Tag Archive for ‘Steve Jobs’

From the press release:

Apple today introduced iPhone, combining three products—a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, searching and maps—into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting users control iPhone with just their fingers. iPhone also ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones.

Probably the best product announcement in modern history. And I sure miss Macworld, it always had so many cool little hardware and software introductions that were built specifically for the Apple users.

➝ Source: apple.com

Steve Jobs, discussing subscription music services in 2003, as referenced by Dave Mark on The Loop:

You pay to download 500 songs and one day you stop paying your subscription fee and your entire music library goes away.

He was right. I don’t want to pay $10 a month for the rest of my life just to listen to music. Especially when my favorite artists, none of whom are “top acts”, will ever make meaningful money from the deal.

I’d much rather buy a digital download directly or, even better, a physical CD of the album. I will own that music for the rest of my life and I’ll be supporting artists along the way.

➝ Source: loopinsight.com

Steve Jobs, in April 2010:

Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.

The avalanche of media outlets offering their content for Apple’s mobile devices demonstrates that Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content. And the 250,000 apps on Apple’s App Store proves that Flash isn’t necessary for tens of thousands of developers to create graphically rich applications, including games.

New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too). Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind.

Adobe, in present day:

Since Adobe will no longer be supporting Flash Player after December 31, 2020 and Adobe will block Flash content from running in Flash Player beginning January 12, 2021, Adobe strongly recommends all users immediately uninstall Flash Player to help protect their systems.

Even back in 2010, many of us knew this day would come eventually. I’m actually a little surprised that it took this long.

➝ Source: web.archive.org

Ryan Christoffel, writing for MacStories:

Just imagine it: Steve Jobs, on-stage at Apple’s big developer conference, telling a crowd of Mac developers that web apps were the way to go for iPhone. And not only the way, but a “very sweet way,” an “awesome way.” Don’t believe him? Just look at Google! They build pretty great stuff.

The reality distortion field may have tried its hardest, but there was no amount of Jobs enthusiasm that could have sold developers. During the entire presentation on web apps, the only applause given came as a faint courtesy when Scott Forstall entered and exited the stage to demo web apps’ functionality. Clearly there was no excitement in the room for this “very sweet solution.”

One of my biggest regrets was not being more involved at this stage of the iPhone’s life. I was still writing about it on my weblog — I bought the original iPhone on day one, after all. But I wish that I would have had the foresight to learn more about web development then, instead of waiting until just a few years ago to hone my skills.

Before I publish my thoughts on any of the products announced today, I wanted to address Tim Cook’s dedication of the theater, in memory of Steve Jobs. The audio played at the opening of the event — the first ever to be held in Steve Jobs Theater — was absolutely perfect. No matter your opinions about the products Apple makes, you can’t deny the influence Steve Jobs had on millions of people around the world. He was a great man that will be missed for decades to come.

If you don’t have an opportunity to watch the full video of today’s event, at least try and set ten minutes aside to watch the beginning. It’s worth it.

The event is being held, for the first time ever, in the Steve Jobs Theater on Apple’s brand new spaceship campus. You can expect announcements to include new iPhones, a 4K Apple TV, iOS 11, and High Sierra release dates.

The new campus will be called Apple Park — a possible reference to Xerox PARC, the company that originally developed the modern graphical user interface that inspired the original Macintosh. It’s a great name, far better than any of the alternative suggestions I’ve seen in my Twitter timeline this morning.

And regarding the theater, that has been built alongside this new campus, from Apple’s press release:

Steve would have turned 62 this Friday, February 24. To honor his memory and his enduring influence on Apple and the world, the theater at Apple Park will be named the Steve Jobs Theater. Opening later this year, the entrance to the 1,000-seat auditorium is a 20-foot-tall glass cylinder, 165 feet in diameter, supporting a metallic carbon-fiber roof. The Steve Jobs Theater is situated atop a hill — one of the highest points within Apple Park — overlooking meadows and the main building.

Apple Park will also include a visitor center with an Apple Store and cafe that will be open to the public.

This is a video from 2010’s D8 conference, in which Steve Jobs discusses Apple’s management system with Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg. I came across this video a few days ago and I was amazed at how much of my own thinking falls in-line with his.

This is my favorite line from the video:

If you want to hire great people and have them stay working for you, you have to let them make a lot of decision and you have to be run by ideas not hierarchy. The best ideas have to win, otherwise good people don’t stay.

I can’t emphasize enough just how important this concept is. A lot of companies in the world would be far more successful if this was one of their core principles.