The Sky above and the Mud below: Two Books about Steve Jobs

Abstract

Steve Jobs was the most charismatic businessperson in the modern era. When he died, on October 5, 2011, Apple was inundated with condolence messages from all over the United States and from around the world. These notes were sent not only to Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California, but to Apple retail stores. The stores posted them on their windows. In addition, bouquets of flowers were brought to the stores. Think of this—flowers in front of hundreds of stores in dozens of countries because of Jobs's death. No one knows how many notes were received at Apple and in the stores. According to the “Remembering Steve” page on Apple.com, “Over a million people from all over the world have shared their memories, thoughts, and feelings about Steve.” As he was dying, people made a pilgrimage to his home in Palo Alto. His daughter has written that “a few people he didn’t know came to the doors wanting to see him … , wandering into the garden. … A stranger in a sari begged to talk with him. A man came in through the gate and said he had flown in from Bulgaria just to see my father.” After Jobs's death, California governor Jerry Brown declared October 16 to be “Steve Jobs Day.” The president of United States and the First Lady, Barack and Michelle Obama, posted a condolence note. Nothing remotely like this outpouring had ever taken place on the occasion of the death of an American CEO.