Oct

The Loss of a Visionary

Apple made a startling announcement today that its co-founder and CEO of more than thirty years, Steve Jobs, passed away today from pancreatic cancer at the age of 56. Jobs was the leading visionary force behind some of the most innovative technological concepts to come out of any company in recent history. The effects of his illness were evident in Jobs’s last several appearances, including at his public resignation as the CEO of Apple and at the unveiling of the iPad 2. Jobs was notably absent from the release of the iPhone 4.

Apple’s website has emerged as a humble tribute to Jobs:

We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today. Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.

If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com

Mercy Pilkington (536 Posts)

Mercy Pilkington is a young-adult author and a teacher in a correctional facility. She does not have a single textbook in her classroom. With the top-of-the-line technology at her disposal and the low reading ability of many of her students, there’s no need for standard paper texts. Instead she relies on e-readers, iPads, desktop PCs, Polycom video conferencing equipment for virtual field trips, live streaming for science demonstrations, and text-to-speech read-aloud software to teach English and science. Within the next ten years, public school classrooms across the country are going to look a lot more like Mercy’s classroom because the educational possibilities with these kinds of technologies are limitless. Have a question? Send an email to mercypilkington@yahoo.com