Jobs' resignation comes as a surprise to no one, Jobs least of all. That is, this has been a long time coming and it seems safe to reason that Jobs has made it his primary duty over the last five years to ensure that an Apple without him will continue to thrive. And, as his letter makes a point of noting, he will continue on as the Chairman of the board and as "an Apple employee"--his final act, passing Apple on to others, is not yet complete.

He was the most important man in tech in 1978 and he is in 2011. The legacy he leaves is not just that of beautiful objects and sensational business intuition, but the generations of people he inspired. My first computer was a Mac, and it was love at first touch. Since that first moment I have always been profoundly fascinated with consumer electronics and computers in particular. I'm sure that I have kin, even among the haters.

And call me a fanboy, but any man who can relentlessly carve a path for passionately crafted objects in the face of largely monotonous, analytics; well, I'm glad he stuck to it.

Thanks Steve. I hope you're well.