Visionary Steve Jobs dies, aged 56

I switched on my computer monitor, which had live.twit.tv on it. I wasn’t expecting anything apart from to see This Week in Radio Tech about to start (not that I watch that). The first thing I saw was Tom Merritt talking, which I wasn’t too surprised by as he had just been doing Triangulation. However, I then read the red banner at the bottom of the video feed:

“Steve Jobs 1955-2011. Apple confirms Steve Jobs’ Death”

I was completely taken aback. We all knew he was ill, but I for one didn’t expect him to die soon, especially this soon after stepping down. Yes, he had been seriously ill on several occasions, but he always (seemingly) recovered. He hadn’t been looking too well in recent keynotes, but had been his usual enthusiastic enigmatic self.  Nobody cared back then if a product was a repeat, as it was a joy to see someone so truly enthusiastic about a product. Everybody complained about the lack of anything large at yesterday’s keynote, but I expect the reaction would have been slightly different had Steve presented it. Anyway, this isn’t about Tim Cook’s presentation skills (or lack of, debatable), this is about Steve Jobs death.

It is fairly hard to argue that he “wasn’t a great man”. He was. Whether you’re a serious Apple fan or a serious Apple hater, you can hardly argue against his genuine enthusiasm and great visions. Not only did he make Apple what it was early on (with others, but his ‘guiding light’), but then worked Apple back up from almost the ground in 1997.

I can’t really think of much else to say right now, as I’m still ‘in shock’ over it. All I can say is, rest in peace. The world lost a great visionary today.

Steve Jobs steps down

Yes, I’ am rather late in ‘reporting’ on this, but I’ve been rather away from technology – not even a phone signal – for  a while.

Steve Jobs has stepped down from his position of CEO at Apple, leaving Tim Cook in-charge as CEO (stepping up from being Chief Operating Officer) at Apple.

Strangely,  while I was watching Windows Weekly  live in the car (as a passenger :P) on a long journey, they were discussing books about Apple and Steve Jobs. That got me thinking, how on earth would Apple cope without Steve? Last time he wasn’t at the helm, ‘not well’ was the answer. I have to say, I then thought further, and couldn’t imagine Apple without Steve, and didn’t think he would be stepping down any time soon.

Well, to my great surprise, the following morning I see in my ZDNet alert emails headlines about Steve Jobs stepping down. Definitely the end of an era.

So, I invite you to speculate in the comments, what IS Apple going to be like without Steve Jobs ‘running the show’? For starters, I don’t see how the keynotes could be as enigmatic or enthusiastic, but will the products follow the same path as before?

(that is of course, comment if you are one of the few people who ever read this :P)

iPad 2!

At long last, Apple have finally announced the iPad 2! First thing to notice is that yes, everyone got the name right in their predictions (unlike the 3Gs). It looks amazing. 33% more amazing to be precise. With a rear style akin to the iPod Touch and a grill on the back, this looks old yet very, very new. Why a grill? My guess is because of the 1Ghz dual-core A5 chip. Everything has improved. Two cameras, better graphics, thinner than the iPhone 4 (the world’s thinnest smartphone) and a fast processor. And you’ll be able to get some great new Apple apps for it, such as GarageBand! I have to say, this seems to be Apple’s biggest update to a product ever (e.g. this is like jumping from the original iPhone straight to the iPhone 4). Oh, and it’s being released in a week (in the US, later this month for most other big-on-Apple-products countries).

 

 

 

More in-depth post about the event coming soon – *spoiler alert*  Steve Jobs was back on the stage presenting it!

Apple updates leap out of nowhere

As you probably know, Steve Jobs took a medical leave of absence and is still away (and apparently getting worse). Normally for these recent updates we would expect some news, a brief keynote at most, that could have coincided with the imminent iPad 2 launch.  Anyway, Apple has launched their new generation of MacBook Pros! They sound pretty cool, and from what I could see, same base price (couldn’t get further dues to the iconic updating).

 

So, can’t wait for them and hopefully I will buy one this year to release me from the clutches of a five year old HP laptop. Don’t worry, I would still run Windows under bootcamp, as I can’t live without it. Also announced (allegedly) is that there is no more Mac OS Server Edition! That’s right, it’ll be part of Mac OS Lion, thus completely killing the small gap that so many compared to Microsoft’s many versions/tiers of Windows.

This Week In Apple – 17th January 2011

Steve Jobs takes a medical leave of absence – Once again, Steve Jobs has stepped away from running Apple day-to-day for a bit. Unfortunately, I guess this means no Jobs-esque iPad 2 unveiling etc., but hopefully his health improves soon.

 

Verizon gets the iPhone – At long last, the iPhone has been verified to be coming to Verizon. Now, I don’t fully understand the carrier situation in the US (in the UK, O2 got the iPhone exclusively, but then about 2 years later, other carriers were able to get the older models and eventually the later ones), but it seems to me that AT&T have been the O2 of the US, just for longer. So on that basis, I’m guessing this is good news.

 

Steve Jobs named smartest CEO in technology

Steve Jobs on the cover of Fortune (again).

As many people know, Steve Jobs has been named smartest CEO in technology by Fortune Magazine. This is great news for Apple and Apple fans. Even better is that on the cover it said ‘The world’s most admired companies – Apple is No. 1!’. Great news for everyone!

Retina Display

When glancing at the iPhone 4 screen, it doesn’t look that fantastic. If you hold an iPhone 3GS or third generation iPod Touch next to it to compare, it is amazing. A few days after Steve Jobs had given the keynote for the iPhone 4, people claimed that the ‘retina display’ was merely marketing. It’s hard to deny what you can see (or rather can’t see) with your own eyes. I could not see a single pixel on the screen, it was just a sharp yet smooth image. Unfortunately, this amazing bit of technology will hardly be noticed.