[Mars]

i don't get why everyone's making such a big deal out of him dying.  i thought everyone was supposed to hate greedy corperations and CEOs these days?

This,

This times 10,000

Also, I've never understood the idea of respect for the dead. They're dead. I highly doubt that many people will have much good to say about me (there will be some) but in a way, it'd be nice for death to be a time for people to actually be honest.

[karajorma]

i don't get why everyone's making such a big deal out of him dying.  i thought everyone was supposed to hate greedy corperations and CEOs these days?

This,

This times 10,000

Remind me to ban you as soon as anyone in Volition falls ill.

[Mars]

It will make me considerably sadder, but it will still be sufficiently far enough outside my life to barely effect me. It wouldn't be like I lost a friend for instance.

Also, little difference in corporation size I think.

[karajorma]

So if it barely affects you, why be an arse about it?

[Mefustae]

So if it barely affects you, why be an arse about it?

Why does the internet exist if not for openly expressing opinions best not shared around the water cooler at work? Steve would have wanted that.

[JCDNWarrior]

Just an addition, I can't help but facepalm at the chosen method of fighting cancer with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. With all the money you have available.. Let's just say I, with my extremely limited knowledge in health, would definitely not have made such a choice. As said before, would have done every crazy science fiction thing available to extend life, stay/become healthy and have extremely healthy foods. I guess he wasn't informed about other, better methods to fight it.

Then again as said I am not a doctor.

[headdie]

All i have to say is that if some one said something nasty about someone i knew and had died i would be furious and it is on that basis that i choose to try and respect the dead no matter what i thought of them in life.

as the saying goes:

Do to others as you would have done to you

[The E]

Just an addition, I can't help but facepalm at the chosen method of fighting cancer with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. With all the money you have available.. Let's just say I, with my extremely limited knowledge in health, would definitely not have made such a choice. As said before, would have done every crazy science fiction thing available to extend life, stay/become healthy and have extremely healthy foods. I guess he wasn't informed about other, better methods to fight it.

Then again as said I am not a doctor.

Yeah. You definitely aren't a doctor.

For a cancer patient in his condition "extremely healthy food" (what is that supposed to be anyway?) or "staying/becoming healthy" (Seriously? Did you REALLY just say that, in order to fight cancer, one should "become healthy"? WTF, Dude?) aren't available options anymore. Yes, Chemo and Radiotherapy should be a last resort. And I would assume that his physicians know this, but didn't have any other choice.

So, please. Enlighten us about your "better methods". I would really like to hear about them.

[Bobboau]

yeah, he was insanely rich, and well educated, the fact it took 7 years for this to kill him when it usually takes 7 weeks should be testament to how good his treatment was.

[newman]

With the resources he had at his disposal, and without any medical background on my part I can only assume he did everything currently possible to keep himself alive. So, in my professional medical opinion as someone who never even considered a career in medicine, when your number is up, it's up

[StarSlayer]

With the resources he had at his disposal, and without any medical background on my part I can only assume he did everything currently possible to keep himself alive. So, in my professional medical opinion as someone who never even considered a career in medicine, when your number is up, it's up

Pancreatic is a **** way to go, its hard to detect in the early stages and so generally to late to do anything but stave off the inevitable for a few years.  Doesn't matter how fit and healthy you are. 

[Woolie Wool]

Just an addition, I can't help but facepalm at the chosen method of fighting cancer with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. With all the money you have available.. Let's just say I, with my extremely limited knowledge in health, would definitely not have made such a choice. As said before, would have done every crazy science fiction thing available to extend life, stay/become healthy and have extremely healthy foods. I guess he wasn't informed about other, better methods to fight it.

Then again as said I am not a doctor.

Chemotherapy and radiation are used because cancer cells are human cells. They're not an invader that can be targeted with a certain antibiotic or other drug. There is no way to reliably destroy them without destroying healthy tissue. In some ways chemotherapy is basically deploying WMDs in the human body and hoping the cancer dies before the patient. We use it because we have no better options.

I think Jobs was a phenomenal businessman and marketer, whatever his faults may be, and that slowly dying over seven years of pancreatic cancer is pretty horrible and tragic for anyone.

[Woolie Wool]

Just an addition, I can't help but facepalm at the chosen method of fighting cancer with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. With all the money you have available.. Let's just say I, with my extremely limited knowledge in health, would definitely not have made such a choice. As said before, would have done every crazy science fiction thing available to extend life, stay/become healthy and have extremely healthy foods. I guess he wasn't informed about other, better methods to fight it.

Then again as said I am not a doctor.

Chemotherapy and radiation are used because cancer cells are human cells. They're not an invader that can be targeted with a certain antibiotic or other drug. There is no way to reliably destroy them without destroying healthy tissue. In some ways chemotherapy is basically deploying WMDs in the human body and hoping the cancer dies before the patient. We use it because we have no better options. "Eating healthy" and other lifestyle measures don't do jack **** when your own body has decided it wants to kill you.

I think Jobs was a phenomenal businessman and marketer, whatever his faults may be, and that slowly dying over seven years of pancreatic cancer is pretty horrible and tragic for anyone.

[Lucika]

[Dragon]

Chemotherapy and radiation are used because cancer cells are human cells. They're not an invader that can be targeted with a certain antibiotic or other drug. There is no way to reliably destroy them without destroying healthy tissue. In some ways chemotherapy is basically deploying WMDs in the human body and hoping the cancer dies before the patient. We use it because we have no better options.

What about proton or antiproton therapy? I know they're expensive as heck, still experimental and there are few places where they can be performed, but I doubt Steve Jobs would have a problem with these limitations.

[The E]

What about not trying to second-guess what kind of experimental therapy the guy had or didn't have?

The history here is really a bit tragic. Back when he was first diagnosed, he tried to get it treated using alternate methods, which is why he lost an enormous amount of weight in the past years. After it turned out that those methods didn't help, he went for "traditional" treatments, including a liver transplant. Now, the problem is that that transplant, and the medication required to stop his body from rejecting it, precluded the most effective means of chemotherapy.

See also: http://www.skepticblog.org/2011/10/06/steve-jobs-succumbs-to-alternative-medicine/

[Sushi]

So if it barely affects you, why be an arse about it?

Why does the internet exist if not for openly expressing opinions best not shared around the water cooler at work? Steve would have wanted that.

Maybe I'm just speaking for myself, but that's not the kind of internet I want. IMO there are very few legitimate reasons for saying something anonymously that you wouldn't also be willing to say to people you know well. One of the things that I like about HLP is that there is relatively little of this, and I'd prefer for it to stay that w ay.

[Luis Dias]

I'm quite disappointed by some comments in here, specially the ridiculous one equating Steve Jobs with Osama Bin Laden, spreading lies about its role in the patent wars, and all the bull**** about "openness" (What the frak is open about a company who abuses its position on building parts of the iPhone to copy not only the hardware but also the software side of it, without any concerns for its own legitimacy? People confuse "stolen" with "open" all too easily).

I'm no fond of corporations, but mr Jobs was an impressive over-achiever, and changed our lives forever even if you don't even like apple products at all. To compare this man with a terrorist that has thousands of people's blood on his hands is despicable, horrible, disgusting. The ones who agree with that sentiment are morally clueless.

[Mongoose]

Also, I've never understood the idea of respect for the dead. They're dead. I highly doubt that many people will have much good to say about me (there will be some) but in a way, it'd be nice for death to be a time for people to actually be honest.

Um, maybe because even though the deceased may not appreciate the respect, the grieving people they left behind sure as hell will?  This isn't exactly social rocket science here.

[Mr. Vega]

I agree that Bobboau language has been insensitive, but his assessment of Jobs' career isn't wrong, and you can argue that kind of attack is justified in the light of the character worship Jobs is getting right now. He was nothing of the sort.

[EDIT]I think this sums it up:

http://xkcd.com/961/