Tag Archives: Steve Jobs

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin on Steve Jobs Screenplay

In an interview with Reuters, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, the man behind “The Social Network” and the soon-to-be Steve Jobs screenplay disclosed the production will not be “a straightforward biography.”

On Tuesday, movie studio Sony Pictures announced Sorkin will be adapting Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple who died at 56 in October after a long struggle with pancreatic cancer.

“I know so little about what I am going to write. I know what I am not going to write. It can’t be a straight ahead biography because it’s very difficult to shake the cradle-to-grave structure of a biography, ” Sorkin told reporters at a news conference for his upcoming HBO drama “The Newsroom.”

In the interview, Sorkin revealed the film studio hired Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, the man that helped found Apple from a garage in 1976, as a “tutor” on all the technical aspects of computers and on Jobs himself. Continue reading →

Steve Jobs, the response (PDF)

In memory of Steve Jobs, I put together some of my favorite responses to his passing. This originally was nothing more than a way for me to keep some of the reactions to Jobs’ death, however I figured others too would like a digital keepsake.

For those interested in downloading/viewing the PDF, check it out here.

iPhone 4S, a weekend news roundup of some post-announcement stories

Apple’s iPhone 4S became available for pre-order –in just a select few countries– just days ago. Since, quite a few news stories have appeared with rumors and news surrounding the new device. A recap follows…

Danish professor Gert Frølund Pedersen is speaking out about the iPhone 4S’ new antenna. According to the professor, the changes made will likely solve all possible “antennagate-related” issues, however whether or not it is allowed to use said solution is in question.

Pedersen as well as others at Aalborg University believe Apple will/could run into legality issues related to patents the professors sold to Samsung in 2007.

The Verge is reporting that AT&T is “working together” with Apple to change the indicator in the iPhone 4S’ status bar to show “4G.” The iPhone 4S tops out at 14.4Mbps, up from the iPhone 4′s 7.2Mbps.

Palo Alto police department spokeswoman Sandra Brown told Bloomberg Apple executives were likely aware of Steve Jobs’ condition at and before the iPhone 4S launch event.

The Apple representatives told the police department there was “a possibility that it could happen this week,” Brown said in a phone interview. “It’s common sense for us to work together. If you think about who he was and his contribution to the world, people might come out in masses.”

According to Brown, Apple was supposed to inform police of Jobs’ passing prior to issuing a public statement, however police ended up learning of the death through Apple’s press release on October 5th.

AT&T announced it processed more than 200,000 pre-orders for the iPhone 4S within the first 12 hours of sales. Apple, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint have yet to release a statement on their sales figures.

AT&T has seen extraordinary demand for iPhone 4S with more than 200,000 preorders in the first 12 hours alone, the most successful iPhone launch we’ve ever had. It’s obvious customers like AT&T’s 4G network, which is the only one that lets their iPhone download twice as fast and talk and surf simultaneously.

Last year, there were approximately 600,000 iPhone 4 preorders (through all carriers) within the first 12 hours. Taking into account AT&T alone sold more than 200,000, it is likely sales figures easily surpassed those of last year.

The day after…

Yesterday, one of, if not the most influential man of the century –and last’s– died. On October 5, 2011, at the age of 56, Steve Jobs died. Today, more reacting are being felt across the world. Some follow:

TIME Magazine stopped the presses which were previously working on an upcoming issue in order to devote its cover and 21 pages of the full issue to Jobs’ life and career.

Today, TIME releases a special commemorative issue on Steve Jobs to hit newsstands and tablet devices tomorrow, Friday, October 7.

To produce this special issue, TIME stopped the presses on its previously planned issue in order to devote its cover and 21 pages of the full issue to Jobs’ life and career. The issue includes a six-page essay by Jobs’ biographer Walter Isaacson, a historical report on Jobs career by TIME technology reporters Harry McCracken and Lev Grossman and a photo essay by Diana Walker, who has been shooting Jobs for TIME since 1982.

The cover image (right, click to enlarge) is a photograph of Jobs taken by Norman Seeff in 1984. This is the seventh time Jobs has appeared on the cover of TIME.

The magazine is increasing its print run for this special issue, which will be available worldwide.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, a biography of Jobs’ life has upped it launch date to October 24th due to the events which have taken place. According to the WSJ, Isaacson was aware of the fact that Jobs was near death at the time his interviews took place (roughly four weeks ago).

Steve Jobs passes away

Today, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has passed away.

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.

Reactions to Jobs’ death after the jump… Continue reading →

Funnies: Steve Jobs’ calender

With Steve Jobs no longer the CEO of Apple, the question arises as to what he’s going to do with all his spare time. Maybe he’ll take on some new hobbies. Or, perhaps he’ll check up on Tim Cook.

In all seriousness, we, like nearly the rest of the net have seen the TMZ photo of Steve Jobs. It is possible the images are fake, but nevertheless our hearts and prayers go out to Steve and his family.

Image via GeekCulture

What Makes Steve Jobs Great: one journalist’s account of Steve Jobs

In Saturday’s the New York edition, The New York Times’ Joe Nocera shared his account of Steve Jobs. In the editorial, Nocera wrote about the time he shadowed Jobs for nearly a week for an Esquire magazine piece back when the “business genius” was just 31. Nocera also expressed how important Jobs has been for not only Apple, but the entire industry.

Have we forgotten already that Jobs virtually invented the personal computer, with the introduction of the Apple II, when he was barely 21? That a few years later he saved Apple from near-disaster by creating the Macintosh — the first machine with a mouse and windows, and all the other features we associate with modern computing? That the NeXT operating system was critical to the next generation of Macintosh computers after Jobs returned from a 12-year exile in 1997? And, yes, then came the iPod, the iPhone and iPad — all of them so elegant in their look and feel that they became more than devices. They were objects of lust.

There’s more, of course. Steve Jobs persuaded the recording industry to use his iTunes to give consumers an easy alternative to stealing music online. The iPhone completely upended two industries: computing and cellphones. The iPad is in the process of doing the same to the written word. And let’s not forget Pixar, which Jobs bought at the same time he was starting NeXT, and which has become the greatest maker of animated films in modern times, steeped in Jobs’s aesthetic and attention to detail.

Read the entire article on The New York Times’ site here.

Steve Jobs resigned from Apple as CEO on August 24th. Tim Cook, previously Apple’s COO took his place at the helm. In his resignation, Jobs requested to be named the Chairman of the Board which is the position he now currently holds.

Tim Cook to get 1,000,000 shares of stock as CEO bonus to stay until 2021

Tim Cook replaced Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple earlier this week. Now, Apple has filed a form 8-K with the SEC due to the changes in corporate leadership at the company. An 8-K is a report companies are required to file with the SEC to announce critical events that shareholders have the right to know about.

In the form, Apple included the following:

On August 24, 2011:

- Steve Jobs resigned as Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc. (“Apple”). Mr. Jobs will continue to serve as an employee;

- The Board of Directors (the “Board”) appointed Mr. Jobs as Chairman of the Board;

- The Board promoted Chief Operating Officer Timothy D. Cook to Chief Executive Officer; and

- The Board appointed Mr. Cook to the Board to fill an existing vacancy.

In connection with Mr. Cook’s appointment as Chief Executive Officer, the Board awarded Mr. Cook 1,000,000 restricted stock units. Fifty percent of the restricted stock units are scheduled to vest on each of August 24, 2016 and August 24, 2021, subject to Mr. Cook’s continued employment with Apple through each such date.

The majority of what was mentioned in the 8-K has been common knowledge since Apple’s press release, however one point is not.

The Board has decided to award Tim Cook 1,000,000 restricted stock units as a bonus. 50% of which will be given to Cook on  August 24, 2016 with another 50% on August 24, 2021. That comes out to $383 million at current prices.

According to MacRumors, “[i]n 2010, as COO, Tim Cook received $58 million in salary, bonus and other stock awards.”

Icon Ambulance: Remembering Steve Jobs’ passion

Earlier this week, Steve Jobs officially resigned as Apple’s CEO. He did, however, ask to take a new role as the Chairman of the Board. Since the announcement, the Apple community has went into a slight state of shock. Though as John Gruber put it, “[t]his is not out of nowhere, it’s not even unexpected. We could all see this was coming — but it is a shock.”

Those who really know Jobs are now speaking out about what they remember about the man that created one of the most successful companies of all time. One remembrance of which really stood out to me. The story comes from Google’s Vic Gundotra and it talks about how Jobs cared about every detail.

Icon Ambulance

One Sunday morning, January 6th, 2008 I was attending religious services when my cell phone vibrated. As discreetly as possible, I checked the phone and noticed that my phone said “Caller ID unknown”. I choose to ignore.

After services, as I was walking to my car with my family, I checked my cell phone messages. The message left was from Steve Jobs. “Vic, can you call me at home? I have something urgent to discuss” it said.

Before I even reached my car, I called Steve Jobs back. I was responsible for all mobile applications at Google, and in that role, had regular dealings with Steve. It was one of the perks of the job.

“Hey Steve – this is Vic”, I said. “I’m sorry I didn’t answer your call earlier. I was in religious services, and the caller ID said unknown, so I didn’t pick up”.

Steve laughed. He said, “Vic, unless the Caller ID said ‘GOD’, you should never pick up during services”.

I laughed nervously. After all, while it was customary for Steve to call during the week upset about something, it was unusual for him to call me on Sunday and ask me to call his home. I wondered what was so important?

“So Vic, we have an urgent issue, one that I need addressed right away. I’ve already assigned someone from my team to help you, and I hope you can fix this tomorrow” said Steve.

“I’ve been looking at the Google logo on the iPhone and I’m not happy with the icon. The second O in Google doesn’t have the right yellow gradient. It’s just wrong and I’m going to have Greg fix it tomorrow. Is that okay with you?”

Of course this was okay with me. A few minutes later on that Sunday I received an email from Steve with the subject “Icon Ambulance”. The email directed me to work with Greg Christie to fix the icon.

Since I was 11 years old and fell in love with an Apple II, I have dozens of stories to tell about Apple products. They have been a part of my life for decades. Even when I worked for 15 years for Bill Gates at Microsoft, I had a huge admiration for Steve and what Apple had produced.

But in the end, when I think about leadership, passion and attention to detail, I think back to the call I received from Steve Jobs on a Sunday morning in January. It was a lesson I’ll never forget. CEOs should care about details. Even shades of yellow. On a Sunday.

To one of the greatest leaders I’ve ever met, my prayers and hopes are with you Steve.

-Vic