MATT LAUER, co-host:
And I'm
Matt Lauer
. Because
Steve Jobs
was a guy who touched our lives in so many ways, reaction to his death has been pouring in from
all around the world
. Overnight a makeshift memorial is now in place outside of
Apple
's headquarters -- that's in
Cupertino
,
California
-- following the sad death of that company's founder and visionary
Steve Jobs
. If you look this morning at -- simply at the
apple
.com on my
iPad
here, you will see a simple tribute to
Jobs
, a black-and-white photo with the dates that he was born and he died.
CURRY:
Because it's hard to overstate the impact that he had on all of our lives. I mean, he never graduated from
college
...
LAUER:
Right.
CURRY:
...and yet who doesn't have at least an
iPod
or an
iPad
or an
iPhone
or a
personal computer
?
LAUER:
You know, I think -- obviously, this did not come as a shock to people, because we had watched his health deteriorate over the years...
CURRY:
Hm.
LAUER:
...since he was diagnosed with
pancreatic cancer
. He appeared very frail in recent months. But still, when it finally happens, you stop and you really take notice.
CURRY:
No question, you know. He also -- in a commencement address to
Stanford University
in
2005
, he had something really pretty wonderful he -- to say. He said, "Remembering that you're going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose." And he added, "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."
LAUER:
Yeah, as I mentioned, tributes immediately poured in as the news of his death spread.
President Obama
released a statement saying in part, "There may be no greater tribute to
Steve
's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device that he invented."
CURRY:
Yeah. And
Bill Gates
,
Jobs
' one-time rival and co-founder of
Microsoft, had this to say:
"The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact
Steve
has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come." And then there's this from
Facebook
founder
Mark Zuckerberg
, who said, "Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world."
MATT LAUER, co-host:
Let us get right to
NBC
's
George Lewis
. He's at
Apple
's headquarters in
Cupertino
,
California
.
George
, good morning to you.
GEORGE LEWIS reporting:
Good morning,
Matt.
This is a very sad day for
Apple
's 47,000 employees worldwide. They're mourning
Steve Jobs
, a man who dropped out of
college
and had no formal schooling in
computer engineering
but figured out a way to make tech sexy and transformed
Apple
into the world's most valuable company. He was a
college dropout
who co-founded
Apple Computer
in
1976
and within a few years became fabulously wealthy.
Mr. DAN LYONS (Newsweek):
He's kind of a regular guy who started in his garage with this idea, with a friend, and built this thing into this multibillion-dollar business.
LEWIS:
His secret, wow the consumers with cool designs and ease of use.
Mr. STEVE JOBS:
When it comes to consumer
computer users
, the
computer industry
hasn't done a really good job of trying to understand them and understand their desires and their needs.
LEWIS:
So in
1984
he introduced the
Macintosh
, calling it "insanely great." There was a famous
Super Bowl ad
for the
Mac
, running only once on
TV
but seen millions of times on
YouTube
.
LEWIS:
Apple
didn't always prevail. Faced with tough competition, the company struggled, trying to gain a share of the
personal computer
market. And
Steve Jobs
had an abrasive personality that contributed to his ouster from
Apple
in
1985
.
Mr. LYONS:
There's a -- the brilliant, genius, visionary side of him that burned very, very bright, and there was this terrible dark side to him, too.
LEWIS:
He went into the movie business, acquiring
Pixar Studios
in
1986
, making a string of hit computer-animated films starting with "
Toy Story
."
LEWIS:
Then, after an 11-year absence, he was brought back to
Apple
, where his creativity revitalized the company. The
iPod
changed the way people listened to their music.
Mr. JOBS:
Today
Apple
is going to reinvent the phone.
LEWIS:
And across the country, there were long lines for the first iPhones in
2007
. Then three years later, they lined up for the
iPad
, changing the way people consume media.
Mr. JOBS:
Most of the great ideas, when you see them, you go, 'Of course!'
LEWIS:
But while he was brimming with great ideas,
Steve Jobs
was battling declining health. He was operated on for
pancreatic cancer
in
2004
. A year later he spoke about that in a commencement address at
Stanford University
.
Mr. JOBS:
This was the closest I've been to facing death and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. And yet death is the destination we all share.
LEWIS:
Then in
2009
he underwent a liver transplant.
Mr. JOBS:
I now have the liver of a mid-20s person who died in a car crash and was generous enough to donate their organs.
LEWIS:
On
August 24th
of this year,
Jobs
stepped down as
Apple's CEO
. Six years earlier he had this bit of advice for the
Stanford
grads.
Mr. JOBS:
Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.
LEWIS:
He was a man who followed his heart and intuition to become one of
Silicon Valley
's great visionaries.
Steve Jobs
leaves behind a wife and four children. And a statement from the
Jobs
family says
Steve
died peacefully, surrounded by people he loved.
Ann
:
