steve jobs, 1955-2011

If it weren't for Steve Jobs, iStockphoto wouldn't be a thing. Or it would be a very different thing. He revolutionized technology and made desktop publishing what it is today, so without him we don't know where we'd be.

We just felt it was important to say that out loud — that in some way all of our successes started with Steve Jobs. Even our name, iStockphoto, was an early homage of sorts to Apple.

Today we encourage all of you to do what you love, take chances, think big and maybe even change the world.


Thanks for everything Steve. Hopefully everyone looks at their iPhone today and nods thanks for pushing to be brilliant. - Kelly Thompson 


As I sit here, with my iPad, witnessing tributes coming from all over the world, I recollect an important moment of my career as an eager young artist in the 80's. That moment came in 1987 with an exhibit at The Philadelphia Museum of Art, where two friends and myself proposed "the idea of a social network as a work of art".


Few people believed in this venture at the time, yet we got a sponsorship from a 'smaller' company at the time to make sure that our project would succeed. That business, who demonstrated an incredible open mind, was called Apple Computer. Thanks for everything, Steve Jobs. - JJRD
 
I converted from PC to Mac about 5 years ago, because Mac is the platform that our creative customer uses most often, and it is a completely different computing paradigm. It was like switching from being right handed to left handed. And I'm never going back, I am a complete fan-girl. As I sit here at my desk I'm surrounded by my MacBook Air, my tiny white ipad2, iphone4, Shuffle and various accessories. The reason I keep coming back and don't consider other platforms is that with Apple technology you never have to make a tradeoff between form and function. When working on technology, as I know from working on our websites, there is always pressure to choose between form and function, because each has its cost. I think the genius that Steve Jobs brought to the world was in demanding the highest standards of both form and function in every product his team ever shipped. - Rebecca Rockafellar


If I had to summarize Steve Jobs into one word, it would be genius. I think people throw the term around lightly, but for him, it fits.  It's hard to believe we've lost a man who captured the imagination of billions and brought technology together with art in a way no one else could. The legacy he leaves behind is astounding. Personally, I will remember Steve Jobs as the great historical figure he was - a man who changed lives and made us all love a tiny little apple.
- Nichole Desrosiers



For me it started (relatively late) with the iPod; not the first mp3 player - nowhere near the first mp3 player in fact - but the one that changed the game, and, together with iTunes, redefined an industry. So ergonomic, so intuitive, so desirable. Thank you, Steve Jobs, for this and all the other wonderful fruits of your vision, but most of all, thank you for the music.  - Nick King


 

You made the unimaginable, manageable. From the first keystroke on an Apple IIe in 4th grade computer camp, to the beautifully designed iMac i sit in front of as i type this today, you blessed me and the rest of the world with the tools to explore every creative whim. Thanks for changing everything, Steve.
- Brad Ralph

I have one hand. I cannot text on a Blackberry quickly--I could never write e-mails from a cell phone. When Kelly Thompson showed me his iPhone and let me try it, the easy touchscreen for typing sold me immediately. I don't think Jobs was going after the disabled market--but simple works wonders. He will be missed. - Kara Udziela

Three Apples have changed the world - the one Eve ate, the one that fell on Newton's head and the one that Steve built. I'm not as sad for his death as I am proud of the legacy he leaves us. From designing graphics and simple games on my first Apple IIc to the host of his products I've used throughout my career, Apple has been my driving force of inspiration. "Simple" just works. - James Leal-Valias
	When I was in grade 8 (c. 1991), our Industrial Arts classroom had recently installed a couple Mac Classics. I was completely enraptured by these fascinating beige boxes, and spent time before and after class learning the ins and outs of the Macs. My teachers noticed my interest and proposed that for that school year, in exchange for a fixed grade, I would help them build a Hypercard stack that taught the components of the IA equipment. I enthusiastically agreed and spent the next four months creating drawings of drill presses and lathes, creating hyperlinks and rollover actions and menus. It was awesome. At the same time, I also ended up learning Pagemaker and helped assemble the school newspaper. Those experiences stuck with me. Since that point I've always been interested in the intersection of art and technology. Those Macs taught me that technology can enable the creative spirit and it's clear that the seeds of my life and my career were sown by my experiences in that classroom. Thank you, Steve Jobs, for thinking and creating a platform where I was able to discover my talents and to build a career around my passions. - Dan Ross
	Everyone can remember the changes that Steve Jobs has made since his return to Apple in 1997, but I was first inspired by my Apple IIe in 1983. I remember being a young boy sitting in my living room writing a computer program for a yatzee game. It stared a life long love of creating great applications. And that continues today as I work on the iStockphoto website. - Scott Gibson-Craig
	Stay hungry, stay foolish. Steve Jobs said this in his Stanford commencement address six years ago and it’s stuck with me ever since.  Through his words and his actions, he’s taught me to follow my curiosity and intuition, and to never stop trying to find what I love because we’re all going to die, so we’ve got nothing to lose. And also, your parents’ garage is always the best place to start anything, whether it’s a punk band or a multi-billion-dollar company. Remember that. - Jodi Styner
	Steve Jobs is the example and the leader who has instilled in a whole generation the need and belief that beauty and aesthetics are more than necessary:  they are the food, what feeds our soul and makes us wake up everyday with an open heart to the world. His beauty way to look and his carismatic delicate way to treat all the people around are an example to be admired and followed. - Ana Cenamo
	I bought my first iMac when I was starting design college because it was the standard operating system for designers. I learned about great designers and genius’ in text books. But, my iMac and every Apple device I have purchased after that day has been an example of present day genius. We now demand technology in our lives to weave seamlessly into our lives. We strive and demand for perfection. Steve Jobs set the bar very high and because of his demand for perfection our interaction with technology has become what it is today. Because of Steve Jobs my career as a designer and visual communicator has become more relevant and great design is the new standard. - Jeff Williams
	In 1984 there was a little Macintosh in my high school art classroom. I couldn't believe the things I could create with it. I was drawing with a computer! I loved it instantly and it helped set the course of my life. In 1991, I received my first job doing desktop publishing with a Mac Classic and Pagemaker. In 2001, armed with Final Cut Express 1.0 and a Mac Cube, I started a video company. Steve Job's vision has been defining my entire career since I was a kid. He will continue to inspire me to think big and outside of the box. - Gil Ngai
	He left us so much, and so much to do. - Jeremy DesRoches
	Steve, you rocked the world of I – innovation, ingenuity and inspiration - Blair de Jong
	Steve Jobs had a huge impact on my life and chosen career. It was in a Commercial-Arts class back in High School where I first laid eyes on our new Mac Plus. I was entranced from day one by the magic of this machine, inspiring me to choose a career in Graphic Design, and since then, I’ve never looked back. Something else most people don’t know about me. I have the Apple logo tattooed on my left shoulder. Why did I do it? “Think Different” isnt just a company slogan, – its a way of life. Steve Jobs let us know that it was OK to carve our own path. - Paul Jeffery
	Steve Jobs leaves us much more than great invention and technical advance.  With his life he taught us it is possible to overcome life's misfortunes and make it a tool to help people change themselves and the world. The human kind thanks you, SJ. - Julieta Nogueira
	Steve Jobs transformed the creative industries and man machine interaction. His combined philosophy of perfection and enjoying technology can be applied in so many walks of life. - Syed Hussain
	My relationship with Apple goes back to almost the beginning. Growing up I was lucky enough to have a dad who was an elementary school teacher, and obsessed with gadgets. Somehow he convinced the school board to let him bring home an Apple Classic 2 over our summer holidays. I think I was the first kid in my class who'd ever seen a computer, let alone had one in my home to mess around with for months at a time! Over the years I've owned many, many Apple computers starting with an MacIntosh Quadra 605 while attending design school. I still remember the day I upgraded the RAM on that machine: I thought I could do anything, it was so fast! I look back now and compare that machine to my iPhone or iPad and have to chuckle. Who knew things would have changed so much? My life was literally transformed the second that first computer came into my life and I've never looked back. Thank you, Mr. Jobs, for all you've done for us. You will be sorely missed :( - Jennifer Borton
	While I’ve always been more of a typewriter enthusiast than a tech aficionado, when I started working as a professional writer, I was dragged into the world of personal computing. After looking at beige PC after beige PC, I fell in love with the iMac. I recognized in this little computer a kinship with the beautiful Royals and Underwoods that made up my collection. Steve Jobs understood that a thoughtfully-designed, well-crafted machine would stand the test of time. He will be missed. - Brendan Harrison