"Talent, Pure Talent": The Vatican Mourns "Mr Apple"

As has been well noted on these pages, the long reach of Steve Jobs and his technological progeny have driven themselves well into the heart of the Catholic ambit... indeed, in a rarity for any titan of the world outside, even to the top floor of the Apostolic Palace, and repeatedly at that.

Accordingly, with the whole of Silicon Valley leading a seeming iGlobe in grief on the Apple titan's Wednesday death at 56, in a rare tribute for one not of the fold, a tribute to the iconic Cupertino CEO appeared late Thursday on the front page of today's edition of the Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano, its English fulltext reprinted below:

Steve Jobs is dead

The Talent of Mr. Apple

Cupertino, 6 [October]. Even in his [contrasts] – inevitable in such a complex personality – Steve Jobs was one of the protagonists and symbols of the revolution in Silicon Valley. Computer revolution certainly, but also a revolution of culture, mentality, and customs. A revolution which is the daughter, but not the heir, of the 70’s, the troubled adolescence of an America torn apart by political scandal, wars, protests and social tensions. A revolution which rode the golden wave of the Reagan years. Too young for ’68 and too old for Facebook, Jobs was a visionary – this is the term consistently used to describe him – a visionary that united technology and art. He was certainly not a technician nor an entrepreneur. Not a designer nor a mathematician. Not a classic computer nerd nor a star.

Pirate or pioneer? History will tell. For the moment, his genius creations remain. “By making computers personal and putting the Internet in our pockets he made the information revolution not only accessible but intuitive and fun,” said President Obama. “Bold enough to believe he could change the world and talented enough to do it.”

Born in San Francisco, February 24, 1955, Jobs founded Apple in 1976 together with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne after creating their first project in the garage of their home. In only ten years, the company had a turnover of two billion dollars. In 1984, the first Macintosh was launched but in 1985, Jobs decided to leave the company.

At the end of 1998, he returned to head Apple. To renew the company which was in crisis, Jobs decided to focus on music. He won: the revolution began in 2007 with a small device, apparently innocuous, but that within a few years entered into the hearts and heads of thousands of people. It was the iPod, a digital musical reader connected to the on-line store, iTunes. Thus the road was opened for the innovations of iPhone, iPad and iCloud. Talent, pure talent.

PHOTO: Reuters

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