Not Just a Job(s)

Though it's certainly a sad event in itself, the death of Apple's Steve Jobs also strikes me as a true milestone in the history of American business. Historically, there's no surer sign that an industry has become truly established than a massive public reaction to one of its titans passing away. What's interesting about Jobs as well is that, in contrast to the heads of most companies in any field, Jobs was not only well-known but also well liked by his millions of customers. A lot of people have one or the other but getting both can be quite difficult. Just ask Netflix's Reed Hastings, who seems intent on shooting both himself and his company's reputation in the foot. Jobs certainly made some mistakes, but he generally seemed to learn from them. Hastings and other information economy leaders could probably take a few pages from their playbook.