Dubai: In 24 hours, followers of Apple have gone from talking about the launch of the lastest iPhone’s, to the untimely death of the company’s co-founder, Steve Jobs.
The Apple founder and visionary died on Wednesday from cancer aged just 56, a premature end for a man who revolutionised modern culture and changed forever the world's relationship to technology through inventions such as the iPad and iPhone.
"We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," the California-based gadget-maker said in a statement from its board of directors.
"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."
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Alexander McNabb, a Dubai based marketing communications specialist and tech trend spotter, added: “Jobs turned an ailing has-been into the world’s most successful company, creating – not by any means for the first time - an entirely new technology that was to revolutionise the way we manage information.
“We’ll never see that turtle-neck sweater and jeans again. The man who gave us all those icons was himself one.”
“People always focus on the i-era stuff, but Jobs and partner Wozniak created the ground-breaking Apple II, the microcomputer that brought millions of desktops into an age beyond the typewriter and slide rule.”
Have your say: How has Apple changed your life?
Indeed. Tech lore talks about how Jobs’ designs transformed into the first Macintosh and its (then) groundbreaking operating system, the WIMPS interface that took users beyond text screens and into point and click computers.
Event in Dubai
A commemoration event for Jobs will be held later on Thursday at The Shelter in Dubai. All the powers of the social media are being harnessed to get people together for the occasion, which begins at 6pm. More details here
"We don't know how many will turn up, but since this morning Apple followers and fans of Steve have been on Twitter to build up awareness of the event," said Prashant K. Gulati, who advises start-ups and has an extensive tech background. "It's the least that the community of Apple users can do being here."
Fans voice sorrow
Tributes flowed in from around the world for Jobs, while Apple fans flooded social networking sites to voice their sorrow at the passing of the man who helped put mini computers in the shape of phones in millions of pockets.
Ordinary people swamped Twitter using the trending hashtag #thankyousteve to pay tribute to Jobs and "for all you have done for this generation," as one person said in a tweet.
Another called on Jobs to make an "iHeaven to connect us with God."
US President Barack Obama paid tribute late Wednesday to one of America's "greatest innovators."
"He transformed our lives, redefined entire industries, and achieved one of the rarest feats in human history: he changed the way each of us sees the world," Obama said in a written statement.
Microsoft boss Bill Gates along with other titans of the high-tech industry agreed.
"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," Gates said in a statement, cited on the Wall Street Journal website.
The two men were rivals in the race to dominate the market at the start of the personal computer era.
Tim Cook - who had been handling Apple's day-to-day operations since Jobs went on medical leave in January, and was made CEO in August after his resignation - led the praise for the Silicon Valley legend.
"Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple," he said in a statement.
Apple turned its home page into a tribute to Jobs, posting a large black-and-white photo of the bearded high-tech maestro in his trademark black turtleneck and small round glasses. The only caption: "Steve Jobs, 1955-2011."
And online search engine giant Google embedded a button on its page with a link directly to the Apple site in tribute.
“The passing of Steve Jobs closes the chapter on one of the 20th century's greatest inventive, innovative, exacting and commercial mandates,” said Vikram Venkataram, a former banker and now a corporate consultant. “Although a rare combination, the world has seen many such - Richard Branson, Lee Ka Shing, Rupert Murdoch, Dhirubhai Ambani and so on.
“In all these cases, companies created by these giants have outgrown the indispensability of their creators. Therefore, it would be naive to believe that Jobs' death would mark the end of Apple's reign.”
Founding Apple
Jobs was just 21 when he founded Apple Computer in 1976 with his 26-year-old friend Steve Wozniak in his family garage.
From such humble beginnings the company, with its ubiquitous trademark of an apple with a bite taken out of it, grew to eventually become one of the world's most valuable companies.
In July, Apple's second quarter profit hit $7.31 billion on revenue of $28.57 billion.
Family's statement
Jobs' family had issued a statement, saying he had lost his long battle with pancreatic cancer surrounded by his relatives.
"In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family," it said.
The real Steve Jobs
Born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco to a single mother and adopted by a couple in nearby Mountain View at barely a week old, Jobs grew up among the orchards that would one day become the technology hub known as Silicon Valley.
Under Jobs, Apple introduced its first Apple computers and then the Macintosh, which became wildly popular in the 1980s.
He was elevated to idol status by ranks of Macintosh computer devotees, many of whom saw themselves as a sort of rebel alliance opposing the powerful empire Microsoft built with its Windows operating systems.
Jobs left Apple in 1985 after an internal power struggle and started NeXT Computer company specializing in sophisticated workstations for businesses.
He co-founded Academy-Award-winning Pixar in 1986 from a former Lucasfilm computer graphics unit that he bought from movie industry titan George Lucas.
Apple's luster faded after Jobs left the company, but they reconciled in 1996 with Apple buying NeXT for $429 million and Jobs ascending once again to the Apple throne.
Apple went from strength to strength as Jobs revamped the Macintosh line, revolutionising modern culture and launching a "post-PC era" in which personal computers give way to smart mobile gadgets - the iPod, iPhone and the iPad.
His passing will raise doubts over whether the Cupertino, California-based company can continue its dominance in the hugely competitive technology sector.
His death comes only a day after Cook presided over the launch of the new iPhone 4S in a move that failed to dazzle investors.
Apple shares dropped more than four percent on Wall Street on Tuesday after the company doused analyst expectations that they would unveil a new iPhone model.
Jobs is survived by his wife Laurene, with whom he had three children. He also had a daughter with a woman he dated prior to marrying.
With input from agencies
