The mainstream and technology press last week began publishing their one-year anniversary pieces on the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs on Oct. 5 last year. Much of the focus has been on what’s happened at Apple since then under Tim Cook, and a busy year it’s been with the new iPad, iPhone 5 and more lawsuits than most of us can count.
In reflecting on the death of Jobs, I thought it might be interesting to take a look back at how the press covered the news last Oct. 5. I set out to find a collection of technology and mainstream press homepage screenshots that captured the tenor of news coverage that day. Here’s a brief rundown of at least the main stories from a selection of publications published last Oct. 5.
” The New York Times: “Apple’s Visionary Redefined Digital Age” (A nice combination of a slideshow and article)
” The Wall Street Journal: “Mossberg: The Steve Jobs I Knew” (by Walter Mossberg) (Includes video and audio of Jobs interviews by Mossberg over more than a decade)
” San Jose Mercury News: “Steve Jobs: Pop cultural icon” (The Merc published loads of coverage, but this was one unique spin)
” CNET: “How Steve Jobs reshaped the tech industry” (Quick to present analysis of the Jobs legacy, and included the famous Jobs commencement speech at Stanford)
” USA Today: “Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder, dies” (A straightforward headline, a nice slideshow of images, and the common comparisons to Henry Ford, Walt Disney, etc.)
” Slate: “The Man Who Invented Our World” (Steve Jobs’ name didn’t even make it into the headline of this tribute)
” CNN: “Steve Jobs, Apple founder, dies” (Nothing too standout here, just the quick facts, including mention of the black turtleneck. Followed by much additional coverage)
” Washington Post: “Steve Jobs dies; Apple co-founder was 56” (Classic obituary, that starts succinctly: “Steve Jobs, a co-founder of Apple Inc., who introduced simple, well-designed computers for people who were more interested in what technology could do than in how it was done, died Wednesday at age 56.”)
The end of a legend.