steve jobs with the iphone 4 – image by matt yoheapple has announced that the company’s co-founder steve jobs has died aged 56 following a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

a message at apple.com reads: ‘apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of apple.

if you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email [email protected]

steve jobs 1955 2011 image from apple.com

‘jobs made an unprecedented impact on the world’s consumer electronics markets with a string of hit products, including the iPod media player, iPhone smartphone and iPad tablet computer. in little over a decade, he took apple – the company he co-founded in 1976 – from near-bankruptcy to being the world’s second most valuable company by market capitalisation, after the oil giant exxon, with more than 50bn USD in the bank.’ read the guardian obituary in full

read a tribute by lord norman foster, the architecture practice foster + partners is working on the new apple campus in cupertino, to be completed in 2015.