Most of my yesterday was spent sifting through tributes to Steve across my social media, so I am very conscious that this post is just another Steve tribute. Yet, on behalf of TheVine and as a very big fan of the guy, I feel compelled to write a little (yes, this is cathartic).

Last night I chatted to TheVine’s Music Editor, Marcus, about it all. We were shell shocked by the news but just as much so by the world’s reaction to it. We tried to come up with someone who, should they meet an untimely end, would have as much effect on the world as Steve.

We concluded that if President Obama died (of natural causes) while in office, that his death would probably have a similar effect on the world… but even then, you wouldn’t have artists like Trent Reznor thanking Obama for “the tools, the inspiration, the possibilities.”

Perhaps also if Bill Gates died at his young age, we’d see the same out-pouring of emotion. We all hang shit on Windows, but you can’t deny the dude’s got some reach of his own. Windows is still the lifeblood of business and the backbone of home personal computing.

If Michael Dell died, would I get multiple texts about it within minutes of the news breaking?

I’ve read some pretty good tributes. Obama’s was good. I particularly liked this bit: There may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.

His peers wrote good ones too. It was as if they all took off their super hero masks and held hands for a while.

Zuckerberg’s was short but quite profound. His showed that there’s a human side to the Facebook vs. Apple story: Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.

It was really nice to see one from Samsung too, considering all the shit the two companies are going through at the moment; they used the words revolutionary, innovative and remarkable.

Bill’s words actually made me well up a little (I WAS ALL EMO, OK?): I will miss Steve immensely.

Lenovo’s CEO Yuanqing Yuan would have made Steve blush in saying: As a competitor, [Steve] helped ensure all of us pushed even harder. That shit is golden for any leader.

UPDATE: Reader BRENDANMC mentioned the Wired mag memorial page that went up yesterday. That's cool.

For me, the most powerful statement of respect was from Google. This screenshot of Google.com said it all for me. The link goes straight to the enemy; Apple.com:

I thought a while about what I wanted to say. Quite selfishly, all I could come up with was this: I'd be running a pirate copy of Windows on a gigantic, ugly, poorly made PC if it weren't for that man.

On Wednesday, I expressed my disappointment with Apple. I was underwhelmed by the iPhone 4S offering and the fact that CEO Tim Cook didn’t finish with Steve’s famous one more thing tag line—the announcement of an iPhone 5.

I’m still underwhelmed by the 4S itself, but in hindsight, I am most impressed with Steve and his executive. Apparently, the team knew what was coming; yet they stood up on stage and belted out a keynote. It must have been tough to keep shit together like that.

Most impressive of all though, it seems that Steve hung on until after the keynote. Can it be coincidence that he died the day after? I think not. The man made sure the show went on uninterrupted. In a way, Steve did give us the showstopper we demanded after all—his one more thing... one last time.

Thanks for everything Steve.