Steve Jobs dies where Apple should go

Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes…the ones who see things differently--they’re not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things--they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do. He is Steve Jobs.

Jobs, the man who founded Apple and developed the iPad, died Wednesday at 56. He had been battling health issues related to pancreatic cancer for several years, and had stepped down as Apple's CEO in August.

In writing about his death, obituaries have tried to capture the scope of his inventions, his role in "reshaping the world's digital landscape," as the Associated Press put it. They discussed his product successes, recounted his 12-year banishment from Apple and his triumphant return. Under Jobs, Apple developed a fanatic following, a reputation for building better, simpler products that commanded a premium price.

Into this environment, Apple introduced the iPad, a tablet computer that many of us saw as a novelty in a weak economy. Did we really need to spend $400 or more on something that seemed to fall somewhere between a laptop and a cell phone - devices we already had?

Yes, we did. We just didn't know it. That was Jobs' real contribution. He saw what consumers wanted even before they knew what it was, and positioned Apple to exploit that need.

In other words, he found that most elusive of ingredients for business success, especially in a struggling economy. He created demand.

Other hardware makers have tried unsuccessfully to capture a sliver of the iPad's success. Hewlett-Packard has already given up, and now Amazon is preparing to take its best shot with the Kindle Fire. Meanwhile, the iPad has triggered an economic ripple effect, as companies around the world race to develop iPad "apps" - a term that Jobs added to the geek lexicon.

Steve Jobs dies where Apple should go?