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Steve Jobs - page 13

Can Apple keep cannibalizing its core creations? [Opinion]

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Galaxy-Fold-inside
Folding smartphones could threaten both iPhone and iPad sales.
Photo: Samsung

Apple built its world-dominating status by being brave. Not only did it create hit products, but it never worried about “cannibalizing” existing products to make way for the future.

Will that same strategy hold true at a time when Apple’s dominance is faltering? If the company is going to thrive through the next wave of tech, it’s going to take a whole lot of Dutch Cupertino courage.

Rap T-shirt designer gives Steve Jobs the hip-hop fashion treatment

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Marino Morwood 2
Marino Morwood's designs have been worn by some crazy popular rappers.
Photo: Marino Morwood

Steve Jobs may have been referenced in a hip-hop track or two, but Apple’s co-founder and urban fashion aren’t exactly things you’d expect to find together.

That did not stop rap T-shirt designer Marino Morwood from picking Jobs as the subject of his latest creation. Having focused stars like Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. for his previous designs, his Steve Jobs T-shirt could bring Apple’s late CEO to a whole new audience!

Today in Apple history: Mac creator complains about Steve Jobs

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Jobs
Young Steve Jobs wasn't exactly easy to work with!
Photo: Esther Dyson/Flickr CC

February 19 Today in Apple history: Mac creator Jef Raskin complains about Steve Jobs February 19, 1981: Jef Raskin, creator of the Macintosh project, sends a memo to Apple CEO Mike Scott, listing his many complaints about working with Steve Jobs.

He claims that Jobs, who joined the Mac team the previous month, is tardy, shows bad judgment, interrupts people, doesn’t listen and is a bad manager.

Steve Jobs opera triumphs with classical music Grammy

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Ashton Kutcher and Michael Fassbender played Steve Jobs in movies. Now Edward Parks III brings his rich baritone voice to the Steve Jobs opera, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.
Apple's former CEO as portrayed in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.
Photo: Dario Acosta/Santa Fe Opera

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, an opera based on the life of Apple’s late co-founder and CEO, bagged the Grammy for best opera recording last night.

The Santa Fe Opera Orchestra recording of composer Mason Bates’ opera triumphed over nominees including Doctor Atomic by John Adams, Alceste by John-Baptiste Lully, Der Rosenkavalier by Strauss and Rigoletto by Verdi.

What you need to know about Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s new head of retail

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Deirdre O’Brien, a 30-year Apple veteran, will lead Apple’s Retail and People teams.
30-year Apple veteran Deirdre O’Brien will handle the company's retail push.
Photo: Apple

Apple tapped Deirdre O’Brien to be its new retail boss today in light of the news that Angela Ahrendts plans to leave the company.

While O’Brien may not be a household name to most Apple fans, she’s been with the company for more than three decades. From the days of Steve Jobs saving Apple from bankruptcy to watching Tim Cook leading the company to a first-ever $1 trillion valuation, O’Brien has seen huge changes during her tenure with the iPhone-maker. Now she’s set to be one of the most powerful people in Silicon Valley.

Here are six things you didn’t know about the new Apple retail boss.

Tim Cook celebrates the Mac on its 35th anniversary

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Macintosh
The very first Macintosh.
Photo: Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook took to Twitter today to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Mac.

Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder and former CEO, unveiled the very first Macintosh on January 24, 1984. The machine had been teased in a now-famous Super Bowl commercial two days earlier.

“It changed the way we think about computers and went on to change the world,” Cook says.

Acclaimed Steve Jobs opera coming to Seattle

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Ashton Kutcher and Michael Fassbender played Steve Jobs in movies. Now Edward Parks III brings his rich baritone voice to the Steve Jobs opera, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs as portrayed by Edward Parks III in the original Santa Fe version of the opera, circa 2017.
Photo: Dario Acosta/Santa Fe Opera

It’s not often that a business executive’s life can be described as operatic. If that’s true for anyone, though, it may well be Apple’s late CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs — whose life saw plenty of the kind of dramatic triumphs and failures that inform the best operas.

It’s therefore appropriate that Jobs’ life forms the basis for The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, a modern opera which is soon to make its debut in Seattle.

Handwritten Steve Jobs document fails to sell at auction

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Jobs document
A section of the Steve Jobs Apple-1 spec sheet, with two Polaroids.
Photo: Bonhams

A vintage handwritten spec sheet in which Steve Jobs called the Apple-1 motherboard a “great deal” has failed to sell at auction.

The document, written in the mid-1970s, was up for auction as part of Bonham’s “History of Science and Technology, Including Space History” collection. Its asking price was $60,000. However, the bidding “only” reached up to $28,000, thereby failing to meet its reserve. A couple of historical Apple items did sell, but for less than expected.

Apple Store creator tells how disagreeing with Steve Jobs perfected retail

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Ron Johnson when he was with Apple
Ron Johnson, with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs at the grand opening of an Apple Store.
Photo: Richard Agullar

Steve Jobs’ hands-on approach to just about every project at Apple is part of his legend.

Ron Johnson, Apple’s first head of retail, offers fascinating detail about Jobs and the work leading up to the first Apple Store during a recent episode of the Gimlet podcast Without Fail hosted by Andy Blumberg.

Jobs was demanding and described by many as often difficult to work with. But Johnson says working with Jobs was a “gift.”

Steve Jobs’ autograph could cost you $50,000

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Steve Jobs autograph
That signature lower-case-letter-style of signing.
Photo: Nate D Sanders/Paul Fraser Collectibles

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had little time or interest in signing autographs for fans.

But if you are in possession of the rare exception, you have a signature considered the most valuable, according to a guide that tracks the values of the most sought-after autographs.

Handwritten Steve Jobs Apple-1 spec sheet up for auction

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man in the machine
Steve Jobs as a young man.
Photo: Magnolia Pictures/Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine

Steve Jobs was renowned for being hands-on when it came to overseeing Apple’s iconic ad campaigns. But if you really want an Apple ad that had Jobs’ writing all over it, you need to start scouring your personal savings.

That’s because a handwritten document describing the spec of the Apple-1 — Apple’s first ever computer — is coming up for auction this month. In it, Jobs’ describes the computer’s printed circuit board, which was being sold for $75, as a “real deal.”

Black Friday steals, MacBook Pro’s new Vega GPUs and strange Steve Jobs stories, on The CultCast

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CultCast 362 MacBook Pro
The 2018 MacBook Pro has two new GPUs, and we're pissed.

This week on The CultCast: You need to be prepared if you want to lock down the best prices on the best gadgets this Black Friday. We’ll tell you the strategies to use to grab all the good deals most shoppers miss. Plus: The new MacBook Pro GPUs are a huge upgrade, but we’re pissed. (We’ll explain.) Also: Why Apple’s stock has fallen off a cliff. And we’ll wrap up with a Steve Jobs story so mundane, the internet has become fascinated with it.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first hosting plan or domain.

Woz thinks Steve Jobs would be happy with Apple today

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Wozniak
Woz talks Tesla, Tim Cook, and more.
Photo: Campus Party Bogota/Flickr CC

Steve Wozniak thinks that his Apple co-founder Steve Jobs would be very happy with Apple today. That’s because it’s still a company which puts people above technology, Woz told CNBC.

“Steve always acted that way,” Woz said. “The users should be more important than the technology itself. You should not be a victim of the technology and what it can do. You should get to live your human life in the most human way possible.”

Steve Jobs stood in the lunch line like a regular Joe

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Steve Jobs
Be careful in the cafeteria line. You never know when your boss is behind you.
Photo: Apple

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was known to be incredibly demanding. But one retired Apple executive said when it came to standing in line in the company cafeteria, Jobs waited his turn like everyone else.

This would not be a surprising revelation about most people, but Jobs’ mercurial nature is the stuff of legend. The late Apple exec’s moods and commands have been the source material for books and movies. His character is even sung about on the opera stage.

iPhone XR makes Apple’s coolest phone the cheapest

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iPhone XR was India’s no. 1 ‘ultra premium’ smartphone in 2019
For the first time in years, Apple's best iPhone is also its cheapest.
Photo: Apple

The iPhone XR is out and, for the first time in years, Apple’s most exciting device isn’t the one that commands the really big bucks. For all the talk of an “Apple tax,” 2018’s coolest iPhone starts at just $749. That’s half the price of a top-of-the-line iPhone XS Max.

And that’s seriously great news for fans.

You could soon be the proud owner of Steve Jobs’ toilet

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Woodside
150 items come from Jobs' former home in Woodside, California.
Photo: Jonathan Haeber, Bearings

Do you want to own a chandelier that once belonged to Steve Jobs? How about a Jobs-owned thermostat, originally made in 1925? Or a silver-plated tea spoon? Or, heck, even Jobs’ old toilet? These, and roughly 146 more possessions, could soon be going up for auction.

At least, if some members of the Woodside town council, the small incorporated town in San Mateo County, where Steve Jobs once had a home, get their way.

Jony Ive explains why Apple Park is a game-changer for designers

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Jony Ive CultCast
Ive in his old design studio, which holds "decades of history."
Photo: BBC

Jony Ive says he is “truly proud” of Apple Watch, which he describes as a powerful computer filled with sophisticated sensors that we strap to our wrists. And we can expect Apple to continuing delivering products that are just as special in the future.

Apple Park is a game-changer for designers that will allow better collaboration than ever before, Ive reveals in a new interview.

Beats headphones go full Mickey Mouse

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Mickey
Mickey Mouse now has his own Beats.
Photo: Beats

The Beats Studio3 and Beats Solo3 wireless headphone lineups both got updated with new color options today.

Apple is putting out a new Skyline collection of color options for the Studio3 headphones. The collection’s four color options are crystal blue, desert sand, midnight black and shadow gray. Meanwhile, the Solo3’s have a new Mickey Mouse themed option to celebrate the famous cartoon character’s 90th anniversary.

Take a look:

Happy Steve Jobs Day, everyone!

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Steve Jobs offers a sneak peek at the first Apple store prior to its opening.
"What, only the one day?"
Screenshot: Apple

There’s Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and … Steve Jobs Day? Yep, it’s true: If you live in California, then today — October 16 — is officially Steve Jobs Day.

So make sure to wear your best mock turtleneck, take the license plate off your car (note: don’t actually do this), put on a Bob Dylan album, and maybe brush up on your calligraphy to pay tribute to Apple’s co-founder!

Apple’s famous hyperbole factory works overtime

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Apple keynotes
The iPhones may change but the words describing remain the same.
Screenshot: James Brown/YouTube

When you compare the iPhone 4 to the iPhone XS, virtually everything has changed. All except the script Apple uses when introducing its new handsets to the public.

This is the tongue-in-cheek observation of James Brown, a YouTuber and Reddit user who posted a video comparing the use of adjectives from Steve Jobs in 2010 with Apple executives talking about the iPhones XS and XS Max at last week’s new product showcase.

Today in Apple history: NeXT customers get early taste of OS X

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NeXTstep
NeXTStep was an operating system ahead of its time.
Image: NeXT

September 18: Today in Apple history: NeXTStep gives NeXT customers an early taste of OS X September 18, 1989: Steve Jobs’ company NeXT Inc. ships version 1.0 of NeXTStep, its object-oriented, multitasking operating system.

Incredibly advanced for its time, NeXTStep is described by The New York Times as “Macintosh on steroids.” In an ironic twist, the operating system Jobs plans to use to compete with Cupertino turns out to be one of the things that saves Apple a decade later.

How Steve Jobs poached a Microsoft employee with a restaurant menu

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A successful Steve Jobs recruitment pitch came from an Il Fornaio menu. (It's an Italian restaurant in Palo Alto, California.)
"Do you want to eat pasta all your life, or join me and change the world?"
Photo: Lou Stejskal/Flickr CC

It’s not exactly breaking news that Steve Jobs was a great salesman. But a hilarious anecdote from Adam Fisher’s recent oral history of Silicon Valley, Valley of Genius, gives a great example of Jobs’ next-level skills.

Want to know how Jobs persuaded a product marketing expert from Microsoft to join his company NeXT? It turns out it involved little more than a bit of patented Steve Jobs charm — and a helping hand from a local Italian restaurant menu.

Why you couldn’t type the F-word on iPhone and other fascinating facts from Apple book

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Ken Kocienda's book, Creative Selection: Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Stave Jobs.
Ken Kocienda's book, Creative Selection: Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Stave Jobs.
Photo: St. Martin's Press

Why couldn’t you type the F-word on the iPhone? Why did Steve Jobs make weird eye movements during demos? What kind of manager was Scott Forstall?

These and other questions are answered in a new book by Ken Kocienda, a former iPhone programmer who spent 15 years at Apple helping to develop the first iPhone, iPad and Safari web browser.

Published this week, Creative Selection, Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs, is a fascinating account of Kocienda’s career that focuses on how Apple makes great software. (read our review here)

Here are some of the most interesting things we learned from the book.

Lisa Brennan-Jobs’ memoir seems to confirm an old rumor about Steve

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A photo of Lisa Brennan-Jobs, Steve Jobs' first daughter
Back in 1996, a story very similar to Lisa's was told in the form of a novel.
Photo: Lisa Brennan-Jobs/Wikipedia CC

Back in 1996, Steve Jobs’ sister, Mona Simpson, wrote a novel about a Silicon Valley tycoon who has a difficult and distant relationship with his oldest daughter. He even denies her paternity altogether, and then hands out meager amounts of child support to look after her and her mom.

At the time, Jobs denied that the protagonist in A Regular Guy was closely based on him. Others thought differently, however. More than 20 years later, Lisa Brennan-Jobs’ new memoir describes just how accurate Simpson’s novel was. And what she thought of it.