UPDATED 08:46 EDT / OCTOBER 06 2011

What Jobs’ Life and Death Means to You

Genius.  Innovator.  Visionary.  Entrepreneur.  Friend.  Colleague.  Competitor.  Driving force.  These are just some of the words that describe Apple founder Steve Jobs.  And with the news of his passing spreading like a virus on the web, people are mourning and remembering Jobs in different ways.

In Hong Kong, people are planning on an i-Vigil outside the recently opened Apple store at the IFC building.   People will be using their iPhones with a flickering candle app for the vigil.

“People have different ways of dealing with it,” says organizer Casey Lau on the loss of Jobs. “As a fan and as a user, I think (the reaction is) a little bit crazy but it’s a good idea to go out and pay our respects.”

Photo credit: Kien Tran - http://about.me/kientran

Everyone extended their condolences to Jobs and his family.  Even competitors were saddened by the news of his passing.  But brutal as it may seem, business is business and the competition will not stop even for the death of a technology icon.

What would Jobs’ death mean for Apple?  How would this affect their business, their investors?  And what does this mean for his competitors?  These are just some of the questions that ran through my mind as I read news article, blogs, Twitter feeds and Facebook statuses regarding the legendary man.

An article in the Wall Street Journal featured people saying unbelievable things regarding Jobs’ death.  One person said that Jobs saw the iPhone 4S and died because he was so angry and disappointed at the product.  Another one said that Apple should release cheaper iPhones and iPads so more people can commemorate Jobs by buying Apple products.  It’s quite unbelievable how people can be so insensitive.

An article in Reuters tackles how Jobs’ death could possible close the gap between Apple and its competitors.  Lee Seung-woo, technology analyst at Shinyoung Securities, said Apple had transformed the industry, but its influence would wane without Jobs at the helm of the company.

“Under Jobs, Apple consolidated segmented IT sectors into one big consumer market and claimed so many victims,” Lee said. “Without Jobs, Apple’s rivals now have some time to step up and majors such as Google, Samsung, Microsoft and Facebook will try to fill the gap.”

Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst at research consultancy Ovum, said Apple would do well in the short term as the company would roll out products Jobs had a hand in but, “The question is whether it can continue to launch iconic and successful products without him.  In the longer term, Apple risks becoming a more ordinary company without him.”

Others see Apple’s Tuesday event as the start of Apple’s downfall as CEO Tim Cook delivered a lackluster performance.  He was unfairly compared to Jobs’ signature “One more thing,” delivery of exciting products.  They are two different people with two different personalities.  Give Cook a break.  But what people are focusing on is the recently launched iPhone 4S, as it wasn’t what everyone expected.

Gene Munster, a longtime Apple analyst stated that, “They’re going to do just fine the next two years. It remains to be seen if they can conceive the next big thing after that.”  While Gartner’s Michael Gartenberg said that despite Jobs being considered by consumers as Apple incarnate, the company has always been in transition but when asked if Jobs’ death is the end of an era, he answered, “Is this the end of an era?  Absolutely.”


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