News Feed

Welcome to the News Feed! Here I regularly post news about Steve Jobs, which are automatically cross-posted on the Facebook page and Twitter account. Follow us on your favorite platform!

AppleInsider | Apple owes Steve Jobs some money: $37.91 appleinsider.com/articles/10/12…

http://j.mp/hIgtCB “He is not somebody any of us would want watching our kids, but in terms of running the company, he’s excellent.” WTF?!?

Apple campus 2.0

Finally! We’re finally hearing some news on Apple’s new campus in Cupertino.

As a reminder, news on a new campus date back to 2006, when Steve himself went to the Cupertino City Council to announce the company’s plan to expand, after its purchase of land next to the HP campus. The video can still be watched on YouTube. As you can see, Steve speaks of a “3 to 4 years” period to get it built.

We’ve been waiting for that new campus ever since. People from the area have reported that Apple people have moved into these former HP buildings, without any architectural modifications. To tell the truth I was afraid that, busy with Apple products, Steve would delay the plans for a decade or so —  until his retirement or something.

That long delay makes more sense now that we’ve learned that just last week, Apple purchased another huge chunk of land from HP, right next to the properties it bought four years ago. The map below is impressive:

If you’ve ever been to the current Apple campus, you’ll realize that this is a HUGE expansion. As if I wasn’t excited enough, a Spanish newspaper has reported rumors that Steve Jobs has designated world-famed architect Norman Foster to build this new ‘City of Apple’. Quote from Philip Elmer-DeWitt’s column:

Jobs is paying extraordinary attention to environmental issues as he designs the future headquarters of his company, the paper has been told. The buildings that will house engineers and the R & D department will “incorporate cutting-edge technology in materials and equipment as well as renewable energy resources,” according to El Economista. All transportation between the buildings will take place through a network of tunnels, keeping surface areas green.

Can you imagine such a place? Steve Jobs moving in underground top-secret tunnels with prototypes of Apple products, underneath a green-clean-futuristic campus? I bet the windows of his iOffice won’t be see-through. This reminds me of old fantasies such as this picture from a 2008 Apple commercial you will most likely recognize:

Quirky Steve Jobs news and trivia from last week

1. a hip-hop song apparently came out by a guy named “Fabolous” (don’t blame me if he’s super-duper famous because I’m not into rap). It’s called… wait for it… “Steve Jobs”. Excerpt from the chorus:

man used to be Mac’ing but now I’m Steve Jobbin’ man
got 2 choices
you can stay broke or grind

2. Steve sent an email last week about the future of Airplay to a guy asking for compatibility with Safari and 3rd party apps:

Yep, hope to add these features to Airplay in 2011.

3. I found this picture of a guy’s desk. See, I told you I wasn’t the fanboyest SJ fanboy on the planet! 😉

(Full gallery).

The important stuff is coming next.

Finally, new on Apple Cupertino Campus 2.0 => Norman Foster to build ‘City of Apple’ tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/12/06/nor… via @FortuneMagazine CAN’T WAIT!!!

CHART OF THE DAY: Apple Employees Love Steve Jobs, Microsoft Employees Aren’t So Hot For Steve Ballmer sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl… via @sfgate

RT @fromedome: The truth about how people use the iPad: http://read.bi/hpNufj (Prep work for my iPad panel at our conference tomorrow!)

Steve Jobs and Apple culture in paintings

Rather than starting the week by telling you about Steve’s latest emails (folders in iBooks, AirPrint-compatible printers), and the rumors about the upcoming joint Steve Jobs/Rupert Murdoch keynote, I thought I’d start by showing you some artwork I stumbled upon a couple of days ago.

The artist is a 45-year old painter from Southern Cal, Alex Gross. His paintings are quite sinister… I just love them. 🙂 One of his dominant themes is today’s consumer society, and it is frequently illustrated with references to Apple products and even the Apple culture. For example:

End User (2010)

Resist (2010)

This one is particularly interesting:

Kool Aid Drinkers (2010)

As you know, ever since the 1980s, people who absorbed everything Steve Jobs/Apple said were famed as “drinkers of the (Steve Jobs/Apple/Mac/whatever…) Kool Aid”.

Have you ever seen a painting with a Windows PC or an Android phone in it?
… me neither.

Alex Gross.

RT @Alltop: Who needs Santa when there’s an Apple store? http://yfrog.com/0bxpb0j

Steve Jobs 1985 Playboy interview re-surfaces

Most of you have already heard of it, but Playboy recently re-published their 1985 interview with Steve Jobs on their website. I had read lots of excerpts from the piece for some time, since it is abundantly quoted in Jeffrey S. Young’s The Journey Is The Reward as well as Leander Kahney’s Inside Steve’s Brain… but I had yet to read it in its entirety.

It is a fascinating read to say the least. The conclusion is not a surprise for me, just a confirmation: despite popular belief, Steve Jobs hasn’t changed much in all these years. I have gathered my favorite quotes from the interview to prove it:

In their foreword, Playboy makes a pretty accurate description of young Steve, which is just as true for old Steve (try replacing IBM by Google in the quote below):

But to hear Jobs tell it, the money isn’t even half the story, especially since he does not spend it very lavishly—and, indeed, claims to have very little time for social life. He is on a mission, preaching the Gospel of salvation through the personal computer—preferably one manufactured by Apple. He is an engaging pitchman and never loses an opportunity to sell his products…

Unable to relent in his mission to spread the Apple word, he talked with solemn ferocity about the war with IBM—but then would punctuate his enthusiasm for an idea with ‘Neat!’ or ‘Incredibly great!’

(more…)