Thank you for your many accomplishments!

What did he make? Microsoft Basic? The 6502? The Apple IIe? Xerox? The Dynabook from Alan Kay? Anybody can take credit from other engineers.

He was the visionary to bring the engineering genius of Wozniak to the market and make it viable.

When you think about it, a successful business concern has the 2 points needed, the raw product and the marketing to sell it. If either is missing, you do not have a success.

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"My biggest dream in life? Building black plywood Habitrails"

I recall an interview Jobs did with Playboy magazine in the early 1980s (1983, I believe), right before Commodore overtook Apple in the sales of home computers. In that interview, Jobs made a comment about how guys over the age of thirty were washed up from a creativity perspective. I also recall my thinking at the time, which was something along the line of "F**k you, you arrogant a**hole." I was 38 at the time, and it seemed I was just starting to get into high gear in the creativity department.

I knew he was wrong. I have occasionally wondered if he realized, when he was in his forties, had gone back to Apple and had, along with his staff, concocted the idea of the iPod, that he had proved himself wrong.

Unlike many of the adoring crowd pouring forth encomiums upon Jobs' death, I never saw him as a visionary. I believe he was a highly skilled shill, nothing more. Any number of people, if so disposed, could have thought up things like the iPod. The real brains of Apple in the early days was Wozniak, who never received the credit he deserved, mainly because, unlike Jobs, he wasn't an arrogant loudmouth.

As for the "social impact" of trinkets like the iPhone and iPad, I don't think society has been improved in any way by those devices. Instead, they seem to have spawned a generation of techno-drones who are unable to function without an I-whatever attached to their fingers.

I should have said marketing visionary. Engineering visionary was Wozniak's domain.

On his own, Woz made another sizeable contribution to society, a ubitiqous invention that doesn't have his name attached. Look up the cloud nine invention and be prepared to pick up your jaw from the floor.

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"My biggest dream in life? Building black plywood Habitrails"

You are referring to, of course, the archetype for the modern TV remote.

Exactly. How much impact on society does that brilliant invention have?

A lot.

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"My biggest dream in life? Building black plywood Habitrails"

I think that he invented "the magic" of all modern computers and gadgets, like the Mac, Iphone, Ipad... elegant and simple (user friendly)design...

Apple ][. Back in the day, it had as much of a world shaking effect...

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"My biggest dream in life? Building black plywood Habitrails"

Indeed. A life of realised potential, and a direct inspiration to others. Also a flawed character, but we all are.

Yeppers. It is now incredibly easy for anyone to be a couch potato.

I found this quote by Steve Jobs:

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking."

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june ... 61505.html

That basically sums up the choices that Apple gives you:

"So you have to be willing to offend people; to make things that you know a lot of people are going to hate."

''We just assume that anything that we really love, lots and lots of people will love. And if other people really dislike it and hate it, so what. Tough on them.'"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/20 ... hate-apple

In other words, if you accept Apple's choices for you and if you accept what Apple wants to sell you instead of what you want, you are living someone else's life, you are trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking."

LOL...

Normally, when someone dies, one either says nothing or one draws attention to some positive aspect of their life.

Bear in mind that the original Apple microcomputer and the Apple ][ were both important and influential 6502-based designs, and that Steve Wozniak found only good things to say about Jobs when interviewed about his demise.

Is it too much to ask that we act with as much class, at least in a topic such as this?

He donated about 5 million iPods to help other people learn which I admire.

Apple also donated tons of Apple 2Es to schools, making it the most influential educational computer at the time.

A true giant passed our way, and we are all the better for it. Goodspeed to a man who influenced us all.

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"My biggest dream in life? Building black plywood Habitrails"