R.I.P. Om Malik

Word has been going through my social channels today that Om Malik passed away. His family left this simple message on his blog:

Om Malik passed away on June 24, 2026, at Stanford Hospital after a long health journey with his heart. He was surrounded by family and friends.

I never met Om, but if you read his essays or saw his pictures, in some way you knew him a little. He mostly wrote about the web and tech and was one of the first trusted voices I found who was writing about Apple before it was cool to do so, twenty years ago or so. He was also an avid photographer and a pretty damn good one, in my opinion.

He’s one of the influences of why I have a site myself. His site showed me the open canvas of what these sites can be. His site was his own. His layout was unique; it was clean and fit his style. He wrote about what he cared about with as much or as little detail as he chose.

That last transmission… that got me thinking about something else entirely. He had someone who could communicate for him, and I’m glad he had that. But it makes me wonder about the rest of our digital footprints after we pass. Or further, our analog ones too. It makes me think about that if we do leave something behind, where do we leave it? Will it be sustainable? There’s a beauty to this last post being on his website and not on a social silo somewhere.

I hope I can leave something behind in the same way, either through my own site or something in print. My journals are mine now, but I have no problem with anyone finding them after I pass to get a glimpse of who I was and what I was going through. I frankly think we should all have this. Write your words. Print & post your photos. Give the future something to look back on.

My condolences to his family. Rest well, Om.