BREAKING: Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of Apple

Jobs' insistence on owning the hardware and charging premium prices for excellent design killed Apple against Microsoft during the '80s and '90s but worked brilliantly in the consumer electronics space in the '00s, starting with the iPod.

You can't overstate how big a loss Jobs' retirement is to Apple and to the industry. Aside from his visionary talent, the man gave a product demo like no other and his sense of style and flair helped make Apple products desirable to millions of people. He didn't just drive product strategy for Apple but also for dozens of other companies trying to keep up.

I'm not at all a fan of his walled-garden approach to the iPhone/iPad ecosystem, but the man is undoubtedly a creative genius. I hope he breaks new ground in fighting pancreatic cancer just as he has in his other endeavors and is around to impress and annoy us for many years to come.

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