Everyone knew it was likely when Apple founder Steve Jobs stepped down from his role as CEO of Apple in August (see “Jobs Steps Down”) that his time was probably short, but it was still a surprise when Apple announced on Wednesday that he had passed away. 

Jobs had a profound influence on geek culture. He changed the way that content was delivered, from video to games to comics, with the invention off the iPod, iPad, and iPhone. He changed the way that content was sold, with the creation of iTunes, the Apple app store, and the iBooks store. He changed the content itself, with his creation of Pixar from the bones of Lucasfilm’s computer graphics division. Pixar became an animation powerhouse so threatening to the former leader in that field, Disney, that it was forced to acquire the company in 2006. And he played a role in major business decisions at Disney over the past five years, surely casting a vote as a member of the board of directors on the company’s acquisition of Marvel. 

It would be hard to name another individual who has had that kind of impact on the world of pop culture over the last 35 years. 

We share with you here Jobs’ brief 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, a great summary of the lessons he learned in his life.