After wondering about the best time to start blogging, I thought perhaps the death of Steve Jobs might be a good starting point since I actually have something to say. I woke up yesterday morning to my iPhone and scrolled through Facebook to pick up the collective-sentiment of the day, or rather, the night before. Still half asleep I wondered if what I was reading was correct, and flicked on the news to see it confirmed. He had died.

It’s hard to put my finger on why someone I’ve never met has made me think so hard about life. I was never really in to celebrities, even when I was young I couldn’t tell you the members of Boyzone or N’Sync. I’ve never turned up anywhere to get a glimpse of someone famous, apart from accidentally being in Loch Fyne while Gok Wan came in to use the loo. I don’t read the glossy magazines and I only follow Stephen Fry on Twitter.

But today was different. Maybe it’s because I use so many Apple products. I’m a certified convert and I’d avoid Windows all my life if it were possible. Maybe it’s because I’ve just been reading about him while reading about Interaction Design, and how the iPod changed the world. Maybe it’s because my Dad is the same age as he was.

I’m not really inclined to like someone who goes round putting items in front of a user without asking them want they want. It seems counter-intuitive, and Apple aren’t known for their user research – something I think is of paramount importance when it comes to new technology. He was right though, almost every time it seems. Although I don’t see that many people using FaceTime (perhaps they don’t have that many people to FaceTime with?), I do see ‘just three clicks’ to get to any song implemented in a lot of mp3 players, and I’d never switch from my iPod.

I read through the BBC’s article on Jobs and scroll to the comments. Although most of them are nice there are a few people trolling as usual. ‘He was just a CEO, he had no impact on design’, ‘he was a genius for all the fools he fooled’. Perhaps he was, but like any indoctrination –  I’m pretty happy to be brainwashed. There is a reason I’ve heard many people say they’ve switched to mac and won’t go back, but never the other way around…’The British are always jealous of successful people’ says one woman in retaliation to some of the negative comments. I think she might be right.

As tributes flood in, people changing their desktop wallpapers to Apple’s new minimalist homepage, leaving flowers and once bitten apples outside Apple stores and compiling celebratory infographics and montages all over the Internet; you are left wondering… When was the last time a co-founder of any company made this kind of impact on people? More people drink coke than own an iPhone but do you think people would bat an eye-lid if the CEO of Coca-cola died? Would they even know about it?

There’s no doubt about it. Jobs had the midas touch, when he was at Apple and when he wasn’t. I guess I’m wondering the same as everyone else. Will Apple ever be the same again? Should I get an iPhone 4S because it’s the last product he touched…? There won’t be another.

If you’re not convinced, you should watch this.