RE: the apple with a bite-- could be Jobs was referencing the Garden of Eden and eating of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil or as it often cited -- it could be referring to Alan Turing - the code writer who committed suicide when harassed for being gay. He was discovered with an apple with a bite out of it.

Good grief. Based on these "heartfelt" outpourings it would seem Steve Jobs was another John Lennon. Indeed, what's next? Candlelight memorials outside Apple retailers (à la Strawberry Fields in Central Park)? Steve Jobs was no saint. I don't like speaking ill of the dead, but where are all the memorials for the nameless Chinese workers (a good number are children) who literally died in his sweat shop factories? Incidentally all of that precious rare earth metal used to produce those electronics we use daily to connect with loved ones ended up in the bones and brains of the Chinese kids. (The ones that didn't jump.) - Jay Vos

Apple, Inc does not own any sweat shops Mr. Vos. Apple contracts the manufacture of its products to other companies. Apple tries to police these companies and hold them to standards of humane treatment of their employees, as well as ethical pay and benefits. When anomalies to the standards that these companies agree to are discovered the companies are forced by Apple to correct the situation or loose their contracts to manufacture Apple products.

Please refrain from posting out right lies and hyperbole.

Bro. David

Spiritual reactions? Are you kidding me? Can't we expect something more from theological reflection than "groupie" think" ?

"Iconoclasm means the destruction of religious images, but what does it mean here? It simply means that we must destroy the deified religious character of technology"

--Jacques Ellul

See also the comment thread to the earlier Café posting on Jobs. My comment there mentions his Muslim background and contains a link to an article about his Buddhism.

Note that Jobs gave us not only Apple, but Pixar as well.

I have been sorta shocked by the waves of reaction over the last 2 days.

I think Gawker, of all places, captures my own reaction:

Steve Jobs Was Not God
http://gawker.com/5847338/steve-jobs-was-not-god

Real outpourings of public grief should be reserved for those people who lived life so heroically and selflessly that they stand as shining examples of love for all of humanity. People like, for example, the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, who—along with his family—was bombed, beaten, and stabbed during his years of principled activism in the US civil rights movement. Shuttlesworth died yesterday, the same day as Steve Jobs. He did not die a billionaire.

I must agree, Bob C. I pray for the repose of the soul of Steve Jobs, as I would anyone---but I value heroes like Shuttlesworth (and groundbreaking law professor Derrick Bell, who died yesterday) more.

JC Fisher

I don't think anyone is saying that Steve Jobs was God, though I agree some of the words are over the top.

Certainly, Jobs was not a selfless hero like Shuttlesworth. But neither was he an empty celebrity.

Steve Jobs invented technology that has major effect on our society every single day. Yes, he became obscenely rich by doing so. He was also paid an executive salary of just $1 a year from 1997 on. If more CEOs were like Steve Jobs and more companies like Apple, we just might be in a better place. By all accounts, he faced his mortality with grace, and managed to impart some wisdom before he left.

It seems a bit churlish to scold people for grieving Jobs passing, and for reflecting on his creative accomplishments. In any case, I don't see why it has to be an "either/or".

And just think... if Jobs hadn't died, with all the attention it caused, we would have heard endlessly about Sarah Palin's decision not to run for president!

Susan Forsburg