Even though we knew his stepping down from CEO the previous Summer was a foreshadowing of what might be looming, no one was prepared for the news on that Tuesday in 2011.
Steve was our generation’s grand wizard, transforming otherwise mundane objects into fun, creative and empowering machines. For those of us in the visual arts, he helped us open doors that might otherwise have remain locked.
Flowers in front of Steve’s home
We stopped by his house today in 2011, and were surprised to see that so many people had managed to find it. It was a calm and orderly gathering, but clearly not just the locals who knew where he lived. According to one of the police in regard to how these people had found his house, he replied, “we don’t know, it’s not on the web, but they’ve come from all over the world as far as Hong Kong and Russia.”
To this day, it is amazing how accessible and open his home is. In fact, he was often seen around Palo Alto at restaurants, on the street and even the old fashioned Peninsula Creamery. His refusal to wall himself off from the very people he was able to touch with Apple’s revolutionary products, allowed him to stay in touch with us– and with his wizardry somehow know what we wanted next.
We’ll miss Steve, he made a huge difference. He’s given us new age tools to work our craft, to listen and share and get work done in a cool new way; he became a part of our culture.
Goodbye for now Steve, we’ll remember you with every click, touch and most importantly, every piece of art you have helped us to ship.