I knew his days were numbered, but now that he's passed, I just have to pay homage to Steve Jobs, who (with Steve Wozniak) brought us into the world of truly useful personal computing devices and smart phones.
Even though IBM "fathered" computering and the original "PC" it was Jobs/Wozniak who (thanks to capitalizing on Xerox-Parks rejected graphic-oriented interface) took the potential of small-scale computing and made it accessible and genuinely HELPFUL to everyday lives. As a graphic artist, I was fortunate enough to own one of the early Macintosh computers, and use it to streamline my work. It was astonishing to see how a job that required so much equipment and training could be simplified and restructured into something that could be run from a table-top (to become known as desktop publishing).
I also admired Jobs devotion to quality industrial design. I later worked on a Mac LC which could only be described as cute. I read later that they developed the look of that model to emulate a puppy, looking up at you! This playful, innovative, and outside the box stream of inventiveness is not dissimilar to what Osamu Tezuka brought to this world through his manga and anime. Like Tezuka, Jobs worked until the very end, never completely letting go. Both men died very young (Jobs even younger than Tezuka) and both to cancer.
We read of a fantastic world in the Astro Boy universe. Astros father and step-father (Elephun/Ochanomizu) were both creative geniuses of their time. Steve Jobs
was a Dr. Tenma in his brilliance and drive. He
was a Dr. Elephun in his attention to making his creations lovable. I do sincerely wish he had kept Apples manufacturing here in the country where he lived. I do NOT approve of under-paying Chinese people for work we were once paid a generous living wage (with benefits) for. My sincere wish is that somehow Steve knew this to be a wrong way to do business, and now that hes free from THIS world, he left a message demanding that all Apple products be American made, once again. Imagine what a wonderful final legacy that would be; a man who made some many dreams come true, and gave so much joy to us, to help start the turn-around of the worlds economy.
RIP Steve, and thank you for helping to make our world smaller and more amazing!
I just heard that there were 3 founders, but 1 lost his nerve, & sold his 10% interest for ~ $2K, which, if he had retained it, would now be worth about 10,000,000 times as much. 
