hate's venom could but kill; Repulse, defeat, desertion, could no more, Let me have lived my life, not cowered until The unhindered and unchastened hour was here. So soon--what is there now for me to fear?
-- Edward Rowland Sill
[+] [-] abrimo|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cies|14 years ago|reply
while the tech scene will miss him a lot, my thoughts go to his family who'll miss him most.
[+] [-] tyroneschiff|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] checker|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] runn1ng|14 years ago|reply
The dots will connect one day. Even if others don't believe you, because you will die one day anyway.
It's inspirational and great.
[+] [-] pullo|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] treenyc|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pcj|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] tc|14 years ago|reply
It's going to be missing someone who has the absolute credibility to say it.
Anyone can be a tyrant. If Steve Jobs was a dictator, it was because people thought he had the right to be.
[+] [-] sjtgraham|14 years ago|reply
Even though most of us never knew him, we all feel as if we did know him very well; his inventions, complete labours of love, have become so central to how we live our lives. The profound impact his creations have had on us cannot make us feel any other way.
I didn't go to college, and I remember having a shitty job back in the day, saving so hard to buy a PowerBook G4, but it was completely worth it because purchasing that machine literally changed my life. Without a computer that was an absolute joy to use, I would have never spent so many hours learning how to code and consequently now have the career opportunities that I do.
I feel eternally indebted to Steve, despite having never met the man myself. By creating the wonderful tools he did for us to work with, I feel he is significantly responsible for the career I have today.
To one of the few that can say ‘I changed the world’, thank you.
Rest in peace Steve
[+] [-] alexqgb|14 years ago|reply
The former doesn't care about who you are. The latter cares deeply, and expresses in by placing genuine faith in you. Everything being said by the people who worked with him indicates that they feel humbled and honored by the experience. It's hard to get upset with someone's approach when you know in your bones that it got you to the top of your game.
What people feel in response to that is love.
[EDIT] "He was dubbed a megalomaniac, but Steve Jobs often gambled on young, largely inexperienced talent to take Apple forward; Jony Ive and his team prove that such faith was spot on."
[+] [-] astine|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] phzbOx|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] capkutay|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] barista|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cldwalker|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chaosmachine|14 years ago|reply
http://i.imgur.com/BsIoS.png
This shot was shown for about 5 seconds right at the beginning of the recording. Front row, center. Reserved. Empty.
[+] [-] sethg|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] robflynn|14 years ago|reply
He shall be missed.
I never met you, but you were an inspiration. Rest well, Steve.
[+] [-] dvdhsu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] exogen|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] breakall|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] akamaka|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dustingetz|14 years ago|reply
-- Jobs (via secondary source [1])
[1] http://www.macstories.net/news/inside-apple-reveals-steve-jo...
[+] [-] kristofferR|14 years ago|reply
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. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
- Steve Jobs
[+] [-] jquery|14 years ago|reply
Quotes like this get me thinking back to my fascination reading about Cognitive Dissonance in Psych 101.
[+] [-] kahawe|14 years ago|reply
This makes me just more sad. Or maybe I am just at a bad place in life.
[+] [-] cek|14 years ago|reply
I did just that, modifying the game to the point it was no longer playable. I had saved the file and effectively broke it. I shut off the computer, and never told my uncle.
The excitement of that moment stuck with me and was the enabler of the amazing life I've had since.
Thank you Steve Jobs. RIP.
[+] [-] afterburner|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joezydeco|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JunkDNA|14 years ago|reply
My heart goes out to his family and friends. Steve was a childhood hero of mine as far back as I can remember. The world was a much better place with him in it.
[+] [-] mixmax|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ilamont|14 years ago|reply
- Inscription on Steve Jobs' star at the Entrepreneur Walk of Fame in Cambridge, Mass., unveiled on 9/16/2011: http://instagr.am/p/NPa4o/
[+] [-] gfodor|14 years ago|reply
I think Paul Graham's post earlier today had something for us to remember as we work through this great, deep loss:
"I flew into the Bay Area a few days ago. I notice this every time I fly over the Valley: somehow you can sense something is going on. Obviously you can sense prosperity in how well kept a place looks. But there are different kinds of prosperity. Silicon Valley doesn't look like Boston, or New York, or LA, or DC. I tried asking myself what word I'd use to describe the feeling the Valley radiated, and the word that came to mind was optimism."
Here's to Steve, and his relentless optimism. Here's to the next big idea and the next person who changes the world like he did.
[+] [-] donw|14 years ago|reply
On our lives. How many people on HN own iPhones and MacBooks?
There's no more fitting tribute to the man than to throw some Beatles up on iTunes and create something wonderful.
Gentlemen, let's make a dent in the universe.
[+] [-] 100k|14 years ago|reply
His vision will be missed. He left an indelible mark on a generation of technology users, and then did it again.
[+] [-] pixelcloud|14 years ago|reply
"You know, I've got a plan that could rescue Apple. I can't say any more than that it's the perfect product and the perfect strategy for Apple. But nobody there will listen to me." -- Steve Jobs, Sept. 18, 1995
"If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it's worth -- and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago." -- Steve Jobs, Feb. 19, 1996
The best ideas are the ones you have to force on people.
[+] [-] marcamillion|14 years ago|reply
A more 'perfect' PR stunt, the official autobiographer of Steve Jobs couldn't ask for...before you start downvoting me for a seemingly insensitive comment, I don't mean that is perfect that he died. Absolutely not.
I am dealing with the loss just like any other tech-loving fan-boi.
Just pointing out that it the PR storm generated around this book as a result of his passing, will be nothing like he could have ever paid for....i.e. it is 'perfect' (from a selling the books perspective).
Perfectly sad...otherwise.
[+] [-] cedsav|14 years ago|reply
If you care to learn more about the disease and the search for a cure, check out "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Fascinating, scary and sobering.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Q66B5C
[+] [-] chetan51|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] MatthewB|14 years ago|reply
Steve Jobs was the person who inspired me to join the tech industry. I first really knew who Steve Jobs was after watching the (not so bad) made-for-tv movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley." I always knew I wanted to work with technology but after seeing that movie I knew I wanted to be part of the Silicon Valley culture that Steve helped create. Steve has inspired me for years and I am extremely sad about this loss. We will all miss him dearly.
RIP Steve Jobs
[+] [-] edw519|14 years ago|reply
Perhaps his biggest ding was inspiring so many of us to pursue our own dings.
R.I.P.
[+] [-] protomyth|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] orky56|14 years ago|reply
I'm left with a feeling of ambivalence. I feel bad that he couldn't enjoy the fruits of his labor by retiring and spending time with his family or whatever other interests he had. At the same time, I know that he wouldn't have had it any other way.
He recognized his gift and shared it with all of us. The experiences when using his products and the emotions when hearing him speak. I feel blessed just to have been a witness to such a human's life.