A Guide to the Reactions and Tributes to Steve Jobs

Apple announced Wednesday evening that Steve Jobs has died. The driving force behind Apple's ascendancy was 56. The Jobs family posted a statement on the website of the San Jose Mercury News that begins, "Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family." The company issued the following statement: 

Apple replaced the front page of their website with a black-and-white photo of Jobs, the same that will appear on the cover of his biography, and is also asking for folks to email thoughts, memories and tributes with a dedicated page on their website. 

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The web is flooding with tributes to life of the man who shaped much of how we see the world today. These are some of the best ways to remember his impact.

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The Obituaries

Steve Jobs Dies at 56 - The New York Times "Steven P. Jobs, the visionary co-founder of Apple who helped usher in the era of personal computers and then led a cultural transformation in the way music, movies and mobile communications were experienced in the digital age, died Wednesday. He was 56."

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Apple Says Steve Jobs, Apple Co-Founder, Has Died - The Washington Post "An original thinker who helped create the Macintosh, one of the world’s most influential computers, Mr. Jobs also reinvented the portable music player with the iPod, launched the first successful legal method of selling music online with iTunes and reordered the cellphone market with the iPhone. The introduction of the iPad also jump-started the electronic-tablet market, and it now dominates the field."

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Steve Jobs Is Dead - The Wall Street Journal "During his more than three-decade career, Mr. Jobs transformed Silicon Valley as he helped turn the once-sleepy expanse of fruit orchards into the technology industry's innovation center. In addition to laying the groundwork for the industry alongside others like Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, Mr. Jobs proved the appeal of well-designed products over the power of technology itself and transformed the way people interact with technology."

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Steve Jobs dies; Apple's co-founder transformed computers and culture - The Los Angeles Times "Jobs spoke of his desire to make "a dent in the universe," bringing a messianic intensity to his message that technology was a tool to improve human life and unleash creativity."

Entrepreneur, Inventor, Genius - The Guardian "Few entrepreneurs – one thinks of Henry Ford, or Conrad Hilton – have had as much impact on one."

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011 - Wired "If Jobs were not so talented, if he were not so visionary, if he were not so canny in determining where others had failed in producing great products and what was necessary to succeed, his pushiness and imperiousness would have made him a figure of mockery."

Steve Jobs Dies - Bloomberg "Jobs embodied the Silicon Valley entrepreneur. He was a long-haired counterculture technophile who dropped out of college and started a computer company in his parents’ garage on April Fools’ Day, 1976. He had no formal technical training and no real business experience."

The Luminaries' Reactions

Tim Cook: "No words can adequately express our sadness" The full memo from the Apple's CEO to the staff reads, "No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much."

Bill Gates: "I will miss Steve immensely" - AllThingsD Jobs's former partner and, at times, rival said, "I'm truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work."

President Obama: "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," The President said in a statement.

Steve Wozniak: "When I heard the news, my mind just went blank, like I'd been clobbered with a hammer." Apple co-founder and Jobs's high school friend teared up on The Early Show Thursday.

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

Larry Page: "He was a great man" - Google+ "I am very, very sad to hear the news about Steve. 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," the Google co-founder wrote.

Richard Branson: "He was a truly great businessman" - Virgin "But more than that he was an inspiration to young people, entrepreneurs, inventors, designers, early adopters, budding musicians, and people with disabilities who discovered with Apple's devices a way to engage with the world."

Washington's Reactions - Politico Nancy Pelosi, Eric Cantor and other Washington leaders' offer their thoughts and condolences.

Statements from Colleagues, Rivals and Friends - Yahoo News Dylan Stableford has pulled together a collection of memos and statements from those who were close to Steve in the tech community.

The Tributes

Steve Jobs Was Always Kind to Me (Or, Regrets of an Asshole) - The Wirecutter Former Gizmodo editor Brian Lam revisits his relationship with Steve Jobs that took a turn when his blog acquired the iPhone 4 before its release. It's both sincere and revealing about the Jobs's character.

The Steve Jobs I Knew - Walt Mossberg The veteran gadget reviewer gives a heartfelt account of his relationship with Jobs. He shares some stories from the 14 years he spent covering Apple.

The First Time I Met Steve Jobs - Fast Company Upon his retirement as Apple's chief executive, Austin Carr pulled together a plethora of testimonials from those who knew Jobs both as a friend and as a business leader. From the executives to Apple interns to dedicated fans, the stories speak volumes about the ways Jobs changed people's lives.

The Best of Steve Jobs's On-Camera Performances as CEO - The Atlantic Wire We collected our favorite videos of Apple's leading man on camera. From his first TV appearance to his final keynote, the narrative is as much a timeline of Jobs's career as it is a history of personal computing. 

Steve Jobs in His Own Words - AllThingsD James Paczkowski has posted a terrific collections of quotes from Steve Jobs.

While You Were Out There: Apple's Years With and Without Steve Jobs - The New York Times In this interactive timeline, Sam Grobart takes you through the history of Apple and the bulk of Jobs's career.

Jobs's Legacy - The Wall Street Journal Walt Mossberg offers his thoughts. "Most people are lucky if they can change the world in one important way, but Mr. Jobs, in multiple stages of his business career, changed global technology and media in multiple ways on multiple occasions," he writes. "And that changed the way people live."

The Wizard of Apple - The New Yorker Ken Auletta wrote his send-off to Jobs's career upon his retirement. Fellow New Yorker writers Sasha Frere-Jones, James Surowiecki, Nicolas Thompson and more also gave their takes.

This Chart Proves That Steve Jobs Is the Greatest CEO of This Generation - The Atlantic Alexis Madrigal quantifies and visualizes how Jobs was leaps and bounds ahead of his contemporaries. "No other CEO has been able to generate the net income growth that Steve Jobs has," says Madrigal. "And no other CEO has been able to keep it going for quarter after quarter, year after year

Steve Jobs: The Insanely Great Comeback Kid - Salon Andrew Leonard writes about Steve Jobs's resilience, "His comeback saga is a story of redemption, a fantasy epic in which a great king is toppled, but through force of will and grit and brilliance fights his way all the way back to the throne, and inaugurates an even greater empire."

Good Guys and Bad Guys (PDF) - Joe Nocera This book excerpt offers an in depth look at Jobs from a journalist who covered most of his career.

What Steve Jobs Can Still Teach Us - Fast Company Cliff Kuang posted his thoughts on Steve Jobs's last legacy upon his retirement.

How to Live Before You Die

Steve Jobs delivered the commencement address at Stanford in 2005. In his own words, he told the graduating class both how to live and how to face death. The full transcript is here.