This is not a Eulogy, iThink

God is dead. Marx is dead. Steve Jobs is dead. And I don’t feel so well myself. By the time you will read this the world will have already started waking up to the post-Jobs era. Which means, Facebook will be recovering from the flood of RIP Steve Jobs groups (7 created in less than 24 hours), the Jobs-dedicated statuses (iSad) and the overwhelmingly melancholic epitaphs of MacPeople worldwide (three apples changed the world: Eve’s, Newton’s and Jobs’).

Let’s get this clear from the beginning – the Boar is not at ease with obituaries and this is not one. Nor is this a commentary on the rise and fall of the man who is likely to become a key icon of this century’s technological revolution.

Jobs is dead and freshers have flocked to Warwick. For the majority of you out there the news spread swiftly through Twitter and Facebook. Ironically so, if you were flicking through your iPhone, caressing your iPad tablet or surfing the net on your MacBook. The world has been speaking Jobs’ language for about 30 years now, so there must be something inherently awkward in witnessing the death of the man who has masterminded the object of your fetishism while shivering at the touch of an Apple screen.

Some of you lamented the unfortunate coincidence of one of Warwick society’s marketing campaigns, which had Gates and Jobs fused into the ultimate nerd as the caption read: there can only be one. A few went as far as to suggest we should all tear them apart, in the name of a Mac-revolution guerrilla warfare, but there was no need as time and rain did the job.

What does Jobs’ death mean to the 7000 freshers which moved to Warwick last week? Admittedly, very little. There will still be iPods and iPads and Apps, and iPhones will keep evolving in a Pokemon fashion. A new man will step up the stage in California, maybe without turtleneck sweaters, but there will still be progress and everyone will live happily ever after.

But do yourself a favour and spare a few moments to think of Jobs and your present condition. Better yet, think of what Jobs means to you here and now, no matter whether you have just landed in Warwick and are all set to ruin the place (and yourself) or whether you know Leamington as the back of your hand.

There was something deeply rooted in Steve Jobs’ persona that differentiated him from another key icon of our generation, Mark Zuckerberg. It was the sense of fragility, of forthcoming doom. It is definitely hard to empathise with a man who started what would be one of the world’s most recognised brands, got kicked out his own company, and then rose to fame and fortune in sunny California, all while battling terminal cancer. But what a man.

But this is not a eulogy. It is a mere statement of fact. The Boar greets all of you, freshers and habitués alike, and wishes you well for the coming years. The loss of Steve Jobs may not mean much to you in the immediate, but it falls into a time where we are all called to make the most out of everything. Here is the story of a man who won, lost, and won again. So think about it as a huge parable. Stay hungry, stay foolish.