Steve Jobs - page 25

It’s a well-known fact that the late Steve Jobs was obsessed with simplicity and aesthetics, two traits that he drove into the core of Apple and will outlive him. What’s been less clear until his passing is how much those traits, his worldview, and the business that defines his legacy came from a lifelong affection for and interest in all things Japan.

Japanese tech journalist Hayashi Nobuyuki, who has covered Apple for years does a brilliant job chronicling Steve’s love of Japan in a piece for Nippon.com that I can’t recommend highly enough. A few of the tidbits can also be found in Walter Isaacson’s biography, but there are plenty of surprises to be had, as well. In particular, the stories of his vacations in Kyoto, the artisans and designers whose products he bought with regularity, and the time when he threatened to renounce the world and become a monk.

It’s a nice, pleasant read, perfect to enjoy with a cup of green tea and a headache. Happy New Year, everyone!

A famous Apple campaign goes: “Here’s to the crazy ones.” Of course the crazy ones usually get institutionalized. And that’s exactly what has happened to Apple. It seems that in recent weeks, Apple has been or announced plans to be, institutionalized.

Apple, which represents the newest of the new, both aesthetically and technologically, is embracing the old. Here’s what I’m talking about.

Westboro Baptist Church vs. Cupertino

We could subtitle this the “Steve Jobs” edition, his death in October gave rise to any number of oddball tributes and events. The most disturbing? The hatefulcrazy congregation of Westboro Baptist Church staged a series of protests in an attempt to mar Jobs memorials held in Apple’s home town on Oct. 19. The Kansas-based group announced via iPhone that they would stage a hate fest. True to form, they held up their nasty banners outside the Apple campus and at Cupertino High but were met with counter protesters determined not to let them ruin the day.

Artist David Datuna created a striking portrait of Steve Jobs titled “Viewpoint of Millions.” Shown at the recent international art fair Scope Miami, it became one of the most expensive art pieces sold at the fair, fetching $210,000.

It was created from a background pattern of thousands of miniature images of author/philosopher Ayn Rand; the large format iconic portrait rests under a wall of optical lenses made from nearly 80,000 parts.

There have been a countless articles and even books about how you might channel Steve Jobs trademark style for presentations, but you’d have a hard time finding videos of all of those talks in one spot.

Enter Stevenote.tv. It’s a labor of love from web designer Fabio Fiss, who thought it would be a fitting tribute to the late Apple co-founder to gather all of his public appearances by topic in one place.

Love this portrait of Apple co-founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs silhouetted in an old-school Apple logo.  It brings to mind the early days of the Cupertino company and its humble beginnings.

It’s the handiwork of Laurent Bourrelly who was inspired by Jonathan Mak’s iconic black-and-white image of Jobs that spurred a media storm.

“I thought Woz deserved as much props as Jobs,” he said.

Let’s hope this re-imagined logo ignites less controversy.

Via Flickr

A high school in Bulgaria is reportedly going to dump Lenin as its namesake for Steve Jobs. And if it does, it probably won’t be the first school named after the Apple co-founder.

If reports are to be believed, a technical secondary school in Bulgaria would topple communist politician Vladimir Ilyich Lenin as its namesake in favor of the symbolic innovation and insight offered by Steve Jobs. (Or a famous scientist. The decision hasn’t been made, yet.)

Watch Steve Jobs: One Last Thing on PBS. See more from PBS.

Did you miss the Steve Jobs documentary Steve Jobs: One Last Thing that aired last night on PBS or the UK’s Channel 4? Those nice guys over at public broadcasting have slung the whole movie up online for streaming, free.

Walter Isaacson’s warts-n-genius biography of Steve Jobs is a publishing sensation – over 380,000 copies sold in the U.S. alone in the six days since its October 24 launch.

Not surprisingly, pirated versions of the ebook are also a hit.

In the immediate aftermath of Steve Jobs’ death on October 5, the praise was overwhelming.

He was the greatest CEO in history, a prescient visionary, prolific inventor, influential designer, brilliant artist. He could walk across San Francisco Bay without getting his New Balance 991 sneakers wet, bend light with his will and turn dog shit into gold.

Then the backlash hit.

About a week after Jobs’ death, the promotional tour for Steve Jobs, the Walter Isaacson biography, began in ernest. This week, the book itself hit. And so did the “dark side” revelations. Plus, former rivals and Apple employees with an axe to grind came pouring out of the woodwork to tell snarky stories about Jobs’ flawed morality, bizarre personality and petty misconduct.

As they are wont to do, the lame-stream media pounced on the negative angle.

The praise was too much. But so is the ongoing character assassination. It’s time to bring the pendulum back to the center, and provide context for some of the most egregious dissing.

In particular, there are four major falsehoods about Jobs being thrown around in the past three weeks that need to be addressed.

To commemorate the launch of the official Steve Jobs biography in Taiwan, a bookseller handed out apples and bags printed with two portraits of the Apple co-founder.

You were supposed to be dressed in a Steve-esque black turtleneck to get the snack and commemorative bag at bookchain Eslite, but as the guy holding his bag wearing a Steve McQueen t-shirt shows, the rules for the giveaway weren’t strictly observed. (Or maybe all Steves look alike?)

The news comes to us from tireless Steve Jobs spotter Dan Bloom, who notes that Eslite’s sales of the bio are expected to outstrip Harry Potter.

Now that’s truly magical.

Via Dan Bloom

David Kelley and Steve Jobs have a lot in common. Kelley, the designer of Apple’s original mouse, was diagnosed with throat cancer back in 2007.

In addition to working with Apple on the mouse project, Jobs introduced Kelley to his wife. When Kelley was in the hospital, Jobs came to visit his old friend. And just like any well-wisher, he didn’t come empty handed.

Instead of flowers or candy, Jobs brought Kelley, who went on to found seminal design firm IDEO, the very first iPhone as a “get well” present. There was just one small problem: Jobs couldn’t get the iPhone to work.

Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor invoked Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as an example of fairness that the U.S. should emulate in the heated ongoing debate about income equality.

To honor Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, Apple retail stores around the U.S. will close for around 90 minutes on Wednesday, October 19.

From 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (PST) tomorrow, Apple’s iconic stores will be shuttered so employees can take part in a memorial service for Jobs. They’ll watching a live broadcast of the event being held at an outdoor amphitheater at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino. Apple employees outside the U.S. will be able to view a re-broadcast of the celebration.

Reuters reports that in preparation for the closure, stores across California aren’t accepting online bookings for Wednesday morning, either for tech-support or tutorials.

Via Reuters

Here’s the video to that “Steve Jobs” rap song that hit the Internets last month.

It’s got a few things that might not be safe for work – mainly rapper Supreme General  who wrote and performs the song in various states of undress with obligatory crotch grabbing and too many obscenities to count. (Not that I didn’t try to count the obscenities – I’m like that.)

If you want one of those iconic black mock turtlenecks made popular by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, you may have to wait a couple months.

Following Jobs’ death October 5, St. Croix Collections, maker of the mockneck, reported that it has sold out of the black version Jobs wore.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a “small private gathering” of Steve Jobs’ friends and family are holding a funeral for Jobs today. There will be no public memorial for his death, although there will be a service for Apple staff to attend at a later date.

Steve Jobs passed away two days ago at the age of 56 after a long fight with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. If you’re interested in visiting his final resting place, you can learn more about his steve jobs grave.

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.

Steve Jobs was no doubt a visionary and leader. People like this come along once in a lifetime, and to say that he changed the world woud be an understatement. In remembrance, I’ve put together this video. Thank you Steve.

You can’t truly understand the life and career of Steve Jobs without understanding the culture and history of Silicon Valley.

Steve Jobs was a child of the valley. And the spirit and energy of Silicon Valley coursed through his veins and was imprinted on his DNA.

Steven Paul Jobs was born in the city of San Francisco on February 24, 1955. He was adopted by a couple who lived, and who raised their children, in the idyllic Silicon Valley town of Mountain View, California.

If you were forced to choose an absolute geographic and cultural center of Silicon Valley, it’s possible that Steve Jobs’ childhood home might be the exact location.

Bill Gates offers his condolences:

I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work.

Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.

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.

For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.

[via AllthingsD]

Tim Cook’s email to Apple employees regarding the passing of Steve Jobs is below:

Team,

I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

We are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences in the interim, you can simply email [email protected].

No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.

Tim

Apple has announced that Steve Jobs the co-founder of Apple, has died. He was 56 years old.  Apple made the announcement this afternoon and we’ll have more updates on this breaking news throughout the evening.

If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email [email protected]

Water cooler alert: a new poll names Steve Jobs as the coolest man in tech, helping propel his fellow U.S. citizens to the position of coolest people on the planet.

Social networking site Badoo.com asked 30,000 people in 15 countries to name the coolest nationality. Big win for the red white and blue: America won the top spot.

You don’t hear all that much about Apple’s third founder, Ronald Wayne, and for good reason: he sold his stake in Apple just twelve days after the company was founded. It’d be worth $35 billion today. You might wonder how was apple founded. Wayne would like to tell you in his new autobiography, and… surprise… he doesn’t think he made a mistake at all!