Farewell, Steve

It's a weird feeling. And a horrible one. I am always saddened when I hear that someone has passed away. But I am doubly saddened when it happens to someone so early in their life.

The only thing that differs here is that Steve Jobs was a well-known innovator – a man that not only co-founded Apple

but took Pixar off the hands of George Lucas and turned it into an animation empire. He helped usher in what can only be described as the “iPod era,” followed by the “iPhone era,” and most recently, the “iPad era.” These are just a few of Jobs' accomplishments. He and his company have had so many that it's easy to forget the source of it all: the Mac. Without it, where would Apple be? Where would Jobs be? And without the iPod, would MacBooks be as popular as they are today? Twenty years from now, Apple may still be known for making great products. Tim Cook may go on to become the best successor Apple could have hoped for. But when people think of the iPhone and its inevitable successors, they will still think of Jobs. Jobs will forever be a part of Apple's products. The company could start a whole new division dedicated to Jobs and, just on the name alone, sell whatever products came under the Jobs banner. But you know what? These are just devices. They are the reasons we are writing about Jobs today, and they are the reasons he will be remembered tomorrow. But they are not the reason I am sad. I am sad because he has a family who will miss him terribly. I am sad because he suffered and was ultimately forced to step down from a company he loved. I am sad because he will never see his dream campus come to life – not in this life, at least. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for Jobs to stay away from the unveiling of the iPhone 4S, and I am even sadder when I think about the fact that he was probably too sick to care. Jobs didn't even get to live long enough to see the release of his

.

quickly updated its site tonight with an image of Jobs and a special website located at

.

The company also posted the following message:

Farewell, Jobs. You will be missed.