Tonight, Apple publishes news of Steve Jobs passing away.

A visionary and creative genius, indeed. I never had the chance to meet the man, and yet I literally would not be where I am today, were it not for his vision and that lonely little SE/30 I stumbled across while working a crappy side job right out of high school.

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It was that SE/30 that got me interested in computers, interested in design, interested in desktop publishing, interested in the internet, and finally, interested in the career path I have followed ever since.

Yes, a multitude of important things happen every single day. Some good, some not so much, and some outright terrible – but today, aside from everything else that may have happened, the world is a bit worse off than it was yesterday.

Thanks for all that you have accomplished, thanks for inspiring me and many others. My thoughts are with your family tonight.

Further reading: Ars Technica, Ars Technica (email from Tim Cook to Apple employees), Boing Boing.