Steve Jobs' death: Is the world overreacting?

Everyone agrees: He created great gadgets. But, some note, he didn't cure cancer, end apartheid, or bring about the fall of communism

A San Francisco Apple storefront is covered in condolence notes: The global response to Steve Jobs' death is rustling up some backlash.
(Image credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Since Steve Jobs' death Wednesday night, emotional tributes have been pouring in, proclaiming how the Apple co-founder changed the world and revolutionized computing, capitalism, and the way we consume media. But while fanboys weep and the media pontificates, some are wondering if we're going overboard and mourning a CEO as if he were a saint. Are all the tributes and tears too much?

He wasn't Jesus: "Calm down people," says Hamilton Nolan at Gawker. "A tech genius has passed on," and it's a "devastating loss to Steve Jobs' close friends and family members, as well as to Apple executives and shareholders." The rest of us need to get a grip and save the grandiose displays of public grief for those great figures who have unselfishly worked to cure disease, end wars, or fight poverty. Yes, Apple products are cool, but "they are not heroes, and neither is their creator, no matter how skilled he may have been."

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