Dear Steve,

I never thought that I would feel so sad at the loss of someone whom I never met. However, I realized this morning that I had met you; I interact with you intimately every single day. I know you through your design, your ideas, your creations, and your uncompromising taste. Your products have been with me for every important moment of my life.

You have helped me get through school, write my dissertation, and process my vacation pictures. You have enabled me to express my creativity and share it with others. Because of you, I have stayed in contact with my friends, and have made new ones. You have exposed me to more news and culture than I ever would have been able to discover on my own. I have listened to the soundtrack of my life on your music players. Your products are often the first thing I see when I wake up, and the last thing I turn off before I go to bed.

My parents love to tell the story of their first personal computer. I was about 7 or 8, and it was a PC. They tell me that after playing with it for an hour, I turned to my dad and said, “There has to be something else.”

I have never had anything other than an Apple computer ever since.

Thank you.