Apple co-founder and long time Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs has died at the age of 56 after a long struggle with pancreatic cancer. He will be remembered for his role in taking existing ideas and refining them to create a broad range of remarkably stylish and accessible devices.

Apple’s products are among the most successful in the history of consumer electronics. The Macintosh computer popularised the point-and-click user interface, while the iPod (and its accompanying iTunes suite) dramatically hastened the rise of digital music devices. More recently the iPhone has transformed the smart phone landscape and permitted thousands of independent games developers to reach an emerging audience.

Though his company has been criticised on a range of fronts (most recently for its exploitation of foreign labour), Steve Jobs remained revered by a legion of tech enthusiasts and indeed, the general public, as evidenced by the outpouring of tributes on social networks today.

Apple’s official statement regarding his passing describes Jobs as “a creative genius” and “an amazing human being.” According to his greatest rival, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the “world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.”