By: Jeremy Cohen
Having read countless news articles, blog posts, and personal reminiscences about Steve Jobs since last night, the prospect of commenting on his life, passing, and legacy is certainly a daunting one. After all, what can we possibly say about the man that hasn't already been said by others (and no doubt, far more eloquently)?
Perhaps just this: "Visionary" is a term that gets bandied about entirely too often, particularly in the context of a CEO's stewardship of a company. Jobs, obviously, was a very notable exception to that rule. Whether you happen to be an Apple acolyte or an Apple hateror for that matter, the long-technophobic parents of this magazine's Managing Editor, who inexplicably became iPhone devoteesno one would ever suggest Jobs was just some managerial figurehead far removed from the day-to-day operations of his organization. Simply put, he was Apple, with his sensibilities, quality control, and long-term vision influencing every move the company made.
And no matter what you happen to think about Apple, the company clearly has had a tremendous impact on society. Not just in terms of spearheading innovation in the consumer electronics industrywhich Apple has been doing quite ably for decades, thank you very muchbut also in terms of the mass accessibility of those innovations, and the degree to which they've infiltrated our everyday lives.
As one random Facebook user noted this morning, every single person on his news feedwithout exceptionhad one or most posts related to Steve Jobs, with barely any other topics mentioned. Perhaps that speaks most loudly about the man's legacy.