Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder and former
CEO, has died at the age of 56 after a long and
highly public battle with cancer.
Steve Jobs ' death was announced by Apple
in a statement saying: "Apple has lost a
visionary and creative genius, and the world has
lost an amazing human being.
"Those of us who have been fortunate enough
to know and work with Steve have lost a dear
friend and an inspiring mentor.
"Steve leaves behind a company that only he
could have built, and his spirit will forever be the
foundation of Apple."
An email address for tributes to Jobs was set up
at rememberingsteve@apple. com
A further statement from the company said:
"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the
source of countless innovations that enrich and
improve all of our lives. The world is
immeasurably better because of Steve."
"His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and
his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all
who were touched by his extraordinary gifts."
Jobs was a college dropout when he co-founded
Apple in a garage 35 years ago and his
vertiginous rise to success saw him become a
billionaire business icon.
He was the creative genius who gave the world
the iPod - the product that transformed popular
culture and revolutionised the music business.
Product launch events for the his gadgets –
which also included the iPhone, the iPad, and
the iMac – were dominated by his exuberant
personality but in recent years he had appeared
increasingly gaunt as illness took its toll.
Jobs had survived pancreatic cancer in 2004 and
a liver transplant in 2009. He had already
announced in January this year that he was
taking sick leave for a third time.
In a letter to Apple’s directors and the “Apple
community” in August announcing he was
stepping down, he said: “I have always said if
there ever came a day when I could no longer
meet my duties and expectations as Apple’ s
CEO, I would be the first to let you know.
Unfortunately, that day has come.”
Resigning as chief executive, Jobs said: “I believe
Apple’ s brightest and most innovative days are
ahead of it.”
It was Jobs who was seen as rescuing the
company when he returned as boss in 1997,
launching the iMac, whose sleek design made its
products cool again.
Born in San Francisco, he founded Apple with
Steve Wozniak, five years his senior, in 1976 and
eight years later, the Mac home computer was
born.
But in 1985 Jobs was ousted in a boardroom
coup and went on to form a new technology
company, NeXT. The firm was bought by Apple
and Jobs was soon back at the helm of the
company he had started.
Today it is the world’ s second biggest company,
valued at $349 billion, a figure largely built on
Jobs’s gift for innovation.
He once said: “You can’t just ask customers
what they want and then try to give that to
them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want
something new.”

It would be too easy now to make some joke about the iPhone 4S and what it could have been, or to comment on how sometimes even all the money in the world can't save you, but no matter if you have met him or not, even if you have never heard of him, there can be no doubt that his company and insight have touched all our lives and will do so for years to come.

RIP

Very sad

Yes, RIP, no negative comments.

1st real computer I owned was the lovely I mac

RIP Steve Jobs

Rip dude love you're products. Youll never be forgotten.

Very outside the box man, didnt really ever own any Apple products but clearly they were good. RIP fella.

An inspiration in my book.

RIP.

Rip

I always thought Woz was the guy behind Apple, Jobs just wasn't enough of a geek for my liking. More a salesman than anything else I guess. Sucks he died so young though.

R.I.P

Just been watching it on the morning show about it then

R.I.P

I wouldn't have known who he was if I fell over him until he was on the news today. Saw him doing a speech in America somewhere and all I could think was that he sounds like the annoying voice on the Kindle.

RIP anyway. Never nice when someone dies relatively young.