In this regard, mobility refers to more than just computing, and more than just cell phones; it goes beyond that the devices we carry every day, to include both what they're designed to do and how we use them.

Jobs had the vision to push through the kinds of mobile products that had long been conceived of in futuristic settings--the "PADD" and communicators seen in the classic Star Trek, for example--or were until recently limited to "Japan-only" as opposed to the worldwide mass market.

His vision for mobile, and for a mobile ecosystem, helped fuel five years ago, and later products like the App Store and the These are products that, before Jobs put his touch on it, all but floundered in the mainstream--or never surfaced at all.

Think, for a moment, about life before the iPhone. I know I took a moment to reflect on this, after news spread about I remember well the early touchscreen phones, with proprietary and obtuse interfaces and a lack of complementary software to run on the phone. Most everything -- including acquiring content like music or videos, or using GPS navigation -- was controlled through the mobile carriers. It was an unfortunate situation for consumers, to be sure.