Tim Cook Writes Staff Memo as a Tribute to Steve Jobs

On the 10th anniversary of Steve Jobs’ death, Tim Cook wrote an internal memo to Apple employees. The full email has been obtained by Bloomberg.

I wish Steve were here to see the way his spirit lives on in all of your amazing work. But most of all, I wish he could see what you do next. Steve once said that his proudest achievements were the ones that were yet to come. He spent every day imagining a future that no one else could see and working relentlessly to bring his vision to life.

 

Rapper Soulja Boy Claims Steve Jobs Personally Delivered an Original iPhone to Him

Rapper Soulja Boy claims that Steve Jobs visited him on set whilst shooting the video for 2007 hit ‘Crank That (Soulja Boy)’. Cult of Mac did some digging and the story might, at least in part, be true…

On the surface, the story sounds kind of bogus. But Soulja Boy isn’t totally making this up. One Twitter user dug up some 2007-era footage of Soulja Boy flossing with an original iPhone on the day of release. That certainly makes Soulja Boy one of the first people (rappers included) to own an iPhone. But was he the absolute first? Probably not. The “Crank That” video premiered on BET’s 106 & Park on August 9, 2007. That was a couple months after the iPhone went on sale in June 2007. Cult of Mac asked “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” video director Dale Resteghini about the project. Resteghini said, based on his records, the video was shot on July 17, 2007. This would be roughly two weeks after the iPhone went on sale in America. But Resteghini said he remembers Apple representatives (he didn’t specify whether this included Jobs) showing up in person.

 

Steve Jobs Taught His Former Executive Assistant to 'Work on All'

Naz Beheshti worked as Steve Jobs’s executive assistant. In a CNBC interview, she explained how working with the Apple co-founder inspired her into her current life as a wellness coach, speaker, and author. She also broke down some misconceptions about him.

“There has been a big misconception about him that he was a workaholic and that he was really tough to work with,” Beheshti tells CNBC Make It. “Yes, in some cases he was.” But, in the midst of being a tough boss, Beheshti says Jobs, who died in 2011, made it a point to “prioritize his wellbeing,” which gave him the “energy and the clarity and the vision to sustain his success and build Apple.” For example, Beheshti says not only did Jobs “eat really healthy,” but he also “meditated daily, he had regular physical activity like exercise several times a week and he maintained strong relationships… [Jobs] taught me by example that you need to really work on all,” when it comes to your health and wellness, “rather than just working on one aspect of your life,” Beheshti says.

Original COO Talks Steve Jobs and Apple’s Early Days

Before Tim Cook there was Del Yocam. He was Apple’s first Chief Operating Officer, the role held by Mr. Cook prior to becoming CEO.  In a fascinating interview with Cult of Mac, he discussed mentoring Steve Jobs and Apple’s early days.

He also served as an early mentor to Steve Jobs, the young Apple co-founder who sometimes seemed out of his depth in 1979. “When I first got to know him, he was lost,” Yocam told Cult of Mac. “He was no longer involved in the Apple II and no one wanted him around, especially management. He didn’t care about money at that time. He was like an orphan, living away from home.” In many ways, Yocam was the proto-Tim Cook, a manufacturing and operations specialist who helped transform a dysfunctional startup into a massive, moneymaking leader of the early PC industry. He also helped take the rapidly growing company international.

Steve Jobs Job Application up For Auction

A job application by Steve Jobs from 1973 is up for auction. Spotted by 9to5 Mac, the item is being auctioned by Charterfields. On the document, the Apple co-founder highlighted his experience with “computers and calculators” and said he had special abilities in “electronic tech or design engineer – digital.” The document is thought to have been completed close to when he dropped out of Reed College in Portland, Oregon. A full-size JPG is available here.

Steve Jobs Unveiled the iPad 11 Years Ago Today

January 27 is a significant date in Apple history. On this day in 2010, Steve Jobs took to the stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and unveiled the first iPad. MacRumors has a great write up of the day and a summary of iPad milestones.

“iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price,” said Jobs, in a press release on January 27, 2010. “iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.” The original iPad featured a 9.7-inch display, a single-core Apple A4 chip, up to 64GB of storage, 256MB of RAM, up to 10 hours of battery life, a 30-pin dock connector, and a headphone jack. Notably, the original iPad did not have any cameras. Pricing started at $499 for the Wi-Fi model and $629 for the cellular model in the United States.

That Time Steve Jobs Taught Bill Atkinson About Rounded Rectangles

Here’s a humorous little story from Andy Hertzfeld, a member of Apple’s original Macintosh team. Bill Atkinson did some clever programming to draw circles and ovals quickly on a Mac. But Steve Jobs had something else in mind.

Bill fired up his demo and it quickly filled the Lisa screen with randomly-sized ovals, faster than you thought was possible. But something was bothering Steve Jobs. “Well, circles and ovals are good, but how about drawing rectangles with rounded corners? Can we do that now, too?”

iPads Can’t Kill Laptops But They are a Viable Alternative

It’s the tenth anniversary of the iPad. Steve Jobs introduced the device on January 27, 2010. Nathan Ingraham writes about the iPad but insists Apple is still trying to kill laptops. But I think he disproves his own point when he shares what Mr. Jobs said:

Shortly after the iPad launch, Jobs nailed his famous metaphor, comparing iPads to cars and traditional laptops and PCs to trucks, saying he believed that for most people, a car met all their needs. That clearly has not come to pass for a majority of computer users, but that doesn’t mean Jobs was wrong.

The metaphor is correct. Apple isn’t trying to kill laptops, they’re saying that for many people iPads are a good alternative. Alternative, not replacement.

WIN an iPhone 16 Pro!