The passing of a great visionary: Steve Jobs

Young Steve Jobs

I came to the office today to be shocked by the news of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, 56, dies after eight-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

Mark Zuckerberg’s tribute to Steve Jobs on his Facebook page

His death came six weeks after he stepped down as the CEO of Apple and just one day after the launch of the new generation iPhone, iPhone 4S. Apple’s official website switched to a full-page image of him with the text, ‘Steve Jobs 1955-2011.’ Clicking the image will reveal an additional message,

Below is the official statement about Steve Jobs by Apple.

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.

Steve Jobs family had also issued a statement to the press

Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family.

In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family. We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve’s illness; a website will be provided for those who wish to offer tributes and memories.

We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.

After the statement was released, America’s president, Barack Obama was the first one to send tributes to Steve, and billions more following after that. As usual, Twitter was extensively used by people around the world to pay tribute to Steve Jobs. Within minutes of the announcement by Apple, RIP Steve Jobs was trending, and soon after that iHeaven, iClouds, iSad and ThankYouSteve follows.

From a garage to a big influential company, Steve have done the greatest job in changing the global trending and be the leader of telecommunication and computer technology. He definititely changed how people live and communicate, none of this would ever exist if it wasn’t for him.

Many people follow his footsteps, his achievements, tried to imitate his success somehow, and that my friend, is a sign of a true great leader. His leadership, creativity, struggles to fight his illness and colossal achievements will forever be remembered by generations to come. I’m no iPhone, Mac nor Apple product worshipper, but I respect a great leader and a visionary like Steve Jobs, the man who really deserves the word “Awesome” and “Legendary”

Rest in peace Steve Jobs, iHeaven is up there for you…

The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.