He changed computers.
He changed software.
He changed design.
He changed publishing.
He changed film.
He changed music.
He changed advertising.
He changed retail.
He changed business.
He changed beige.
He changed expectations.
He changed our minds.
He changed them.
He changed us.
He changed you.
“Don’t be sad because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss
Now what are you going to change?
Jason Fried wrote this on Oct 06 2011 There are 88 comments.
Aaron M 06 Oct 11
Probably something small. But hopefully I make some contribution to either building something useful for businesses, or making a small difference in the environment.
Scott 06 Oct 11
Religion.
Pym 06 Oct 11
The world.
Dan Denney 06 Oct 11
This is wonderful, Jason. Thank you.
ikbear 06 Oct 11
He changed our minds.
José 06 Oct 11
My path.
Hunter 06 Oct 11
Very powerful post, Jason. Steve Jobs should be an inspiration for everyone to get out of bed in the morning and work on what they love.
Mike Rundle 06 Oct 11
The best reaction to his death that I’ve read. Thanks.
Nikzad 06 Oct 11
Beautifully written. This perfectly sums up the icon Steve Jobs was, is & will always be. May his legacy live on forever.
machbio 06 Oct 11
Awesome tribute to the Maestro..
Cedric 06 Oct 11
Global finance. Capitalism. The kind of change that actually matters.
Ad Gerrits 06 Oct 11
You said it
Dan 06 Oct 11
People’s minds about capitalism. Jobs was a great example of capitalism at it’s best. Job creation, innovation, products and services that changed people’s lives. Look at what one guy can accomplish. What one company can accomplish. Great post Jason.
Luke 06 Oct 11
I love this.
Steve Jobs changed Jason F.—it all starts with Steve changing you, doesn’t it?
T.J. 06 Oct 11
I want only to change myself, earn and keep the love and respect of those closest to me, and let inspiration flow from there.
But it’s got to start with where I am right now, with what I have.
DL 06 Oct 11
Love it!!
Cedric 06 Oct 11
@Dan Although I highly respect Job’s work at Apple, I don’t find it ONLY represents capitalism at its best. Ask the families of all the employees who killed themselves at Foxconn over the last few years their true opinion on Steve Jobs.
Besides, despite a $8bn fortune, I’ve never heard of any kind of charity or foundation run by Jobs. Not that it is mandatory, but also showing entrepreneurs it’s not ALL about the money.
The guy was a genius as an inventor, but didn’t do anything to really change the world. He will forever stay someone who only found new fantastic ways to make people buy more, but nothing beyond that.
At a very high level, he was the best at the “game”, but never changed any rules to it, even if he knew it is a very unfair game.
Jesus A. Domingo 06 Oct 11
My pants. Then I’m off to write some good and useful software :D
Steve Woods 06 Oct 11
All things said and done, the man had a family, he provided well for them and in the process turned the tech world on its head. Kudos.
The fact that the leaders of his competitors are so quick to heap praise is testament to the man.
Rest in Peace Steve Jobs – from a MS affectionado.
Aditya Sanghi 06 Oct 11
RIP Steve Jobs? Bloody unlikely! Not until he’s upgraded Heaven to be worthy of his high standards. The place is finally going to be worth visiting. #thankyousteve for raising the bar.
zomb 06 Oct 11
...my rss feed settings so I no longer have to read this pro-apple bullshit. He took the ideas after others dropped the ball in the smartphone market, got lucky and made some other crap computers for people that can’t hack a proper pc. He did nothing more.
Rajarajan 06 Oct 11
well said Jason! Thank you!
Anonymous Coward 06 Oct 11
@Cedric, seriously, get your head out of your ass.
Kevin Conboy 06 Oct 11
Thanks, Jason.
santiago 06 Oct 11
Unfortunately, he didn’t change the low wages for the people who actually build all the great stuff he created
(“capitalism at it’s best”?)
This is not a rant, I’m also impressed by all the things he has done
www.thefirstpost.co.uk/60298,news-comment,technology,apple-admits-child-labour-and-low-wages-at-factories
www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/low-wages-long-hours-for-ipod-factory-workers/
Corey Grusden 06 Oct 11
@cedric He focused on and built products that are in major use by medicine today that help prevent diseases that you may have had or will have at some point in your life. I’d take that over him working with charities any day.
Christian Gaillard 06 Oct 11
Email.
INTO 06 Oct 11
http://see.weareinto.com/Ai5z
Tim Schraeder 06 Oct 11
amen. and well said. i want to change the Church.
Vic Amuso 06 Oct 11
@Tim, what do you want to change about it?
Darren Marshall 06 Oct 11
Thanks,
Rich 06 Oct 11
@Corey – Well put.
Rodrigo Ferreira 06 Oct 11
The macbook is great. iPad is cool. iPhone is crap.
Anyway, Steve Jobs did NOT change the fact that his products were being “assembled” by humans working 15hs+/day to make $50/month in China, although a small fraction of Apple’s profits could give all of them a better life.
Edgar 06 Oct 11
that was beautiful…hopefully the rest of us take on that challenge…I’m in.
Jeff 06 Oct 11
Amazing. Thank you Steve and Jason.
Antoine 06 Oct 11
Jason,
You said it perfectly…!!!
hakim 06 Oct 11
myself,
and than change the world
— great post :)
varera 06 Oct 11
@cedric
You are pathetic little creature. Bringing up Foxconn suicides as it is all Jobs’s fault. That is so low.
If “the game” for you is only making money, he did not change it indeed. Why should he? You do not change something working well for you. But why thinking money all the time?
Steve changed lots of things, and created some other great ones. Just open your eyes to see. It is not all about money.
So stop dancing on the fresh grave and get a life.
@ggwicz 06 Oct 11
Perfect.
Cedric 06 Oct 11
I forgot how every discussion with human being hidden behind their screen would end up in insults.
Speaking of “getting a life” and being “pathetic”, shouldn’t you stop mourning a guy you never met more than you will mourn the death of your own parents?
The game isn’t about earning money, fool. The game is a metaphore of the system, how REAL life works. The banks, wall street, VCs, outsourcing, geo-politics, role of asia, human workforce exploitation, human rights, financial markets and speculation, hedge funds, hunger, wealth vs misery, environment, and all those things that define whether, in the sad case you happen to have children, they will be likely to live or to spend their lifetime sad, broke, and struggling, but staying sure they are happy because they have the opportunity to feel alive twice a year, when they spend all their savings on the latest Apple product.
Chris K 06 Oct 11
Simple and elegant reflection on Steve Jobs. Nicely done.
Dylan Bennett 06 Oct 11
He changed diapers.
(Amazing how many people I talk to don’t realize he had a family.)
nikroub 06 Oct 11
iMmortal
James F. 06 Oct 11
He changed me into a hardcore entrepreneur with the fear of never realizing my dream while the short stay on Earth. RIP Jobs.
radex 06 Oct 11
Until 2008 or so, I didn’t really know much about Apple. I know it exists, but I didn’t care, I just assumed it’s insanely expensive shit and it’s only “buying a nice logo on the back”, just because my brother always told so.
I’m very grateful to my friend who showed me how awesome Macs are. Only because of him I actually understood the philosophy behind it—how it’s not about features count, but about solving problems, how design isn’t about appearance but about how things works.
If not for him, I wouldn’t know Apple, I probably wouldn’t know 37signals, or I wouldn’t appreciate it, I wouldn’t care.
Steve, you changed my perspective on things.
Now it’s my turn, I guess.
Josh Long 06 Oct 11
Well put Jason.
Allan Ebdrup 06 Oct 11
Steve Jobs was a great inspiration, it’s sad he’s gone. Every time someone talks about innovation, there comes some point in their presentation where the mention Apple :-)
As for your question: I’m goind to change the the world for the better by ridding it of a lot of nasty JavaScript errors. http://muscula.com Our new startup is accepting requests for early access :-)
PND 06 Oct 11
Steve Jobs will remain an inspiration for us. Thank you. RIP .
foljs 06 Oct 11
@Rodrigo Ferreira
The macbook is great. iPad is cool. iPhone is crap.
Yeah. The
sell tons of the stuff, have all competitors copy it’s look and functionality, change the market, make the average joe actually wanna use a smartphone, provide an elegant and powerful OS, support an ecosystem of some 300,000 apps
kind of crap.
glass 06 Oct 11
And now please a list of all those things he hurt.
He hurt chinese workers. He hurt software freedom. He hurt.. and so on.
Paul Montwill 06 Oct 11
He really changed the world! How cool is that for him! I would love to have 0,1% of his contribution in the day of my death.
Brandon Donnelly 06 Oct 11
I couldn’t think of a more perfect post, that was in line with true apple beliefs.
I’m going to change engineering software and the speed at which people can innovate.
Daniel Gerep 06 Oct 11
I wanna change my job and go to 37signals =)
I never thought I woudl be sad by the loss of someone I never met.
Stephen Jenkins 06 Oct 11
What do people think about a yearly conference (IdeaOrchard? STEVE Talks?), focusing on one specific idea or concept in creativity that Steve seemed to embody? The 37signals team seems like just the crew to do it, and the proceeds (after expenses) could be donated to pancreatic cancer research.
Ahmed 06 Oct 11
Myself and You…!!!
Ralph 06 Oct 11
@zomb So they better can sell a set of screwdrivers along with a PC. But anyways…why would I want to hack a PC? If I buy a computer, I don’t want to hack it in order to fix it… I want it to work as expected. And you know what? Apple does the job way beyond my expectations.
On topic: Steve Jobs was one of a kind… I was surfing the web yesterday night and I stumbled on a youtube vid from an hour. It was the Apple’s WWDC 1997 with Steve Jobs. I never saw it, so I watched it. At the end I thought: “oh my God… he just made his dream… his vision come true…” I went to bed and the next morning the first thing I read is that he passed away, so i was quite flabbergasted, because I was still impressed of his talk at WWDC and the next thing I read is that he passed away.
Last night by listening to his talk I saw that he wanted to change the mindset of the software and hardware developers of that time and see the result today… 14 years later… he, and his team, made Apple the greatest companiy of this time. I learned alot from that 1 hour vid.
So what i I’m going to change is simply my whole life… Personally and professionally…
Rest In Peace, Steve!
C. Grey 06 Oct 11
I’m going to quit my job and start doing what I really want to do instead of doing what other people want me to do.
Amy 06 Oct 11
For all of you who are quitting your jobs… let me know! I’ll take your job and salary. Thx.
Krish 06 Oct 11
A perfect end for a perfect beginning.
Steve Jobs was the Henry Ford of our generation.
A true iconic linchpin who transformed others around him.
He transformed the way we think.
He transformed the way we interact.
He transformed the way we play.
Every once in a while, someone comes along to shake up your belief system and bend our reality.
Steve was that person.
He was more than a prophet. And he was more than a messiah. He was a teacher. And he was an artist.
He taught us not to accept the status quo by putting a dent in the universe.
But, Steve just didn’t leave a dent. He left a gaping hole. What else do you expect after punching the shit out of the universe?
Here’s to Steve (1955 – 2011).
Chris J 06 Oct 11
I weep for his family, who will miss their dad. For the wife who will miss her husband. And I’m thankful that he shared his talents (and was rewarded for them) with the rest of the world. He probably had a different worldview from mine, but I’m still thankful that he made an incredible impact on our society. Even without giving away wads of cash to people. Teach a man to fish….
Mark 07 Oct 11
For all the things he was, probably the one thing that, sadly, you won’t hear about it is what he wasn’t—an excuse maker.
Look back through his history, making or accepting excuses was never his M.O.
The one thing that best exemplifies this? The fact that everything that is best about the modern day Apple (the i-generation) came AFTER he was diagnosed with one of the deadliest cancers known.
Forrest Zeisler 07 Oct 11
Beautifully said!
Evren Kiefer 07 Oct 11
I don’t know how to answer this yet. Let me say that it is the best post about him I have seen so far.
Dimitar 07 Oct 11
Simple, yet deep thoughts about Steve Jobs.
JN 07 Oct 11
My consciousness.
Saeed Neamati 07 Oct 11
Steve Jobs was so great that Google and StackOverflow both added links to him. I’m impressed with this man, and I’m also inspired by him. May he rest in peace.
Mr Perspective 07 Oct 11
He didn’t change how impoverished people gained access the web
He didn’t change how patent wars retarded technological innovation for the good of the human race as a whole.
He didn’t change the cynical exploitation of poorer countries to manufacture luxury goods.
He could have.
Cam Collins 07 Oct 11
Steve Jobs ushered in the design centric movement, helped us overcome our fears and helped open up our minds to whats possible. Stay hungry, Stay foolish
Karl Walinskas 07 Oct 11
Great article about such a sad loss to the world.
Nick Kneuper 07 Oct 11
@Mr Perspective
Are you doing anything about those problems? Or do you sit on your high hill pointing fingers at other people?
Patrick 07 Oct 11
Education.
Fred 08 Oct 11
He didn’t “change” all those things. He ran Apple. It’s a business. They make computers cheap in China and sell them expensive in fancy stores with large glass windows and marble floors. Clever? Yep. “Change” has been happening all around us as technology advances and enters our lives via all sorts of means, brands, and methods. These changes are not owned by Apple or Steve Jobs, or any one person and it’s inaccurate to assert such an idea. Full credit for his achievements, but really… some perspective, please.
doesn't matter 08 Oct 11
Words are meaningless in face of such a loss…
Jason 09 Oct 11
Let’s get some perspective here. Yes, he brought one of the first PC’s to market(designed by Steve Wozniac, by the way) and made Apple a household name. He did this by outsourcing EVERYTHING he could(to China, where work conditions were so horrible workers took to committing suicide), marking up prices by 1000% and then selling in slick glass-enclosed stores in wealthy malls; hardly a world changer. The PC was coming ANYWAY ..if it wasn’t him, it would have been someone else; and let’s not forget he was a tyrant of a boss and never gave a dime to charity-hardly someone to look up to…
T 09 Oct 11
Without Steve Jobs we wouldn’t have the World Wide Web (this) – Tim Berners Lee invented it using a NeXT machine and OS. How about that? I would love to be like some others and be able to account for the source of my Western luxuries. Anyone who thinks they go through life without using products that weren’t manufactured in China are kidding themselves. And also most computer companies use Foxconn. The same guy that whines about Foxconn is probably doing it using one of their products, wearing a jumper from Primark and eating the cheapest food in Tesco.
T 09 Oct 11
Mr Perspective 07 Oct 11
He didn’t change how impoverished people gained access the web
His computer and operating system allowed Tim Berners Lee to invent the entire WWW . Most of the complainers on here haven’t got a clue what they are on about. Ignorance is bliss.
housingbook 09 Oct 11
I want to change the ideal of local.
And great post.
TVD 09 Oct 11
He changed my life.
Without him I’d still be hacking on a Windows Box. God bless you and may your soul rest in peace. :(
Muzammil 10 Oct 11
He changed my way of thinking. And now i know that my time is limited. So Stay hungry and Stay foolish…
sakisgalan 10 Oct 11
I want to change the ideal of local.
David Andersen 11 Oct 11
Death, taxes, and ignorance paraded as wisdom: those are the only guarantees in life. Thanks for the reminder Fred & Jason, et al. (above).
kevingo 11 Oct 11
What a strong and wonderful ending. Thanks.
Mike Suarez 11 Oct 11
great post. thanks.
ploogman 11 Oct 11
thanks Jason F you have changed things too and inspired a lot of people
Mike Gowen 11 Oct 11
Great post!
You could also argue he changed photography. Both directly and indirectly.
http://www.flickr.com/cameras
Bryan 12 Oct 11
he changed the way the word see geeks and gadgets, not and easy task but now everybody wants to be a geek!
chicago 12 Oct 11
he was an authoritary CEO in the consumer industry that overstylized himself. His inventions were bought and found at technology fairs by techno scouts. Apple is just an ordinary company like Nike, Reebook, etc.
SmashingFree 13 Oct 11
And you, Jason, change the way I work. Thank you Jason…
This discussion is closed.