The below picture is currently on the Apple homepage:
Our deepest condolences go out to the family of Steve Jobs in this time of great sadness. May Steve rest in peace.
Steve Jobs Passes Away At The Age Of 56
Reply
Category Archives: Apple
Steve Jobs Resigns As CEO Of Apple Inc
In what can only be described as shocking, Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple Inc this evening. Here is his resignation letter in full (via WSJ):
CUPERTINO, Calif.–August 24, 2011–To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know.
Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.
I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
Steve
We all knew Steve was having health problems, but I never hoped it would come to this. Get well Steve.
Apple Hints At Black Friday Deals
Like many retailers, Apple is holding their Black Friday deals close to their vest. The Apple homepage has one of the four secondary banners devoted to their “special one-day Apple shopping event”. Clicking that link however, just tells you to come back November 26th. Apple promises “dozens of great iPad, iPod, and Mac gifts for everyone on your list”. Based on previous years, expect Apple hardware discounts of 8% – 10%, and better deals on software and accessories. You can look at the past three Apple Black Friday deals here. If the new Apple TV gets discounted, I just might pick one up!
Update 11/25/2010:
Apple has released their Black Friday deals on the page linked above. As suspected, discounts are in the range of previous years. Save $101 on the iMac, Macbook Pro, and Macbook Air. Save $41 on the iPad, $21 on the iPod touch, $5 on a number of Apple accessories, and more. These aren’t the only discounts as the page says, “Tomorrow, you can save on these Apple products and many other accessories”.
Apple Hosting Back to the Mac Event Today
Apple is holding another media event today, which for a change is focused on the Mac. The event starts at 10AM Pacific time and according to the latest rumor (as I type this), Apple will again stream the event live. What should we expect from Apple today?
- MacBook Air Update: The MBA is long overdue for an update and some rumors event point to a MBA with a smaller screen to be added to the notebook lineup.
- iLife 11: The Apple Discussions forums leaked new forum categories for a number of iLife 11 applications. Engadget has the story.
- OSX 10.7: Judging by the invitation the media received, it looks like the next cat in the OS X franchise is Lion. The king of the jungle; is this the last version of OS X?
The above items are a near certainty. Will Apple have anything else up their sleeve? We’ll have to wait and see. I usually visit Engadget for my Apple special event coverage. Engadget is covering the event in liveblog fashion here.
Tomorrow Is T Day
Unless you have been on another planet, you probably heard about the special Apple event tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. The Apple event begins at 10AM Pacific in San Francisco, CA. Everyone article in the mainstream press pegs it as a given that Apple will announce a tablet of some kind. We know the tablet is coming, but what exactly will it bring? If it’s just a large iPod touch, I think a lot of people are going to be very disappointed.
I’ll be checking the action as it goes down live via Engadget. They have already setup a place holder for their live coverage here. We’ll have our own recap and reaction of the event after it’s finished.
David Weiss created a cool “Prediction Score Card” for the event tomorrow. You can download a copy here. If you participate in the score card, come back and post your score in the comments after the event. I’ve already filled mine out so I’ll post my score tomorrow afternoon.
Do you have any predictions you’d like to share? Use the comments below to post your ideas.
Apple-Focused Programing Highlights CNBC Lineup This Week
My DVR will be working overtime this week as CNBC will be airing some great television programs for Apple fans.
“Welcome to Macintosh” is a 2008 documentary chronicling the history of Apple. Important figures in Apple’s past make appearances, including Guy Kawasaki, who was responsible for Macintosh marketing in 1984, as well as Andy Hertzfeld, who worked on the original Macintosh design team. Leander Kahney, the author of the popular Apple book “Cult of Mac,” is in the documentary also. “Welcome to Macintosh” will be airing on January 4th at 9:30 PM EST.
The 2009 documentary “MacHEADS” discusses Apple fans and the popularity of Apple products. There have not been any films in the past that have focused on the legions of fans that are devoted to Apple. “MacHEADS” will be airing January 5th at 10:00 PM EST.
“Planet of the Apps” discusses the phenomenon that is mobile phone apps. The popularity of these apps was fueled by Apple allowing third-party apps for sale for the iPhone and iPod touch starting in July 2008. Other companies have tried to mimic the App Store’s success by launching stores of their own, but have not been nearly as successful as Apple has. “Planet of the Apps” will be airing on January 7th at 10:00 PM EST.
I rarely watch movies so I have not seen either of the documentaries, but it will be exciting to watch them as well as “Planet of the Apps.”
What Apple’s Lala Purchase Could Mean to Apple Fans
Apple’s recent purchase of Lala has many intriguing ramifications for Apple users.
Lala is a music site that lets users stream music. Lala scans your hard drive to see which music you already own. If songs match what is in their library, or you upload your tracks, you can listen to that music an unlimited amount through their web site. If you don’t own the tracks, you can listen to them once. After that you can buy a web version that can be streamed forever or “upgraded” to a downloadable version. The streaming component flies in the face of Apple’s “download-and-own-forever” model. Apple sees that music consumption may evolve and they are preparing for this change. It is unknown whether Apple will keep Lala’s current model or alter it to a “all-you-can-eat” subscription.
There is no way the Lala iPhone app sees the light of day, presuming that Lala isn’t kept as a separate service that is away from Apple’s ecosystem. Streaming content could be provided through the music app on the iPhone/iPod touch (and hopefully Apple’s potential tablet) with optional caching for offline playback. It would be nice to have downloadable music for iPods lacking WI-FI, with music files that time-expire. Syncing through iTunes could then verify service membership (i.e. once a month).
There have been endless debates on the value proposition of MobileMe, especially in light of alternative free services that can be combined to be similar to what MobileMe offers. Adding a streaming music service to MobileMe would increase its value significantly. I would assume that being a subscriber to Apple’s music service would not require being a MobileMe member.
It would be great to have my music stored in the cloud from anywhere with a Internet connection. Any Lala web site functionality will probably be rebranded as a Apple product and thus become iTunes in a browser.
Apple TV has not sold well. Coupling this music service with the proposed video subscription deal that could be occurring soon and I would be far more interested in getting an Apple TV. Content is king, and the variety and amount of music and video available will be key to increasing Apple TV’s popularity.
Many music services I have tried have left me wanting more. Hopefully Apple’s will have enough content to please me.