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Steve Jobs

666 'Steve Jobs' stories February 2010 - August 2013
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The foundation of Apple

Steve Jobs was the co-founder and CEO of Apple. He also founded NeXT and was the majority shareholder of Pixar, both of which he was also CEO. Jobs is known as an icon of creativity and entrepreneurship. The prolific author Walter Isaacson released Jobs’ biography in October of 2011. Isaacson describes his major accomplishment as being a “creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.”

Jobs attended Reed College for a short period of time before dropping out in 1972. However, he continued to dabble with classes unofficially and came across a calligraphy course instructed by Robert Palladino. This course ended up being highly influential for Jobs as he attributed it to bringing multiple typefaces to the Mac.

Steve Jobs founded Apple with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in 1976. After a drawn out power struggle Jobs was pushed out of Apple in 1985. He then founded NeXT in 1985 and also funded the move of Lucasfilm’s Graphics Group to become its own corporation, which became Pixar in 1986. Just over a decade later in 1997, Jobs returned to Apple as they acquired NeXT. His return marked the beginning of a new era of success. He took over as CEO in July of 1997 and continued on until handing the position to Tim Cook on August 24, 2011 after increasing health problems. Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011.

Isaacson describes his major accomplishment as being a “creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.”

Watch Jobs and Woz come up with the Apple name in new clip from ‘JOBS’

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Aug 1 2013 - 1:47 pm PT
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Ahead of its upcoming August 16th debut in theatres, Open Road Films just released a new clip from the JOBS film starting Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs. In the latest clip, Jobs and and Steve Wozniak, played by Josh Gad, come up with the name “Apple Computer,” a story that we’ve heard straight from the real Jobs and Wozniak in the past.

Tomorrow Ashton Kutcher and Josh Gad will also be hosting a live YouTube Hangout at 11am PST/2pm EST to answer questions about the JOBS movie submitted using #AskJobsMovie. The event will be hosted on the JOBSthefilm YoutTube account.

If you want to hear the story of the Apple name straight from the source, the real Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs give their versions of events in the videos below:
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New JOBS featurette shows extended movie clip with commentary

Avatar for Jul 31 2013 - 1:41 pm PT
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Open Road Films has posted a new JOBS ‘featurette’ which provides an extended look at the film coupled with commentary from Ashton Kutcher, Michael Stern (Director) and other supporting cast members. Check out Ashton’s in-depth interview with The Verge’s Joshua Topolsky for even more insight into his thoughts regarding the film and the general tech landscape. JOBS is slated to be released nationwide on August 16th, but posters for the movie are already popping up at theaters.
https://twitter.com/iDannyOcean/status/356863921975611392

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Ashton Kutcher on passing up the opportunity to meet Steve Jobs [video]

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 25 2013 - 4:23 am PT
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http://youtu.be/ZvqIwUperU0

Ashton Kutcher, who plays Steve Jobs in the biopic due for U.S. release on August 16th, told Jay Leno that he passed up the opportunity to meet Jobs.

Kutcher described Jobs as “the Leonardo da Vinci of our generation,” and says that he will never forget the day that he died …

The movie, JOBS, got mixed reviews at its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival but should find fans in its wider release.

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‘There’s something wrong with those colors’

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 26 2013 - 11:53 am PT
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We’ve heard some stories in the past of Steve Jobs’ involvement in the construction of the Pixar campus in Emeryville, California and the main building, now named “The Steve Jobs Building” in honor of its co-founder and former CEO. In it’s recent tour of the building, senior design project manager Craig Payne, who happened to come with Steve to Pixar from NeXT, told BuzzFeed another interesting story about Jobs’ attention to detail during the project:

“So Steve loves the Hills Brothers building in San Francisco, and he wanted to replicate that [brick] palette,” says Payne. “So we found a company in Washington state that agreed to match that as best as possible. It was like five different colors of brick. So they made a 10-foot-high by 10-foot-wide panel of the brick, and Steve said, ‘I love it.’ He even said, ‘I want to eat it,’ which is a funny comment. It was done. We found our brick.”

That is, until the brick started to be applied to the walls. “Steve looked at it and said, ‘There’s something wrong with those colors,’” says Payne. “Sure enough, they took the production brick and they built another panel next to the one that he approved, and one of the colors was off. We were in a real mess because we were at the point where the brick was going to be laid on the building. We went back to the brick manufacturer, and we were like, ‘That deep brown needs to be deeper.’ They sent, like, three more samples, and after the third sample they said, ‘We’re going to do one more, but that’s it, and if you don’t like it, we’re done.’ They were just at their wits’ end. So I was the sacrificial lamb. I flew up to Spokane. The brick came out of the kiln, the guy grabbed the brick and said, ‘Do you want it or not?’ I didn’t lose my job, so I guess I made the right decision.

You can check out the rest of BuzzFeed’s tour of the Pixar building here.

Apple continues new ‘Designed by Apple in California’ campaign with full two page print ads

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 25 2013 - 8:04 am PT
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Update, June 29: Apple is running different full two-page ads in the Toronto Star and other Canadian newspapers today. The ads includes the same text and “Designed by Apple in California” tagline as the one above, but use alternate images that have also appeared on Apple’s “Designed by Apple” web page. Check out the other ads below.

We previously reported that Apple was starting a brand new ad campaign that focuses on its ecosystem and the people that use it rather than specific products, and today a reader notes that it has also brought the campaign to print with a full two-page ad in the Toronto Star (pictured above). We’d expect this to be the tone of its ads in the coming months, and the ad above (alongside its latest TV commercial), is also currently running on Apple’s “Designed by Apple” web page on Apple.com.
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Apple’s total device market share to grow from 10% to 14% – new forecast

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jun 24 2013 - 7:12 am PT
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A forecast published today by market intelligence company Gartner suggests that Apple’s combined market share of mobile phones, tablets and PCs will grow from just under 10 percent to over 14 percent by 2014 – shipping almost 3m devices this year, and rising to over 3.5m next year.

Gartner is predicting that while PC sales will fall 10.6 percent year-on-year, and phones grow at a modest 4.3 percent, tablets will grow 67.9 percent … 
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‘Inspired by true events’: Official trailer for Ashton Kutcher’s ‘Jobs’ film goes live

Avatar for Mark Gurman Jun 21 2013 - 10:21 am PT
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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH1jKZwcS9Y?rel=0]

Ahead of its August 16th opening, the creators of the “Jobs” biopic starring Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs have released the first official trailer (via MR). The trailer gives a peak at the film, demonstrating that the movie will cover early Apple with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak to Steve Jobs’s departure to Steve Jobs’s return in the 1990s. Earlier this year, the film premiered to a small audience which gave the movie mixed reviews. Following this, the film was delayed from its original April opening date. Below is another clip from the film (from January):


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Apple cofounders in the news: Steve Jobs on legacy, and Woz firing-up three Apple Is 35 years later

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jun 19 2013 - 6:42 am PT
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http://youtu.be/zut2NLMVL_k

The Loop spotted that YouTube channel EverySteveJobsVideo has uploaded a previously-unseen video of Steve Jobs answering a question about what would be his legacy.

Rather ironically, one of the statements he made – that in a few years it wouldn’t even be possible to fire up an Apple I to see what it was like – was proven wrong by the other Steve yesterday doing just that. Mercury News reports that Steve Wozniak fired-up not just one but three Apple I computers at the History San Jose centre. Given that one recently sold for $671k, that’s about $2 million worth he powered-up …

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Eddy Cue discusses Steve Jobs’ fascination with page curls, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Ted Kennedy at ebooks hearing

Avatar for Zac Hall Jun 17 2013 - 1:10 pm PT
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While the litigious quests of Apple seem to never go away (or accomplish much in the process), AllThingsD has collected a few notable tidbits revealed by Eddy Cue, who is fresh off of his WWDC presentation, during the ‘ebooks price fixing’ hearings. Remember folks, Cue was under oath, so this is completely on the books now.

Peter Kafka, for AllThingsD:

For instance:

The “page curls” in the iBook app, which show up when you flip an iBook’s page? That’s Steve Jobs’ idea.

It was Jobs’ idea to pick ““Winnie-the-Pooh” as the freebie book that came with every iBook app. Not just because Jobs liked the book, Cue said, but because it showed off iBook’s capabilities: “It had beautiful color drawings, that had never been seen before in a digital book.”

Jobs was also specific about the book he used to show off the iBook during his initial iPad demo in January 2010. He picked Ted Kennedy’s “True Compass” memoir, because the Kennedy family “meant a lot to him”, Cue said.
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The era of unshackled Apple executives [Opinion]

Avatar for Scott Buscemi Jun 14 2013 - 6:54 pm PT
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“Can’t innovate anymore, my ass.”

Over the past few months, it feels as if Apple is on a media and publicity roadshow. Tim Cook has appeared on Rock Center, testified at the Senate’s corporate tax hearing, and was interviewed at All Things D’s D11 conference. In addition, as was mentioned during today’s Happy Hour podcast, the Apple executives took many opportunities during the WWDC keynote to speak directly to recent criticisms about their design decisions and abilities to innovate in the tech industry.

This is, quite simply, the era of unshackled and vocal Apple executives. 
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Despite impressive ads, Media Arts Lab execs reportedly frustrated with Phil Schiller’s lack of focus

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 11 2013 - 8:28 am PT
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Zr1s_B0zqX0

Yesterday at its WWDC keynote presentation, alongside the expected design overhaul in Apple’s upcoming iOS 7, the company briefly showed off a slightly new direction for its ad campaigns going forward. While it kicked off the presentation with a video describing its focus for the new simplified design elements in iOS 7 (below), Bloomberg reports that its latest ad (above), which just started appearing on TV last night, marks a new direction for Apple’s marketing efforts. It also claims that Apple’s meetings regarding the company’s marketing message have become less focused following Steve Jobs’ death now that Apple’s senior vice president of marketing Phillip Schiller is in charge:
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Judge in Apple eBook case says U.S. government has evidence to prove pricing conspiracy ahead of trial

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 24 2013 - 6:39 am PT
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Earlier this month we heard that Apple submitted to the courts that it engaged in “contentious negotiations”– and not a pricing conspiracy– at a time when publishers were already considering methods of getting Amazon to increase pricing. According to the latest comments from a judge in the high-profile eBook pricing case, Apple might not be able to prove its case when it goes to trial early next month.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote believes that the U.S Justice Department will indeed be able to prove a pricing conspiracy took place (via Bloomberg):

“I believe that the government will be able to show at trial direct evidence that Apple knowingly participated in and facilitated a conspiracy to raise prices of e-books, and that the circumstantial evidence in this case, including the terms of the agreements, will confirm that,” U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan said yesterday.

“We strongly disagree with the court’s preliminary statements about the case,” Orin Snyder, Apple’s lead lawyer in the case, said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. “The court made clear that this was not a final ruling and that the evidence at trial will determine the verdict. This is what a trial is for.”

Jony Ive’s new look for iOS 7: black, white, and flat all over

Avatar for Mark Gurman May 24 2013 - 5:00 am PT
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With the grand unveiling of Apple’s next operating system for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch approaching, sources have provided detailed descriptions of what users and developers alike could expect from the software’s fresh look.

As we reported in April, Apple Senior Vice President of Industrial Design Jony Ive has been leading a thorough overhaul for iOS 7 that focuses on the look and feel of the iOS device software rather than on several new features.

Sources have described iOS 7 as “black, white, and flat all over.” This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements.

Sources say that over the past few months, Apple has re-architected iOS 7’s new interface several times, so until the new software is announced at WWDC, interface elements could dramatically change from what Apple has been testing internally in recent weeks.

Nonetheless, you can find what we have been hearing about iOS 7’s new user experience below:


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Outgoing Intel CEO Paul Otellini’s big regret? Not landing an Intel chip in Apple’s iPhone

Avatar for 9to5 Staff May 16 2013 - 3:18 pm PT
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Interesting exit interview with Intel CEO Paul Otellini wherein he says (duh) he regrets not trying harder not to get his chips inside the iPhone (and subsequently iPod touch and iPads).

But, oh, what could have been! Even Otellini betrayed a profound sense of disappointment over a decision he made about a then-unreleased product that became the iPhone. Shortly after winning Apple’s Mac business, he decided against doing what it took to be the chip in Apple’s paradigm-shifting product.

“We ended up not winning it or passing on it, depending on how you want to view it. And the world would have been a lot different if we’d done it,” Otellini told me in a two-hour conversation during his last month at Intel. “The thing you have to remember is that this was before the iPhone was introduced and no one knew what the iPhone would do… At the end of the day, there was a chip that they were interested in that they wanted to pay a certain price for and not a nickel more and that price was below our forecasted cost. I couldn’t see it. It wasn’t one of these things you can make up on volume. And in hindsight, the forecasted cost was wrong and the volume was 100x what anyone thought.”

While there seems to be some sentiment that if Otellini had tried, Intel would have won Apple’s iOS device business. But, it clearly isn’t that simple. ARM chips use an order of magnitude less power than Intel chips, even to this day.

Also, if Intel is so great at powering mobile device chips, why wouldn’t Android devices (And Windows 8 devices!) have used them as an advantage?

Steve Jobs and Apple prioritized efficiency over raw power which may have proved to be one of the winning advantages of the feature-rich iPhone and iPad over a decade plus of Windows machines.

Times have changed: No iTunes water in Windows 8 Hell for Microsoft Metro tablet users

Avatar for Seth Weintraub May 10 2013 - 7:34 am PT
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4AXaFlIFQA&start=29]

“It’s like giving a glass of ice water to somebody in hell”

That’s what Steve Jobs said of iTunes for Windows when asked why Apple made its software for competing Microsoft users in 2007.

But times have changed. Apple continues to make/support iTunes for Windows desktop computing environments, but it doesn’t need Microsoft’s outlier tablet users who now represent the third largest share of tablet OS behind iOS and Android (by the way, don’t expect iTunes for Android any time soon either).

In fact, the iTunes ecosystem is a competitive advantage as Apple sells its iOS tablets, smartphones and TVs against Android and now Windows 8 devices. Where Windows dominated the userbase in the early 2000s, Apple now is the leader in the current ecosystem race.

That’s why it comes as no surprise that Microsoft’s Windows division CFO Tami Reller is telling folks not to expect a Windows 8 ‘Metro’ iTunes app:

“You shouldn’t expect an iTunes app on Windows 8 any time soon,” said Tami Reller, chief financial officer of Microsoft’s Windows division. “ITunes is in high demand. The welcome mat has been laid out. It’s not for lack of trying.”

It should be noted that Microsoft has been dragging its feet in delivering the once ubiquitous Office Suite of applications for iOS which is now letting competitors (Like Pages/Numbers/Keynote and Google Apps) thrive on the now dominant iOS and Android touch platforms.
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Apple revises plans for its Campus 2 building, adding bicycle access improvements, additional parking, and more

Avatar for Michael Steeber Apr 24 2013 - 7:21 pm PT
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Apple has just revised its plans for its massive upcoming new headquarters, scheduled to be completed by 2016. The revised plans, known as Submittal 6, focus less on the structure of the building itself, instead highlighting the surrounding land and facilities, showing off new bike paths, larger parking areas, and photos of street renderings.

The parking areas have been increased in capacity from 9,000 to 9,240 in the main lot, and 1,500 to 1,740 in an additional location, the report states. Updated bike access plans include new features such as enhanced bike lanes called “buffered bike lanes,” as well as bike boxes and two-stage turn boxes (images below).

Although there will be an incremental increase in gross office and research and development floor area of approximately 20%, the efficient use of the main site will result in almost tripling the landscaped area. Underground and structured parking will replace 9,220 surface parking spaces – creating almost three times more open space.


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Funny or Die’s ‘iSteve’ film with Justin Long now available to watch online

Avatar for Mark Gurman Apr 16 2013 - 7:39 pm PT
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Following weeks of teases, Funny or Die has published its satirical film about Steve Jobs, iSteve, on its website for streaming. The nearly 80-minute long film stars Justin Long of the Mac vs. PC  ads. Notably, the project is the longest video that Funny or Die has ever created. The trailer is embedded above, and you can watch the full movie here.


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Pixar dedicates tree on campus to Steve Jobs

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Apr 11 2013 - 12:56 pm PT
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Last year we posted a photo that originated from a Pixar employee showing the animation company had renamed its main facility “The Steve Jobs Building” in honor of its co-founder and former CEO. Today, PixarTimes points us to the image above showing a tree on the Pixar campus just outside The Steve Jobs Building that has been recently dedicated to Steve:

Dedicated With Love And Gratitude To

Steve Jobs

Our Partner, Mentor, And Friend

Pixar has honored Jobs’ contributions in others ways too, such as the credits of the 2012 film ‘Brave’ which happened to include the same text as the plaque above.

Steve Jobs was CEO of the animation studio until being acquired by Disney in 2006, in turn making Jobs the largest individual shareholder with a seat on the board of Disney. Jobs was also credited as an executive producer of the 1996 blockbuster Toy Story.