Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs.
More than a decade after his death, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs continues to influence the world. explores what the man himself thought about life and death, and how an online archive memorializes him and his work.
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Every year since Jobs’ death, Apple marks the anniversary with memorials, including turning its home page into a memorial. In 2021, the home page featured a personal message from Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs and a three-minute video about the man.
Tim Cook tweets about Steve Jobs in 2023
Ahead of the 11th anniversary of his death in 2022, Cook joined Powell Jobs and Jony Ive to talk about him on stage.
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The archive, intended as a growing tribute and, in particular, a growing inspiration that later went into the book, began with an email from Steve Jobs to himself. Jobs reportedly emailed himself notes and thoughts often, but this one was an acknowledgment of how dependent he and the rest of us are on each other.
The beginning of an email that Steve Jobs sent to himself. (Source: Steve Jobs Archive)
“I love and admire members of my species, living and dead, and my life and well-being depend entirely on them,” he says at the end of his email. “Sent from my iPad.”
Jobs’ death in 2011.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died around 3:00 pm PT on Wednesday, October 5, 2011. He was at his home in Palo Alto. The Santa Clara County Department of Public Health recorded the immediate cause of death as respiratory arrest, but the underlying cause was “metastatic neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas.”
Flowers left outside Steve Jobs’ home in Palo Alto
Later that day, his wife Laurene Powell Jobs issued a statement.
Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family.
In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his personal life he valued his family. We are grateful to the many people who shared their wishes and prayers during Steve’s final year of illness; A website will be provided for those wishing to pay their respects and memories.
We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know that many of you will be grieving with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy as we grieve.
Jobs was 56 years old and had been treated for this rare form of pancreatic cancer since he was 49. Consequently, he was aware of his health when he gave the commencement address at Stanford University in 2005. He decided to talk about mortality.
At that time, he had already undergone successful surgery to remove the tumor, but in 2009 he took an extended leave from Apple to undergo further treatment. He received a liver transplant and thanked his donor at an Apple event in September 2009.
“I now have the liver of a man in his 20s who died in a car accident and was generous enough to donate his organs,” Jobs said. “I am alive because of their generosity.”
Jobs’ last public appearance was on June 7, 2011, when he represented Apple at a Cupertino County meeting, where he announced plans to build Apple Park.
Just under three months later, on August 24, 2011, Jobs officially stepped down as Apple’s CEO. On his last day, he reportedly chaired a board meeting, tried to trick a preview version of Siri with questions, and then drove home with Apple lawyer George Riley.
That evening he told biographer Walter Isaacson: “I’ve had a very successful career, a very successful life. I did everything I could”.
The day he died
“I was at the gym and they called me. The news came out late and I rushed home to tell about it. For me it was a story – at that moment I was not particularly emotional, I was just in work mode. , covering it the way it needed to be covered,” he said. “From a news perspective, I kind of knew it was coming, but it was still unexpected. You just assume a guy like that will live forever.”
Journalists regularly write obituaries, and you do not put your personal reaction into these articles. However, after the work is completed, everything changes.
“I didn’t realize I had a ‘relationship’ with Steve until later,” Hughes said. “There was a lawsuit involving emails between Eddie Cue and Steve. Something about iBooks. And Steve read one of my stories and actually learned something about his company from it. The truth is that Apple has always been paying attention, including Steve.”
Author Bob Levitus, who Steve Jobs sometimes quoted on slides in keynote presentations, now says that while his death was expected, she was upset. “I was very sad when he died. It was like the end of an era,” he recalls.
Bob “Dr. Mac” Levitus
“He was one of those generational guys,” Levitus says. “He was great. Apple will never be the same after Steve. I think Tim Cook is trying very hard to keep the spirit of Apple alive and the way Steve would want it to be. [However] As a company gets bigger and bigger, it becomes harder and harder for it to stay true to doing everything excellent.”
“I don’t know what’s next, but I’m not sure Apple will get there without Steve,” Levitus continues. “Maybe. There are so many smart people at Apple that I’m sure something good will come out of this, but Steve was the one who said, let’s create an MP3 player for real people who aren’t geeks. And let’s create a phone that is actually smart.”
Heritage
When news of Jobs’ death became known, friends, colleagues and former rivals began talking about him. Microsoft founder Bill Gates said: “The world rarely sees someone who has had such a profound impact as Steve, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us who were lucky enough to work with him, it was an incredibly great honor. I will miss Steve very much.”
On October 19, 2011, Apple held a memorial service for Jobs. It was originally a private employee event that was live-streamed only to Apple Stores around the world. About a week later, Apple released the video publicly. This video is no longer on Apple’s website, but there is a memorial page. You can read a selection of people’s memories of Steve Jobs and share your own at the same time.
Apple continues to maintain this page, and every year Tim Cook pays tribute to Jobs on the anniversary of his death with tweets like this one in 2020:
“A great soul never dies. It brings us together again and again.” — Maya Angelou. You are always with us, Steve, your memory unites and inspires us every day. pic.twitter.com/X85bjObkPK
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) October 5, 2020
Writing in 2021, former Apple chief designer Jony Ive says Jobs’ death was a “brutal and heartbreaking day.”
“After his death, I went out into the garden,” Ive wrote. I remember the sound of the wooden door latching as I carefully closed it. I sat in the garden and thought how often conversations interfere with listening and thinking.”
“Perhaps that’s why we spent so much time together quietly,” he continued. “I miss Steve desperately and will always miss not speaking to him.”