When the news broke yesterday that Apple’s Steve Jobs had died–I remember my Twitter stream lighting up with “Steve Jobs” like someone had just plugged in the Christmas tree lights that spelled his name–there was an immediate outpouring of emotion that, as many noted, was possible because so many people were networked on Apple mobile devices.
(It’s not the devices. It’s the ideas they embody. People love them.)
But not everything can happen on the internet, so very quickly, a memorial to Jobs began to grow at the closed-for-renovation Apple Store in the University Village. I remember a friend writing on Facebook that he’d thought about leaving a card, but instead walked into the grocery store, bought an apple, and left that.
“The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come,” wrote Bill Gates, leaving a personal note on his site.
As Exhibit A on impact, we present the copy-edited Apple Store message, where an eagle-eyed Apple fan notes that going online to search for the nearest Apple Store will of course lead them right back to this closed-for-renovation store. “This is an infinite recursion,” goes the graffito. “Just kidding. You changed my life. Thank you.”
