On the 5th of October 2011 was sitting on the couch just risen from my sleep still yawning when the news came on like any other Wednesday morning. By the tone of the anchors voice I immediately woke up thinking a disaster had struck somewhere and there was breaking news. Steve Jobs, the famous CEO of Apple Inc. Had passed away due to pancreatic cancer. My family had always been quite a fan of Apple products and it was always a thrill to watch Job’s presentations so it was a slight disappointment. After having made toast there were 3 more news headlines which all had the same tone of rigorousness which reported this matter.
It surprised me that this news was so big in the Netherlands. Once on the bike in the rain I passed the local kiosk with a whole rack of front pages having a Steve Jobs stare at me. With days and weeks passing I had also flicked passed a number of documentaries, minutes Of silence and presentations Of Jobs on TV but also apple stores with doorways blocked by flowers and candles. I even started doubting myself, was this man really that famous, that influential and that important to the world that this was breaking world news.
When asking yourself why one grieves or morons due to a death is often having a certain relationship with a person. Now, doubt that all those crying on television, placing flowers by the apple store door and all those internet status posters with sad words. It surely isn’t possible that all those people have such a close relationship with this person. Then we ask ourselves, if we don’t really know him that well, was he actually so important as all the media claim. In an article by Cask J Thompson we already find that Jobs didn’t really invent a thing.
After further extensive research we find a list of all things that Jobs had patented in his lifetime. The list consists of things such as ‘Lanyards’, ‘Clasps’, ‘Sleeves’, and ‘Packages. Its quite strange that all these documentaries put Jobs through as an inventor and creator of apple products such as the ‘Pod’, ‘Phone’, and ‘Pad’, when that is in fact false. Cask J Thompson then says ‘l just do not see how people compare Jobs to Edison or Gates who literally designed and built and sold their products’. Greer to this quote as, after further research, Jobs as only the man bringing the products to the people, he did lead the company however never played a role in new products. The question remains why is Steve Job’s death been overrated. I think this is because of wrong information. If you ask anyone who Steve Jobs is thefts either tell you, Apple’s owner or the Inventor at Apple. Neither of these is correct. Of coarse Apple’s products are immensely popular and millions use the products but that the CEO of that tech company causes so much grief in the world is quite astonishing.
On Faceable there is always laughable content around which is ousted by people with a lot of humor and people who pay attention and often post a wake-up call to society. As was a less laughable poster which showed up and became incredibly popular on the internet. The poster showed a picture of Steve jobs with the text ‘One person dies and 100 million cry, 1 million die and no one cries’AAA, with a picture of children in poverty and hunger (image can be found in appendix. A very strong statement is made here as this also confirmed was not the only one finding Steve Job’s death quite overrated.
The statement which is made is quite emotionally loaded but it is reality with a possible hidden agenda. I think that it was this picture which also made it to the news screens a while after Job’s death that made everyone think again and reconsider our thoughts about the sadness for one man when millions die everyday in far worse conditions. When researching this topic I came across a very strong article written by Forbes USA about overrated people. They conclude by saying ‘ Steve Jobs and Bill gates have drawn a great deal of admiration these days for their pioneering successes hat changed the world we live in.
While well deserved, this admiration may be overrated, as the accomplishments of these celebrated entrepreneurs is a collective rather than an individual act. ‘2 agree with this statement which is also talking about Bill gates. Many of Steve Job’s successes weren’t solely made possible by him but by a great deal of unnamed and UN-heard of people. This might be speaking only about Steve Jobs as a person and not about his death however its what people think of one before one dies that make someone decide if they give attention to ones death.
Although being on the foreground of many of Apple’s milestone achievements find that Steve Job’s death was overrated to a certain extent. Do not understand me wrong, don’t make light of anyone’s death nor do make light of Steve Job’s death however do find that the immense amount of attention given by online and offline media, stores and people themselves was too much for a person who really did not actually invent anything groundbreaking. It might be a case of miscommunication to the masses as people do believe Steve Jobs as the main inventor of all the tech which changed our lives.
One can argue that, if this is the case and all those people were always misinformed or given the wrong information, they would have had a very good reason to give this amount of attention to a persons death which would mean it was not overrated. Knowing all the facts and knowing the truth after research think that can validly conclude that if we look at reality Steve Job’s death was certainly overrated considering the amount of attention which it had received.
