I usually do not post private thoughts here, but today I feel compelled to do so.

The world has lost a great mind, a one-of-a-kind visionary and a man, whose influence cannot be expressed by mere words. Never in my life I have been this quickly full awake as this morning, when my iMac woke from sleep, started playing my favorite radio program me in iTunes and transmitted the audio via an Airport Express to the loudspeakers in my room. The announcer read the news of the loss; I immediately grabbed my iPad sitting on the table beside me and called up the news. When I got up I marched past a cupboard full of books about Pixar, with all the DVDs, soundtrack releases and other memorabilia. As I came out, my MacPro had already booted and Steve’s words „Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love“ from his 2005 Stanford address greeted me as the wallpaper for my usual „pre-breakfast writing session“. To say that the man’s work has influenced my life would be an understatement.

I (like most people I suppose) have never had the chance to meet Mr. Jobs - I do not want to go into debates about his alleged tantrums and way of dealing with his employees. I would have preferred to hear and see both sides; it (still) being my wish to work for Apple and having been so since I switched to a humble mac mini in 2005. Jobs’ work at Apple and at Pixar have both tremendously influenced my life and made it richer. His work has allowed me to pursue both my professional and private ambitions. His keynotes have been an integral part of my training routine for my own presentations and demos. His talks and speeches have brought me many insights and to a very large extent defined my view of the world.

I am glad that we, the world, were able to partake in his genius for so many years. It is sad that a man such as him had to battle terminal illness instead of putting his immense gifts to use for his companies. I do not share his religious beliefs; nevertheless, I have the utmost respect for the belief of every person, so I sincerely hope and believe he has made progress on his way. You never know - we may see him again some day and actually I am sure we will. My condolences go out to his family and friends, who have had to share far too brief a life with the workload of more than one big company and, in his last year, with a terminal illness.

His legacy will remain and so will his vision. I am grateful for him teaching me to always follow my vision and pursue my dreams and I wish him and his family all the best they can possibly have.

Tags: Apple, steve jobs