Steve Jobs in The Economist

This was the cover article from The Economist this week.  You may soon discover it is my favourite news publication.

I think this is the best commentary on his death that I have seen so far:

http://www.economist.com/node/21531529

From this article, the two passages I think have the most relevance are these:

"As a technologist, Mr Jobs was different because he was not an engineer—and that was his great strength. Instead he was obsessed with product design and aesthetics, and with making advanced technology simple to use."

This is so clearly true.  The more I look at Apple, the more I realise that its products are designed from the outside in, rather than engineers working from the inside out focusing on functionality rather than design.  This has strong links to Jack's article, where people were describing how he would often throw away their idea if it didn't have the right look.

And:

"The gap between Apple and other tech firms is now likely to narrow. This week’s announcement of a new iPhone by a management team led by Tim Cook, who replaced Mr Jobs as chief executive in August, was generally regarded as competent but uninspiring. Without Mr Jobs to sprinkle his star dust on the event, it felt like just another product launch from just another technology firm."

This just made me a bit sad.  I don't think that I'm one of thsoe over-sentimental Jobs mourners who would light a candle outside the nearest Apple store, but I know that I like their products and I think they are valuable.  Without Mr. Jobs, will there be such value?  Will the next thing the company comes out with be so inspiring?  Has it lost some of its magic?  It's impossible to say at this point, but I don't like to think about it becoming just "another technology firm."