Steve Jobs’ Birthday Is Not A Simple Day!

Today is the birthday of Steve Jobs and we are celebrating it without him at the first time. Apple founder was born exactly 57 years ago. 

A pair of Mac-obsessed entrepreneurs Brendan McElroy and Seth Rogers are planning to stage a birthday party for Steve Jobs outside Apple’s flagship store at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue. Dancers will gyrate to Bob Dylan songs and vegetarian cake will be served. According to the event’s organizers, black turtlenecks are handed out to hundreds of Apple fans.

Nothing is said by Apple whether it plans to commemorate the occasion. Some have speculated that Apple will announce a product release or update to coincide with the day, just like last year on February 24 - when the MacBook got an upgrade (See: Steve Turns 56 Tomorrow ). Though, there has been no clue as if it happens again.

Besides, an Indian graphic novel has just been published which marks the life of Steve Jobs. Only for today it is available for free, from tomorrow there will be a charge. Probably an exciting graphic novel based on Apple’s creator’s life is the best gift for devotees. Author of the graphic biography titled "Steve Jobs: Genius by Design" is Amit Tayal. As for the complete book, print version and graphic novel will be released in April. The print version will initially be launched in India at the first time; it will be made available worldwide later (See also: The Best-Selling Book Of 2011).

As for the last year, Steve Jobs received 20032 congratulations on his birthday! Fans had opportunity to send him best wishes with a web’s help. People from all over the world still share  their memories and thoughts online about the genius.  

As a conclusion it is worth mentioning that Steve Jobs was posthumously awarded a Grammy award for his contribution to the music industry. During the Grammy’s Special Merit Awards Ceremony, the Trusteed Award was announced together with Lifetime Achievement Award and Technical Grammy Award. The award accepted Eddy Cue, who was promoted to senior vice president for internet software and services.

Head of iTunes (Eddy Cue) said: "Accepting this award means so much to me because music meant so much to him. He told us that music shaped his life. It made him who he was. Everyone who knows Steve knows the profound impact that artists like Bob Dylan and the Beatles had on him."

FBI’s Background Investigation on Steve Jobs

The FBI has released its 191 page investigation on Steve Jobs! The file consists of a background investigation that was conducted in 1991 – when Jobs was considered for an appointment to the President’s Expert Council in the Bush I White House, an advisory committee on foreign trade. The file also has records of a bomb threat against Jobs in 1985.

The issue of Steve Jobs’ character has come up on numerous occasions including his biography by Walter Isaacson. For Apple fans Steve’s tendency to be abrasive and aggressive is not something new (probably).

With some other interesting facts, the report also says that there are a considerable number of people that Jobs apparently upset during the years leading up to this FBI investigation. 

To create products like the iPhone and iPad, and empire like Apple is not typically done by killing everyone with kindness and constantly differing to the needs and opinions of others.  Jobs was not someone running for sainthood, he was an entrepreneur. If anyone became that popular and successful, one would get his share of the same treatment.

In the document is also mentioned Jobs previous Top Secret security clearance which is his time a Pixar and the work the company did for the NSA (1980s). The clearance was revoked then in 1990.

As is usually the case with FBI investigations, Jobs probably have been asked who should be interviewed; it is interesting who was on the list. It is not clear who these quoted folks are, but if they were among the people Jobs referred the agents to then he did not know his friends very well. Given the number of derogatory comments throughout the report, it seems that Jobs’ friends at the time were not quite so friendly.

The report is available on FBI’s web site, here.

Bill Gates’ Heartfelt Letter to Steve Jobs

Bill Gates revealed recently that he sent an intimate letter to Steve Jobs before he passed away in October. Gates said that when he learned about Jobs’ medical condition, wrote him a letter, one that later Jobs kept by his bed. In the letter it was written that Jobs should feel great about what he had done and the company he had built.

Bill Gates described Jobs as an “incredible genius” and praised his work on the Mac, iPhone, and iPad, in spite of his own work at Microsoft. He said: "We made great products, it’s quite an achievement, and we enjoyed each other’s work. We were not at war; competition was always a positive thing. There was no [cause for] forgiveness.” Yeah, there were actually good times and bad times shared between the two rivaling tech-gurus over the years. Both of them were responsible to bring technology to its exceptional current state, but there was always a mutual respect which later blossomed into friendship.

But before friendship between them must have been apposition, because Jobs is quoted in his biography as calling out Gates for being “unimaginative” and the person who has “never invented anything.” Steve concluded, Bill’s lack of imagination was the only reason for his transition from technology to philanthropy and that he “shamelessly stole other people’s ideas."

"He spent a lot of his time competing with me. There are lots of times when Steve said [critical] things about me. If you took the more harsh examples, you could get quite a litany." – says Bill Gates.

But it seems that after several years, the relationship has changed, as Gates says: “He and I always enjoyed talking. He would throw some things out, you know, some stimulating things. We’d talk about the other companies that have come along. We talked about our families and how lucky we’d both been in terms of the women we married.”

After Steve Jobs’ death, Gates was called by Steve’s wife thanked him for the letter and suggested her late husband’s biography did not accurately reflect the huge respect between the two.

Since Steve Jobs and Bill Gates will be remembered as two of the biggest tech luminaries of their time, it is worth to read the full letter.

The Best-selling book of 2011

By the end of a year most companies sum up their performance in some areas, as Apple did . But now we will talk about other company and that is Amazon. In December it announced the list of their best-selling books of the year. What an honor to know that Steve Jobs ’s biography by Walter Isaacson has come out on top! Consider that the list takes into account first editions that were published in 2011 and includes only paid units. The ranking was culled from Amazon’s traditional book sales figures and Kindle eBook downloads as well.

Senior Editor of Books of Amazon Chris Schluep said: “After the year of recommending books to our customers, it’s always fun to see what books really resonated with them. We chose ‘Steve Jobs’ as one of the Top 10 best books of the year, and even though it was published in October, the sales have been phenomenal in both formats.”

It is truly surprising to see the book at the top of the list considering its relatively late (Oct.) publication but the impressive sales performance was conditioned with the huge show of fan support after Steve Jobs’s  death.

As for BARNES & NOBLE, the situation is a little bit different in its list of top 100 bestsellers of 2011. Through December 14, Steve Jobs’s biography by Walter Isaacson rounds out the top five. What about the book’s performance as an eBook in Nook’s line-up, is even less impressive; on the nookbook bestseller list it lands at #33.

Steve Jobs’s statue in Budapest

Steve Jobs’s    statue was unveiled yesterday in Budapest, Hungary. The bronze statue is 6 1/2 feet (two-meter) tall and weighs approximately 200kg. It depicts Jobs wearing jumper, jeans, sneakers and glasses. The statue shows Jobs familiar pose, gesturing as if addressing the world about his company’s gadgets. As statue commissioner says, "It expresses the dynamism and the spirit of Steve Jobs." 

The statue is located outside the headquarters of software design company Graphisoft. It was commissioned by the founder of Graphisoft in mid-October, after Steve Jobs died. As for company, it was supported by Apple since 1984.

Founder of Graphisoft Bojar said that he remains grateful for the inspiration and assistance he received from Jobs. He affirmed: "Apple's support included cash and computers at a time when Graphisoft was a small company with limited resources, working within the economic and political confines of what was, at the time, communist Hungary. Apple also introduced Graphisoft to its worldwide distribution network, which we rely upon to this day."

At the foot of the statue, on an iPad-shaped tablet is inscribed a quotation of Jobs: "The only way to do great work is to love what you do..."

One more iDevice?!

Rumors about Apple’s upcoming products are endless… All of them include something sensational in them... But this one is something special, with some sparkle of truth in it… It has been said that we’ll see the Apple Television soon, but nothing is officially confirmed yet.

 This seems to be a television, not related to the existing apple TV set top box in any way. The rumor has been spread after the official release of Steve Jobs biography. The quote from the book says: 

“He very much wanted to do for television sets what he had done for computers, music players, and phones: make them simple and elegant. I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,’ he told me. ‘It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud.’ No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. ‘It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.”

That being said that the revamped apple TV sold 1 million units within its first 3 months of release. The question is: would that be enough for the company to make a bigger bet on the segment? But it is doubtless that if the product is produced, it will add billions of dollars to Apple’s 2012 revenues.

Although until the company show it off on stage, that’s all just flights of fun and fancy.

Apple Honors Steve Jobs With Corporate Event

Apple CEOTim Cook has declared that the corporation will honor the memory Steve Jobswith a staff event on Wednesday, Oct. 19. The event,open only to Apple workers, will occur at the company’s outdoor auditorium atits headquarters in Cupertino, California.

“I haveexperienced the saddest days of my lifetime and shed many tears during the pastweek,” Cook said in an internal email to employees. “But I've found somecomfort in the extraordinary number of tributes and condolences from people allover the world who were touched by Steve and his genius.”

Steve Jobspassed away on Oct. 5 due to problems related to pancreatic cancer. Since hisdeath, there has been an outburst of emotions by millions of people for theApple co-founder. The fullemail from Tim Cook sent to Apple employees reads: 

“Team,

Like many ofyou, I have experienced the saddest days of my lifetime and shed many tearsduring the past week. But I’ve found some comfort in the extraordinary numberof tributes and condolences from people all over the world who were touched bySteve and his genius. And I’ve found comfort in both telling and listening tostories about Steve.

Althoughmany of our hearts are still heavy, we are planning a celebration of his lifefor Apple employees to take time to remember the incredible things Steveachieved in his life and the many ways he made our world a better place. Thecelebration will be held on Wednesday, October 19, at 10am in the outdooramphitheater on the Infinite Loop campus. We’ll have more details on AppleWebcloser to the date, including arrangements for employees outside of Cupertino. I lookforward to seeing you there.

Tim”

Respect & Shame

It's been fascinating seeing how many people have responded to the death of Steve Jobs exactly the way I did. It's truly amazing how many people who never met the man feel not just that the world has lost somebody significant but that they themselves have lost a friend.

Hearing others express exactly what I'm feeling? It helps. And, for the most part, the media has been right there with us, responding to Steve's death by focusing on his impact and the good he has done.

I really hope seeing how many peoples' lives he has touched is helping Steve's family and friends get through this.

But not all of the media has chosen to focus on the good. I won't link to any of the actual articles, but Gawker and the New York Times top a short list of media outlets that have chosen to focus on Steve's flaws and to stand up and shout out to anybody who will listen that Steve was… well… human. Imperfect. Flawed.

There's a custom in modern society that's often called "respect for the dead". It has nothing whatsoever to do with the dead. The dead don't care what you say about them. It's about the living who cared about the dead, and they do. It's because they care that mourning is such a difficult process. Painful. Sad. It's not a time when you want reminders of the flaws of the person whose absence you are trying to come to terms with.

No human with with a shred of empathy or decency chooses to publicly criticize the recently departed, famous or otherwise, regardless of how they felt about them. Doing so is an act of cruelty. It's hurtful. Little. It's kicking people hard when they are already as low as they can be.

For those, like me, who care, but didn't know Steve Jobs personally, people like this are an annoyance. They're just another crass, classless obnoxious Internet loudmouth that we have to make an effort to ignore.

But for Steve's family, friends, and coworkers… the people who really knew him, it's a hell of a lot more than that. It breaks my heart to think that they might read those articles.

Shame on you, New York Times. You're better than that. Shame on you, Gawker. You should be better than that.

Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." – This quote is probably the most shared and emotional from numerous Steve’s quotes…

He is not among us anymore. After the long and tiring struggle with the pancreatic cancer, at the age of 56, Steve died peacefully yesterday, surrounded by his family. He no longer lives in the world, that only he managed to change!

I’ve heard the news from Mark Zuckerberg, sharing a status update several hours ago: “Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.”… All I can add to this is that not just a mentor, but a phenomenal one!

He changed the way we watch movies, surf the net, listen to music, take pictures… Changed these all to better, convenient and darn easy way! He changed the way we think; now we think different. He managed to actually change the world! As president Barack Obama commented: “Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.”

Statement from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, published on Microsoft Official website today, says:

“I want to express my deepest condolences at the passing of Steve Jobs, one of the founders of our industry and a true visionary. My heart goes out to his family, everyone at Apple and everyone who has been touched by his work.”

Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Disney, News Corp., Twitter (with the CEO Dick Costolo saying: “Once in a rare while, somebody comes along who doesn’t just raise the bar, they create an entirely new standard of measurement”) – fanboys and haters, friends and foes- all expressed their sympathies and all admitted (no matter the past competition and tense relationship) that Steve was an unrepeatable GENIUS!

The new era of the technology starts today, and deal with it, because now the world will suck a bit more without Steve’s love for perfection, his hyperbolic obsession with magical devices, his jeans and black shirt,   insanely great ideas and booms and "one more" things…

Sad Mac

I haven't had much time for blogging lately. I have about a half-dozen unfinished blog posts in my queue, but have been too busy to finish any of them.

One of the things keeping me busy right now is work for Apple through MartianCraft. This work, in many ways, is a dream come true for me, as I wanted to work for Apple for years and never managed it.

I started programming on an Apple ][+ in 1980 and Apple has been a part of my life ever since then. I don't need to look much further than the desk I'm sitting at to realize just how much my life has been impacted by this company called Apple started in a garage by two guys named Steve. I make a living using Apple's products and developing for Apple's products, but more importantly, my life is better because of their products.

I took a few hours away from my desk this evening and returned to the news of Steve Jobs' death. I came back to news that quite literally felt like a kick in the stomach. And I mean literally. My stomach hurts.

It seems odd to feel this way about a man I never met. I've only once been closer to Steve Jobs than the front section of Moscone West or North, and that was when I accidentally knocked into him on the show floor at MacWorld one year. But I feel like an old friend has died. I'm fighting back tears, and maybe I should be ashamed of that.

But I'm not.

Steve died far too young. I think a few tears are in order.

Apple To Definitely Announce iPhone5 In October

Apple‘s fresh CEO, Tim Cook, will hold a huge media event Oct. 4 to reveal the iPhone 5, All Things Digital bangs mentioning sources “familiar with the matter”.

If accurate, the presentation date of the next generation iPhone is steady with the recent wave of gossips demanding it will be released early in October.

According to the report, the sources claim that Cook will lead over the announcement — with the help of other key executives such as Phil Schiller, who contributed in such events previously as well — which would give this event even more importance. Cook must convince the shareholders, the viewers and Apple fans all over the world that he can sure-handedly take over the role of Apple CEO and company showman. This will be his first keynote as the CEO and the expectations for that particular job are, simply put, enormous.

It is not known whether Steve Jobs, who resigned from the role of Apple CEO in August, will be present at the event.

And The Bitten Apple Goes To….

Being back from a short vacation, where I decided to lose any connection with the internet and technology world, and even with friends, I was stunned by the shocking news- Steve Jobs has resigned!

I was not even surprised when I heard that it was Mr. Cook who Steve "strongly recommended" as his successor… Despite the impressive resume and working experience, and regardless a B.S. degree in industrial engineering from Auburn University and his M.B.A. from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business (while Steve has even not graduated from college), I still suspect that Tim (or anyone) will do so much good to Apple, as Steve did and would have been done (if he had not resigned). Anyway, it’s good to know that Cook served as Apple CEO for two months in 2004, when Jobs was recovering from pancreatic cancer surgery and again in 2009, while Jobs took a leave of absence for a liver transplant. Tim knew the odds were in his favor as he was the one who could be a worthy replacement for Steve…

The common sense expectations are positive, but history suggests it will not be a smooth ride… If we look back and recall the stories of successful companies shortly after their CEOs had resigned, we'll see that Disney got in trouble for hewing too adjacent to its founder's vision, Wal-Mart was faulted now for swinging too far from its founder's strategy, and Sony Corp. lost its market leadership in electronics after charismatic founder Akio Morita stepped down as chairman…. So let’s see what happens and hope that Apple goes the other way, grows strong and remains as innovative, as it has been since its foundation… 

And The Bitten Apple Goes To… Tim Cook!

Steve Jobs Has Ranked Third

Despite the fact of Apple being world’s most valuable brand in 2011, its CEO Steve Jobs has ranked third in a list of Engineering Heroes, behind Isambard Kingdom Brunel and James Dyson but ahead of Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

The list of Engineering Heroes was chosen by around 900 engineering undergraduates in the UK who were surveyed by General Electric (GE).

Brunel's work on bridges, dockyards and railways made him the top choice among engineering students; with Dyson's vacuum cleaners - as well as support for engineering projects - put him in second.

Jobs takes credit for Apple products such as the Apple II and iPod.

Nikola Tesla came in fourth, ahead of Bill Gates. Frank Whittle, inventor of the first jet engine was next, with Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Charles Rolls and Henry Royce and Thomas Edison completed the top 10 list.

Mark Elborne, President and CEO of GE UK said: "Our research shows that iconic figures – both historic and modern – continue to inspire a new generation of engineers. We continue to see the impact of these icons all around us today; and our research shows that we have a proud tradition of pioneers and innovators in this country, which should be celebrated.

"With the very significant environmental, energy and healthcare challenges we face today and will face in the future, it is critical that we continue to inspire young people into engineering and science, nurturing future generations of Brunels, Newtons and Edisons," he continued.

source: MacWorld UK

Wozniak & Jobs Never Had A Falling Out!

“Tablets are the zenith of what Steve Jobs wanted to produce at Apple from the creation,”- Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said in his keynote session at Storage Networking World in Santa Clara, California on Monday. When being asked how tablets would change the computer industry, he made a parallel between them and TVs.

“The tablet is not necessarily for the people in this room, it’s for the normal people in the world,” Wozniak said to the listeners consisting of enterprise storage engineers.

“I think Steve Jobs had that intention from the day we started Apple, but it was just hard to get there, because we had to go through a lot of steps where you connected to things, and (eventually) computers grew up to where they could do ... normal consumer appliance things,” – he added.

The voluble Pirate of Silicon Valley legend, who hasn’t been in charge of Apple at a full time since the 1980s and is now chief scientist at solid-state storage vendor Fusion-io, did hurl out a cutthroat remark about the marketplace. “On the subject of tablets, I read today that Android tablets are expected to surpass iPads, and I hope that never happens,” Steve said.

Expectedly, Wozniak’s speech scarcely stroke on his current job, but mostly he amused the audience with stories of his Apple days and his feelings about the education.When being asked why he left Apple, Wozniak said  “We have never had an argument, we’re just in different places, and we’re different people.” Jobs was fond of running a corporation, while Wozniak was and will always be an engineer at heart.

15 Facts about Steve Jobs

Apple fans are the fans of Steve- this is true! This man has really contributed to the company. We all know that Steve Jobs is the CEO of Apple, which he co-founded in 1976. 

Steve also co-founded and was the CEO of Pixar Animation Studios, which created some of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time including Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars and Ratatouille. Pixar merged with The Walt Disney Company in 2006 and Steve now serves on Disney's board of directors.

Below are his best quotes ever that you may find helpful in your life:

"It's rare that you see an artist in his 30s or 40s able to really contribute something amazing."

-- At age 29, in Playboy, February 1985

"I've always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do."

-- BusinessWeek Online, Oct. 12, 2004

"Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it."

-- Fortune, Nov. 9, 1998

"It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."

-- BusinessWeek, May 25 1998

"(Miele) really thought the process through. They did such a great job designing these washers and dryers. I got more thrill out of them than I have out of any piece of high tech in years."

-- Wired magazine, February 1996

"The products suck! There's no sex in them anymore!"

-- On Gil Amelio's lackluster reign, in BusinessWeek, July 1997

"The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament."

-- Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company, by Owen W. Linzmayer

"If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it's worth -- and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago."

-- Fortune, Feb. 19, 1996

"You know, I've got a plan that could rescue Apple. I can't say any more than that it's the perfect product and the perfect strategy for Apple. But nobody there will listen to me."

-- Fortune, Sept. 18, 1995

I tried to provide something that you may not be aware of about Steve! Click on the picture to find out more about the man who wanted and really did change the world!

Steve Jobs Accused of Killing Music by Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi, a musical legend, accused Steve Jobs of being “personally responsible for killing the music business”. His harsh and peaceable announcement was published in his interview in Britain's Sunday Times. Jon Bon Jovi frankly sets out his consternation at 21st century’s disappearance from music distribution on physical media and towards omnipresent download portals.

    

Bon Jovi's nostalgia excels through in his detailed account of the "magical" experience of picking up records and enjoying their sweet touch and relaxing analog tones. It’s unknown, how he misses out the fact that CD’s were the first to devastate his record collection, not the downloads.

Still, Bon Jovi thinks Apple's iTunes success is to blame for the thrashing of our collective blamelessness and eagerness for music. This is the subject of discussion... Do Not Hesitate To Have Your Say!

Apple's New iPad 2 Unveiled

Apple CEO Steve Jobs took a break from his medical leave Wednesday to unveil a sequel to the company's best-selling iPad.  "We've been working on this product awhile, and I didn't want to miss today," said Jobs, who in January said he would take an indefinite leave from the company he co-founded and put Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, in charge of day-to-day operations. Jobs showed off the iPad 2, which will be available March 11, during a packed event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

Improvements in the second-generation device largely tracked with the rumors preceding its introduction. It is one-third thinner than its predecessor - slimmer than the iPhone 4 - and 15 percent lighter. A front camera allows for video chatting, and a rear camera can shoot high-definition (720p) video.

Similar to its ancestor, iPad 2 will come in Wi-Fi only and 3G versions, each available at 16, 32 or 64 gigabytes of storage. The models will be priced identically to their equivalents in the original device, starting at $499. But unlike the original, iPad 2 is available in two colors - black and white.

"We're going to be shipping white from Day 1," Jobs said to laughter and applause, alluding to the white iPhone 4 that was announced but never released because of unspecified technical problems.

In addition to the iPad, Apple showed off a handful of accessories and apps. Steve took advantage of his opportunity to whack rival Google, mocking that the iPad had 65,000 apps available for it, and Google's new Android Honeycomb OS only has about 100.

Instead, Apple actually announced a tiny partnership with Facebook: It's one of the sites you'll be able to automatically upload video to from the iPad's new iMovie app.

The Beatles Fans are the Fans of Apple Too!

As long as the Beatles and Apple have co-existed, fans of both have wondered: when are these crazy kids finally going to get together?

Oddly enough, Apple and The Beatles are forever linked, with a relationship that dates back to the computer maker’s fledgling days. Apple Computer Inc. was first sued in 1981 for infringing on The Beatles’ Apple Corps trademark (and that of its record label, Apple Records), then again in 1989, and lastly in 2003. In February 2007, the two companies settled the dispute once and for all. 

Steve Jobs has made no secret of his love for The Beatles’ music and his displeasure at the band’s unwillingness to allow digital downloads; He has referenced them on more than one occasion at Keynotes and also was interviewed on a showing of a Paul McCartney concert. So we all know it was a merely matter of time before the two Apples inked an exclusive contract and started selling the extensive Beatles’ catalogue track by track.

When asked about his business model, Steve replied: 

“My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each other's negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts. Great things in business are not done by one person; they are done by a team of people.”

And finally, seventeen albums were made available for legal downloading, a move saluted by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Apple's Steve Jobs!!!! The big announcement came at 7:00 a.m., November 16, 2010 on the iTunes front page that the legendary Beatles songs from 13 albums can be purchased individually for $1.29 or the entire box set for $149, which includes a never-previously-released documentary of the band's first American concert at the Washington Coliseum in 1964. This is the band's first ever American concert. 

This was a major victory for Jobs, who had been trying for years to get the Beatles on iTunes. However, the Beatles' company, Apple Corps, and Jobs' company have been engaged in a series of legal battles over the use of similar logos and the Apple name. Those turbulent years appear to be over, and November 16th announcement ushered in a new era of mutual benefit!

Steve turns 56 tomorrow!

Most of us are aware that Steve Jobs has made an enormous contribution to the world of technology, and is now going through some tough time in terms of health problems. As he is approaching his birthday, Apple plans to mention it with the release of their new MacBook Pro to show their support to the co-founder and CEO, who is now on medical leave.

    

If you want to show your support to Steve or share your wishes and congratulations, you can do it right  here!

Once more about Steve- Facts About His Health

Apple CEO Steve Jobs says he needs time to focus on his health and has been granted a medical leave from the company for the third time. Jobs, who has suffered from pancreatic cancer and endured a liver transplant, is an Apple co-founder and is credited with revitalizing the company in the mid-1990s. He has been famously guarded about his health, but concerns about his illness have dogged the brand in recent years, with each leave of absence stirring fears among investors that the company will be unable to perform to its usual caliber without him. The announcement of his latest medical leave has thrust his health into the spotlight again. 

He'd rather talk about something else. Jobs has been fiercely private about his ailments, often leaving observers -- and investors -- with little more than speculation about his health. In 2009, when Apple announced that Jobs had undergone a liver transplant, the CEO seemed to bristle at the suggestion that his health battles should be public. "Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well," he wrote in an e-mail to his employees.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003 ... In 2005, Jobs said he had battled pancreatic cancer the year before and was in remission. "No one wants to die," he said at Stanford University. He said he was diagnosed with an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor, a rare but treatable and less deadly form of pancreatic cancer, which usually results in death relatively quickly.

He underwent a liver transplant in 2009. Jobs had not made a public appearance for months when he finally stepped out in September 2009 to unveil a new line of iPods and revealed that he had undergone a liver transplant as well. "As some of you know, five months ago I had a liver transplant," he said. "I now have the liver of a mid-20s person who died in a car crash and was generous enough to donate their organs. I wouldn't be here without such generosity, so I hope all of us can be as generous and elect to be organ donors."

... And attributed his sudden weight loss in 2008 to a "nutritional problem."  Jobs' extreme weight loss in 2008 left him looking gaunt and raised fears that his cancer had returned. But Jobs said his cancer remained in remission. He said he was suffering from a "nutritional problem" and had already begun to feel better. "My doctors think they have found the cause -- a hormone imbalance that has been robbing me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy," he said in early 2009.

"The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I've already begun treatment."

Just days later, however, Jobs announced that he would be taking a medical leave. "During the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought," he wrote in a letter to Apple employees. "In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence."

Every time he goes on medical leave, Apple's stock takes a dip. Investors fear the company's fortunes are intimately intertwined with that of Jobs, and the company's shares dropped more than 6 percent in 2009 when the CEO announced he would be taking a medical leave. So it's notable that Apple's latest announcement about Jobs' health comes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday when the markets are closed. Jobs said today that Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook is more than prepared to lead the company in his absence. "I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011," he wrote. 

Let's wish him all the best ! Apple really needs him!