Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Steve Jobs in 2009
Apple has just confirmed that its co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs has died. He was 56-years-old.
Jobs had battled pancreatic cancer and underwent a liver transplant in 2009.
He stepped down as CEO in August after saying he was no longer able to fulfill his duties.
In a statement this evening, the company said, "Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."
A statement from Apple's board of directors reads, "We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today. Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts."
Apple is encouraging anyone interested in sharing "thoughts, memories, and condolences" to email rememberingsteve@apple.com.
What does Steve Jobs' legacy mean to you? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Leave a Comment:
I'm typing this on my Macbook, but I could also use my iphone or ipad... so
Thank you, Steve
RIP
What impact has Steve Jobs had on my life? Every short story I've written as an adult, almost every email I've ever written, has been written on machines created by Apple. I interacted online using an Apple machine long before I ever encountered a PC. Steve Jobs helped to realize the Star Trek future I dreamed of as a kid. And through his vision, I have been able to realize my own. You'll be missed, Mr. Jobs. Thanks for all your amazing work.
Steve Jobs was to technology what J. S. Bach was to music. Jobs was without a doubt one of the greatest geniuses since Mozart.
Yes a genius but, why is his iPad made in china ¬ in his county
Mister O'Donnell. Very sad to hear of Mister Jobs untimely death. However, to spend a whole hour on that unfortunate event while Occupy Wall Street is bouncing and MSNBC is missing it smacks so much of Corporate misguidance. I am Irish. Historically we are rebels. Dude, live up to ur name!
I started using Macintoshes back in 1988 and I would not be the geek I am today and would not know many of the wonderful people I've met without him, a man I've never met. Today is a very sad, sad day. A genius has been lost.
@Fjminmt: Because American economic policy was and is killing jobs (sic) in the U.S.; U.S. politicians (Dem&Rep) aren't visionaries at all, or are they... Even from far away Europe anyone with half a mind can see that.
Good evening Mr O'Donnell. Very sad to hear of Mr Jobs untimely death. However, to spend a whole hour on this sad event while ignoring the serious buzz on Occupy Wall Street smacks of corporate suck-up. I am Irish, born in Dublin, and we are natural rebels, it's in our blood. Mr O'D, where is ur ire. Leave the dead to buy the dead!
this isNOT a news story. The host of this show has called himself a socialist & we get an hour celebrating the life of a Capitalist. Sad
I have been a Mac user forever and so has my son. We went to MUG groups and lived through a lot of Apple history. We all were so gleeful when Steve Jobs came back to Apple after some dark times for us all. Then came so many innovations and our spirits soared. Apple was back!! We volunteered for the iMac promotions in local computer stores and told prospective buyers how much better Apple was. They sent us special edition tee shirts when we did. You can't buy that kind of loyalty to a product. Steve Jobs fostered that kind of allegiance along with Woz. Losing that sort of person is huge. I and many other fans add our condolences to his family and friends. What a loss. I can only hope Steve Jobs legacy will live on in wonderful products and innovation unlike any other company has shown. IMO
Linda Ehrisman
Northern CA. but a born and bred East Coaster.
Yes Jobs was a tech visionary, and a great CEO, and a great guy..yadda yadda yadda..., but you pre-empted your entire show to tell us about his death and go on adnauseum about all his accomplishments?
Are you f**** kidding me!!
I love you Lawrence, your show is an important truth seeking antidote to the right wing dis-information machine, but one segment devoted to Jobs and Apple would have sufficed, not the entire show.
Geeeeezzzz.....
C'mon guys...it's one show...one hour...he was a great American and a great human being. Surely you can afford 1 hour in respect out of your life.
ps...I'm a PC user and always have been but that doesn't mean I am unaware of the quality, power and beauty of the Mac universe that Jobs gave us.
Due to the World Series, I can only watch Lawrence O'Donnell via DVR (probably one of the only segments of technology that Steven Jobs DIDN'T invent). Therefore, I was a little behind on the news about Steven Jobs passing). I was chatting with my son placing a bet that the news would be about the half governor who announced today that she wasn't running for president. Thank goodness I lost.
Thank you Mr. O'Donnell for taking the ENTIRE hour to cover the sad news of the passing of Steven Jobs. Even though most of us knew that this news was immediate, the coverage was outstanding and very professional.
I'm writing this comment on an iMac, after getting the AP news alert on my iPad, and then talking to my son using my iPhone. My first computer was the Apple 2 and sadly spent the next 23 years using a PC (buying a new one every one to two years due to the dreaded blue screen of death). I saw the light in 2007 and have not once reformatted my iMac due to a virus and/or crash. Thanks Steve (both Jobs and Woz).
Lawrence, you are the best. While I was saddened and angered over the firing of Keith Olbermann, I have only watched one Olbermann show (Tivo'd) and then back to the Last Word. I just wish you and Keith were not on at the same time.
Keep kicking the GOP ass and please do not take any more vacations.
Uber Boomer. You will be missed.
Jobs was brilliant, productive and always defiantly counter to dumbed down suit and tie culture that afflicts us still. Perhaps Steve's passing will give all us boomers pause to see how true we've stayed to the visions of our youth.
Look, I like Apple. Steve seemed like a nice guy. From everything I hear, he was a very hands on CEO which is what allowed him to bring Apple back form the brink. And THAT'S what makes this so awful:
I've always been told "Don't speak ill of the dead." While my thoughts go out to his friends and families, they also go out to the friends and families of the (at the very least) 14 Chinese people who took their own lives as a result of tacit acceptance of China's unethical labor practices. If he was alive today and I posted this, anyone reading it would call him an @!$%#.
@!$%#s die too, folks.
3 Apples that change the world.
1 the one Eva ate
2 the one that felt on Newtons head
3 the one Steve created
RIP Steve, you will be missed.
Steve Jobs, a true "Capitalist" never once did he go to DC and ask for money..
One of the greatest enraptures of all time, he never did any market research, just did what came natural.
Be fun to watch larry o'stupid try to spin him as a great "liberal"....
Sad that you are so ignorant to make statements like this in the middle of a loss of a person who created the technology for you to post your your disrespectful rant on liberalism Just shows how worried the conservatives are that they cant take a moment away from their ignorant ways of pushing the aggenda of electing Republicans Quite disrespectful as for what I seen of him He didnt put a label on himself for any politicians He was a man with ideas that changed the way people communicate,learn, and many more I say Thank You for your achievements and rest in peace
Be fun to watch larry o'stupid try to spin him as a great "liberal".
sadly,, just went did he do this, i watch the whole show and did not get even close feeling he was doing that!
but guess you have to have something to try and complain about.
sadly.
Sorry, Lawrence, but I'm a couple of days late on this. It was such a relief from the political crap on both sides to see you and your guests discuss Steve Jobs. You were articulate,thoughtful and you touched beautifully on the things about his work that make us emotional. I thought I was alone in kvelling over the box the product comes in and the bag the box comes in and the brilliant interactivity of the Apple stores. I'm not alone. Thanks. And
I hope you find happier reasons to get off the diatribes once in a while. If there's anything I hate it's listening to people I agree with.