As the world mourns the loss of one of its greatest technology heroes, many accolades (and a few distasteful criticisms) are pouring in.  I'd like to share my view of him from a person who has never bought or used a tangible Apple product. Despite my preference for non-Apple products I've always watched fairly closely to what Apple was doing. The only reason? Steve Jobs.

Jobs was an intriguing character. Bold, adventurous, surely a genius on a number of levels and always compelling. People either loved him or hated him, but very few could discredit what he had done with Apple. It took a big person to come back to Apple after being tossed out not too long before. I gave him credit for that. He had a passion for Apple and it showed in many ways.

The thing that has always impressed me the most, and will be missed in our industry more than anything, was his never-ending quest for something better. He was never satisfied with great. He wanted more. And he pushed our industry to be better too. He pushed Miscrosoft, Google, the phone maker and the rest of the tech gang to be better. He knew there were more innovative products to be delivered even when no one else was thinking they could exist. For that the world has lost a great leader and in time it will show.

I never met him but we all somehow felt we knew him (the mystery that he was) and for some reason I'm sad he's gone. As always happens, someone will come along to fill the shoes of passion, drive and success. But there will never be another Steve Jobs and to our generation, and maybe even a few to come we will never forget him.