In October last year Steve Jobs has passed away at the age of almost 56, leaving behind a very strong company and millions of fans who mourned for days/weeks/months. A study of the University of Essex set out to find out what was the emotional impact of the death of Steve Jobs on his own fans, but also on the fans of the Apple company. The study was organized in 3 parts and the teacher who coordinated it will try to explain why the fans mourned and how their lives were changed by the man who changed the world we live in.
The death of Apple co-founder Steven Jobs was accompanied by a period of public mourning. Reflections shared by both those he knew and those who were connected to him through the devices he pioneered were imbued with expressions of loss. The goal of the present research was to understand the grieving of those who knew Jobs through his devices, as a way of exploring how interpersonal emotions are shaped by relationships with technology. The findings from three studies conducted in the weeks after Jobs' death indicated demographic variability in mourning across the general population, suggesting that many people were more deeply affected by his passing. Later studies highlighted the motivational factors that are related to the use of the Apple devices which were at play in shaping feelings of sadness and loss.
The study revealed that people with a high social status suffered more than the rest and that the purchase of an Apple product had a strong impact on the way people viewed this event. It seems that a good part of those who constantly use iDevices had a strong emotional impact, but another part was not so moved by the death of the legendary CEO. Basically, everything depends on the way the users looked at Steve Jobs and the way they expected this company to evolve.
