Digital Top Stories

Tributes to Steve Jobs

By | Published on Thursday 6 October 2011

Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook: “Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being… Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple”.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak: “It’s kind of like when John Lennon died, or JFK… I’m a little bit, like, awestruck, just dumbfounded, and I can’t put my mind into gear”.

Bill Gates: “Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives. The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honour. I will miss Steve immensely”.

Google CEO Larry Page: “He was a great man with incredible achievements and amazing brilliance. He always seemed to be able to say in very few words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it. His focus on the user experience above all else has always been an inspiration to me”.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg: “Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you”.

Spotify chief Daniel Ek: “Thank you Steve. You were a true inspiration in so many parts of my life, both personal and professional. My hat off to our time’s Da Vinci”.

Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung: “His innovative spirit and remarkable accomplishments will forever be remembered by people around the world”.

Sony Corp chief Howard Stringer: “The digital age has lost its leading light, but Steve’s innovation and creativity will inspire dreamers and thinkers for generations”.

Billboard editorial director Bill Werde: “Other companies sold digital music before Apple. Other companies made digital music available on computers and digital phones and used it in commercials. Apple’s brilliance – and I don’t think anyone doubts that this was Steve Jobs’ brilliance – was that Apple made it exciting and simple and effortless and fun. Before Steve Jobs, digital music was math class. After, it was recess. People talk about the differences between style and substance but with Jobs, the two were one. Today, the music business has a complex relationship with Apple, which has become yet another entity that built an enormous business atop the rights of music companies, much like radio and MTV before it. But I think you’d be hard-pressed to find one music executive worth his or her salt who wouldn’t agree that Jobs’ vision and tenacity blazed a trail for digital music as we know it today. Without a doubt, when you think of the Mount Rushmore of the music business – pioneers like Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, Clive Davis and Jimmy Iovine – Steve Jobs has earned his prominent place.”

Rupert Murdoch: “Today, we lost one of the most influential thinkers, creators and entrepreneurs of all time. Steve Jobs was simply the greatest CEO of his generation. While I am deeply saddened by his passing, I’m reminded of the stunning impact he had in revolutionizing the way people consume media and entertainment. My heart goes out to his family and to everyone who had the opportunity to work beside him in bringing his many visions to life”.

Disney CEO Bob Iger: “Steve Jobs was a great friend as well as a trusted advisor. His legacy will extend far beyond the products he created or the businesses he built. It will be the millions of people he inspired, the lives he changed, and the culture he defined. Steve was such an ‘original,’ with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started”.

Barack Obama: “Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it. The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented”.



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