Like the rest of the world, I was shocked by the news last night that Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs had passed away.

It was public knowledge that he had long dealt with health problems and it was assumed his recent departure from the company's CEO post had something to do that.

However, I don't think any of us really expected that it would come so soon, or that it would happen just one day after Apple announced its latest must-have product - the iPhone 4s.

While not everyone loves Apple and their products, you can't deny that this man made a huge impact on technology and how we use it in our daily lives.

It's sad that I'll never have the chance to meet or talk to him.



My first Apple product was a second-generation iPod. I remember how amazing it felt to be able to hold thousands of songs - anything I could think of to listen to at the time - in my pocket. I followed that purchase a few years later with a fifth-generation iPod-video. Again, it was so cool in my mind to hold even MORE music and now be able to watch music videos, movies, and TV shows on a screen that I could bring anywhere.

I eventually made my credit card take the plunge and purchased an aluminum MacBook as my personal computer in 2008 and never looked back.

I never cared too much about the PC vs. Apple battle. Hell, I used PCs exclusively for most of my life. To me, using Apple computers just clicked after I picked one up. It's not that they're perfect. They suffer from a great deal of problems just like their counterparts running Windows, Linux, and other operating systems.


There's just something about the way these devices operate - simply, powerfully, and without headaches trying to figure them out (for the most part) - which makes them invaluable to us.

I won't say that a Mac is greatest computer in the world or that the iPhone is the greatest mobile device, but in my mind there's no doubt that they forever changed the future of technology.