County Residents: 'Steve Jobs Was a Great Innovator'

Despite surprise over the lack of recognition at the Bridgewater branch given to his death, shoppers at the in the Bridgewater Commons Mall recognized Thursday the accomplishments of the late Steve Jobs.

after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

“I’m surprised there is no picture of him out front of the store,” said Bedminster resident Jordan Naftal. “But back in 1986, I was going into business with someone else, and we were trying to decide on IBM or Mac. I decided not to wait for my partner to decide, and I bought a Mac.”

And Naftal has been a Mac user ever since, now owning two Apple laptops and two iMacs, despite some ribbing from his son, Jake.

“I’m not a big fan of the Macs, and I don't like the interface,” Jake Naftal said. “But Jobs was a pretty real, legitimate guy.”

“He was truly inspiring, an inspirational figure,” he added.

For Vincent Loncke, an engineer with Qualcomm in Bridgewater, he believes it is the interface of the Apple machines that people actually relate to and appreciate most.

“The interface is what the customer sees,” he said. “That’s where Jobs’ vision had an impact on technology. Other similar machines don’t have a lot of innovation.”

Loncke said he has been using Apple products since he was young and had one of the early Macintosh computers, and he appreciates the influence Jobs had on the industry.

But even more recent Apple converts appreciate the work Jobs did for the technology.

“I changed over to Apple about a year ago,” said Basking Ridge resident Edana Desatnick. “My clients loved it, and once I started using the products, it was addicting.”

Now, Desatnick said, she always has her iPhone and iPad, and has an Apple laptop of her own.

Desatnick, who said she had to come to the Apple Store after hearing of Jobs’ passing, said the culture has lost an incredible mind.

“Jobs was someone who has completely changed the industry and the way we work,” she said.

Jobs’ passing, Loncke said, is a huge loss to the community.

“His passing is monumental,” he said. “He was a great technology innovator and there was a great appreciation for his products.”

“Apple had a culture,” he added, “and this is a tremendous loss to that culture.”