Steve Jobs's loss mourned at UNC

Fred Brooks met Steve Jobs at the White House in 1985.

Brooks, now a computer science professor at UNC, was there to receive the National Medal of Technology for his work at IBM, while Jobs was receiving the same prize for his work at Apple.

As recipients exchanged pleasantries in a back room, Brooks complained to Jobs about his Apple III computer.

Jobs told Brooks that if he sent him the computer, Jobs would send him a new Macintosh.

Brooks still has that Macintosh today.

The announcement of Jobs’ death Wednesday left Apple devotees and casual consumers alike reeling, including those on a campus of students that grew up with iPods, Macs and iPhones.

For Brooks, the implications of Jobs’ passing extend beyond the success of a company.

“How did Bach’s death affect music?” Brooks said.
“(Jobs) figured out what people ought to want, built it and put it out,” he said. “Each one changed the world.”

Many students expressed sadness at the death of Jobs, who oversaw the creation not only of the iPod and the iPhone, but also the film studio Pixar.

Michael Gracia, senior biology major, said Jobs and Apple fundamentally changed communication and media consumption.
“He made it shiny,” Gracia said. “Apple’s all about style.”

The University’s decision to expand its Carolina Computing Initiative program to include Macs is a testament to Apple’s influence, said Larry Conrad, vice chancellor of information technology.

“His ability to redefine any market he moved into — that’s what’s most impressive,” he said.

And for a campus that one year ago made a $125 million commitment to innovation, the death of the most acclaimed innovator of the 21st century carries special meaning.

Buck Goldstein, an economics professor who co-authored a book about innovation with Chancellor Holden Thorp, said he was reading an issue of The New Yorker on his iPad after hearing of Jobs’ death Wednesday night.

The article he was reading mentioned a newly released album. Goldstein tapped the iTunes button, downloaded the album and returned to The New Yorker, all in one moment.
That’s when it hit him.

“Thank you, Steve Jobs,” Goldstein said.

“That sort of sums it up, personally,” he said. “All of us will probably have a similar moment within the next few days to say, ‘Thank you, Steve Jobs,’ and that’s pretty cool.”

He said Jobs was the greatest entrepreneur of modern times, perhaps even of all time.

“Apple can be a great company, but I don’t think it’s realistic to expect it will be the same company.

“There’s only one Steve Jobs.”

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