The death of an Icon: Jobs’ passing leaves an uncertain future for a technology empire

When reading the sad news of Steve Jobs’ death two weeks ago, I was caught off-guard. I knew he had cancer but rich people don’t die before 70, right?

And then I got to thinking. I was reading the news on my MacBook Pro, listening to iTunes and my iPod sitting across from me on my bed, all while I’ve been in the process of saving for the iPhone 4S.

I have grown up using Apple computers all through school. It has gotten to the point where I have difficulty remembering how to use a Windows-based computer.

Jobs has had such an impact on the technology we all know and love. His ideas and innovations are something I think most people have taken for granted and have really pushed the technology market to develop quickly.
He officially died due to respiratory arrest at the age of 56, according to his death certificate, after suffering from pancreatic cancer since 2004. He was buried Oct. 7.

To lose someone who was able to be so successful without completing college is a big deal. His humble beginnings made him relatable to people with big dreams and a small budget.

As he said in his 2005 Stanford commencement speech, “I returned coke bottles for the 5-cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple.”

His life story has a positive message. From being adopted, dropping out of college, and getting fired from Apple by the time he was 30, then creating other companies, having a family, and finally taking back the CEO position for Apple and becoming such a successful figure.

His perfectionist work ethic and private family life gave Jobs a certain public mystique and his classic black turtleneck made him an easily recognizable and iconic image for Apple.

All I can wonder is: In what direction will the company go now? CEO Tim Cook, who has been in that position since Jobs stepped out for health issues, is running Apple but I haven’t heard too much about the guy.

No one has told me he is the next technological visionary.

It sounds like Apple has the next several product launches under control but it should be really interesting to see how the company manages itself without Jobs.

Maybe his death really is a good thing. Giving the employees a chance to speak up that they might not have had the opportunity to do before hand.

“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,” Jobs said in his commencement speech.

Although the world has lost one of the greatest technological visionaries it has seen, it does make way for something new and maybe another Steve Jobs is slaving away in his parents’ garage to create the “next big thing.”