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RIP Steve Jobs 1955 – 2011

Wednesday 5 October 2011, the world lost an icon, a man of vision, creativity and innovation.

Steve Jobs  new his time was limited, in August, when he stepped down from his position as CEO of Apple, I don’t think the world new just how soon he would be taken.  On his resignation he said: “I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.” “I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.”

About Steve Jobs:

Steve Jobs was the Chairman of the Board 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.
Steve grew up in the apricot orchards which later became known as Silicon Valley, and still lived there with his family.

Apple released the following statement:

We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today. Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.

 The front page of Apple.com contains a picture of the late Steve Jobs, and the second page a tribute to the industry leader by Apple CEO Tim Cook:

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.

 He went on to say that Apple are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees and if the public would like to share thoughts, memories and condolences in the interim, they could email these to mailto:rememberingsteve@apple.com.

Steve Job’s Stanford Commencement Speech in 2005 included the following statement that always inspires me to try that little bit harder, ““If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”

Barack Obama’s statement sums it up,  ”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.”

The potential benefits to publishers are obvious: access to the millions of Apple users – yes, those people addicted to their iPhone and iPads. These users are used to having their Apple account tied to a credit card and spontaneously buying the latest, cool app. There’s no reason to think people won’t buy subscriptions to their favorite publications or service this way as well – whether it is a newspaper, magazine and live-streaming service. If it only took one click, I am pretty sure I would have subscriptions to Gourmet Magazine (even though I can barely cook) and Men’s Health (even though I am such a gym-wannabe).

Publishers and content creators that take advantage of the Apple subscription service can still encourage people to subscribe to their publication or service by other means, but Apple does require that the same price and promotions be offered through their store.

You know you want to be on my iPad!

Many publishers and content creators are up in arms about the 30% cut Apple will take (regulators are even taking notice). As some have pointed out, the publishing industry is already in fairly dire financial straits, and suggest that they simply do not have the overhead to lose that 30% on each subscription sold. This may very well be true now, but to me, the bigger point is that more potential subscriptions should equal more money. The trick for publishers will be finding the price point where people will buy their subscription and they still make money. If this is not possible, or you can attract subscribers (Netflix?) without Apple’s help, well then the Apple apps store is probably not for your publication or service. For now, Apple has the best apps store and the best OS, so they can make the rules.

For all of those people decrying Apple as evil, let’s give them some credit for making a system where publishers can potentially increase their subscription base – which is tied directly to ad sales. Also, expect competition in the online app subscription service arena. Yes, Apple has the most popular tablet now (I love you iPad!), but there are tons of new tablets that are being unveiled and many look like they will give the iPad a run for its money. Also, Google is already exploring the subscription service for their apps store and are talking about taking only a 10% cut of each subscription. As Google’s OS rolls out onto more phones and tablets, some publishers may find this to be a better outlet for their publications and content.

I will certainly be watching closely to see how many publishers take advantage of the Apple subscription service and if consumers find subscriptions of value. It’s an interesting model, and one that could help crack the code on how publishers can make money in the digital age. It may also means the end for some players in the publishing industry who can’t absorb the 30% overhead, but I think they should take it on themselves to innovate their existing business model as opposed to crying foul at Apple.

Apple's new iPad

Like most products Apple introduces these days, I had an initial strong desire to own an iPad. I hate the name (like most of the rest of the world), but love the way it looks and the way Apple talks about it. As a fairly avid reader, I am excited to try Apple’s take on the e-book front (I have never been a huge fan of the Kindle – especially since you can’t download books here in Qatar). And of course I am looking forward to the huge range of web applications that are likely to be developed for it.

The positive aspects and numerous shortcoming of the iPad have been chronicled to death at this point. The most useful, quick recap for me was on the Huffington Post. The lack of multi-tasking seems to be the biggest failure to me, but people should keep in mind Apple is not trying to make this your new PC. I am not that stressed about it not having a camera (it would be a bit awkward to snap a photo with something that size, no?) and we are all pretty used to the battery issues of Apple products.

I’m am not sure the iPad will be a truly life changing device and frankly I expect version 2 to be better (so yes, I may wait to buy one), but with the touch screen interface growing, web designers and developers true need to think about how their site will work and function in this format – it may very well become the preferred format for people. Things like easy navigation will become increasingly important and designers should keep in mind that the iPad doesn’t work with flash (the New York Times did a nice article on how HTML5 may replace flash as the preferred choice). This also has the potential to make the need for an “app” more fundamental. The website simply may not be enough anymore.

End of day, the iPad seems like a cool tool for the consumption of digital content – books, newspapers, magazines, movies, etc – and I could certainly see it catching on. It has the potential to connect more people in a simple way. Web developers and designers take note!