I think Steve Jobs was an accomplished genius who deserves to be honored. I believe comparing him with guys like Thomas Edison is appropriate. He's left behind a legacy to be proud of. Time Magazine was quite right to put him on their cover 7 times over the course of his life.
So when I read people writing his praises, I nod my head and click to the next thread.
But it is also apparent that many people elevate Jobs to impossible heights. They attribute him with inventing things he did not invent (as though his actual achievements need adding to). They claim things exclusively for Apple products that weren't really exclusive. They act as though it was Apple against the world, as though PC's, Atari (music industry) and Amiga (video industry) weren't better choices for applications of their own. These sorts of comments come across as smug, irritating, and condescending, and probably cause some people to question Job's legitimate accomplishments and Apple's actual distinctions.
When I read something like that, I don't nod and move on--I feel like setting the record straight. For example, when I read this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze
People forget that, in the mid-80s, you couldn't use a PC for professional DTP or photo editing because nothing but the mac functioned on that artistic level.
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...I thought back to 1986 when I started using Ventura Publisher on my 386. (And with a graphical interface as well, thanks to GEM.) I was in Asia, and had been forced to give up my Atari as all anybody used in that country in those days were PC's; if I wanted software, upgrades, repairs, or support, I realized there was only one real choice.
This is hardly a charitable response--ignoring several paragraphs of legitimate praise for Steve Jobs and focusing on one sentence, but that's human nature. It's fair to point out that many negative things would go unsaid if some of the false positive things were also unsaid.
Having made that point, let me reiterate that Steve Jobs will be missed, in all his human condition. I am sorry not only for the loss of his friends, family, and fans, but also for my loss, as one who has never owned an Apple product but has long appreciated its impact on the products I do own, and as one who has enjoyed Jobs' impact in animation to boot.