Goodbye Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs died today. That’s sad. I’m probably more shaken by his death than any other celebrity death in my lifetime. It’s final. It means there’ll be no more Steve Jobs creations. He was a brilliant man, an innovator. A game changer. If I had to pick a CEO style hero, it’d be Jobs. What he did with Apple, and with Pixar, is amazing. He leaves a legacy – people love his products, people love his approach to business, everybody has learned a lot about the importance of design in production from him. And his death will rightly dominate internet discussions for the next few days, and you’d expect the business pages of most papers as people speculate…

From the media release:

Statement by Apple’s Board of Directors

CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today.

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.

Many people have commented suggesting Jobs is some sort of Messiah. But unlike Jesus – death is it for Jobs, which was what motivated his success. These words, from a speech Jobs gave to some uni students, are a pretty powerful expression of his worldview now.

“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.”

I hope that Steve got to know Jesus in his last few weeks of his life, but this is a stark reminder for all of us that it doesn’t matter how brilliant you are, how much you revolutionise life for millions, death is waiting for all of us. Here are some more words from Steve Jobs from the same speech…

“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.”