Steve Jobs, the iconic co-founder of Apple and perhaps the most influential American CEO of his generation, died Wednesday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Jobs may or may not have graced more magazine covers than any CEO of the last century (eight times on the cover of TIME magazine, alone), may or may not have been responsible for more changes to the consumer electronics landscape than any other businessman, and may or may not have single-handedly saved the music industry with Apple’s iTunes.

What is certain, however, is that in the coming days more ink and more pixels will be dedicated to his life, his career, and his influence on modern culture than that usually reserved for heads of state and the most popular figures of stage and screen.

Here then, is a Cult of Mac round-up of some of our favorite images of Steve Jobs, from his early days until some of those toward the end of his all-too-brief journey with us in this life.

Enjoy.

One of the overlooked iPhone 4S features in today’s keynote was the fact that Apple’s newest smartphone boasts Bluetooth 4.0 technology. The latest MacBook Air and Mac Mini models also have Bluetooth 4.0.

Apple’s technical specifications for the iPhone 4S note that the device has built-in Bluetooth 4.0 support. 

There is a bombastic upstate New York car dealer who loves to say his auto sales are “huge.” However, the first day of iPhone 5 sales expected to start this week, could redefine the definition. The enormous “pent up demand” for the new iPhone will “shatter” Apple’s previous one-day sales record of 1.7 million handsets, according to a Wall Street analyst.

I wish I never sold my original iPhone. Being seen around town using an iPhone with a brushed aluminum back would make others jealous of my uniqueness. The iPhone 4? Dude, that was so 2010. My original iPhone can’t even create folders or multitask, but no one else has one so it makes me like fifty times more awesome than anyone using an iPhone 3GS.

You’re probably snickering at this ridiculous idea that a unique design completely trumps functionality. I don’t blame you. However, a lot of Apple fans are falling into the trap of this same ideology that claims the looks of the new iPhone are more important than the functionality it will bring with it. Many claim that if Apple “only” releases an iPhone 4S it will be a huge disappointment to fans. “We’ve waited 16 months for a new iPhone and all they’re giving us is a minor spec bump? This is crap!”

What some Apple fanboys don’t understand is the iPhone 4S isn’t “just a spec bump.” The new iPhone, regardless of its physical appearance, will be a significant improvement to the greatest phone ever made.

Of course no one wants to be stuck with an ugly phone that looks five years behind the curve, but before rising up in revolt against the iPhone 4S, let’s consider the current state of technology and where the iPhone 4 currently ranks.

Acer, the company that saw the iPad devour its Netbook market, is whistling past the graveyard again. This time, the Taiwan-based PC maker forecasts consumers will turn from tablets to Ultrabooks in 2012. Such talk could go into the same category of the Mayan calendar foreshadowing the end of the world.

Apple has been on quite the winning streak lately. With the next iPhone announcement on the horizon, things are only looking up for the folks in Cupertino.

With Apple set to reveal its last quarter financial results on October 18th, predictions are that the company will see growth in Mac and iPad sales, with a slight decline in iPhone sales.

On Twitter, one of Cult of Mac’s readers said calling the Kindle Fire competition to the iPad 2 was like calling a Kia competition to a Porsche.

It’s an interesting analogy. True, the Kindle Fire’s hardware is inferior to the iPad 2’s in almost every way. It boasts an 800MHz dual-core processor to the iPad 2’s 1.2GHz A5 dual-core powerhouse. The screen is smaller than the iPad 2’s, though it has better pixel density. It only has 8GB of storage, it has no 3G, no GPS, no camera. It only registers two points of multitouch to the iPad 2’s eleven, for god’s sake. So the analogy seems to fit, right?

Not so fast. Sure, Apple’s hardware is great, but Apple has proven that hardware is only as good as its software. That’s why Apple’s products are so magical: they are a seamless amalgam of excellence in software and hardware design, intertwined.

It’s a philosophy towards design that Apple’s competitors have just never understood. And that’s why the Kindle Fire is going to be huge, the iPad’s first real competitor. The Kindle Fire is going to be a Kia that drives like a Porsche, and when Apple counters it — and I think they will — it’ll be going head-to-head with an iPad mini.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a jacket that lets you store your iPhone, iPad, sync cables, and maybe even a MacBook Air? The folks at AyeGear think so.

The AyeGear jacket lets you take your Apple devices with you wherever you go.

Apple has announced the date for its Q4 2011 earnings call to investors. The Cupertino company will hold its financial conference call on October 18th for the fourth fiscal quarter.

Q4 of 2011 ended on Saturday, September 24th. After stellar results in Q3 of 2011, Apple is expected to do just as well, if not better, in its results for the fourth quarter.

AllThingsD says that Apple will announced the next iPhone on October 4th, next Thursday, at a small venue at its own Cupertino HQ. Since All Things D’s “source” is almost definitely Apple itself, that date and venue seems pretty solid.

It’s about the only report about the next iPhone that feels solid. What else do we know for sure about the next iPhone? Pretty much bupkis for sure. Apple has gone to unprecedented and incredible lengths to keep the exact details of the next iPhone secret. It’s the first time Apple journalists have truly felt left in the dark for a long time.