There were vigils outside of apple stores when Steve Jobs died.

I always found that interesting.

People held candlelit vigils for a ruthless CEO who by all accounts was an asshole both professionally and privately.

If I had to guess why it’s because Steve was more than ruthless CEO. Steve was the chief designer of our era.

Steve’s aesthetic became the dominant aesthetic. Every tech product these days is derivative of Steve’s vision. The idea that technology was art, that’s Steve.

And that aesthetic became deeply intertwined with modern life. The objects we touch and carry with us, the phone I am typing this on now. All of it is wrapped in a visual and tactile language that jobs imposed.

Aesthetics bind us far deeper than we understand, because like Steve knew beauty is important. Maybe even paramount.