Big tech stories of the year were about people, not gadgets

There were plenty of gadgets shipped in 2011, but the big stories of the year were about the people who made them and used them to change the world.

The biggest and saddest story was the passing of Steve Jobs. His impact on tech, as well as on movies and music, is likely to be remembered for centuries. He's already an icon, right up there with Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and Henry Ford, according to a report in MercuryNews.com

Jobs' legacy is not just the Apple (AAPL) II, the Mac, the iPod, iPhone and iPad but his passion for perfection. Former co-workers say he wasn't the easiest person to work with, but the products he created were not only easy to use, but often elegant and beautiful. While not everyone liked Steve Jobs, many were inspired by him. He was not unlike those depicted in the "Think Different" Apple commercials that began, "Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers," and concluded, "the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." Well done, Steve.

Two of Jobs' heroes were the late Bill Hewlett and David Packard, whose Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) went through a major management change of its own this year. New CEO Meg Whitman is hardly a Steve Jobs, and her political views and failed run for governor of California make her a controversial figure. But she has a business track record and puts a very visible face on a company that can use a face-lift.  >>More here

SOURCE:  mercurynews.com

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