Tech Accessory Holiday Gift Idea Day 8: Steve Jobs

I know this book received more press and reviews than any other book the second half of 2011, it still is a great read and would be a great holiday gift.

Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.

Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

iPad 2: Excitement Abounds

The Metro Atlanta area has been one of the "hot" areas of the country for tablet style computers and iPads over the last year.  Many Atlanta enthusiasts I talked with over the past few months had wished the first iPad had a camera.

So, it's no surprise that many Atlantans including this writer were looking forward to Apple's announcement of a new iPad that happened today at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco.  Those that wanted a camera, got their wish X 2.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the stage for the unveiling of the new and improved device.

The iPad 2 will be priced the same as the previous iPad, but what you get with this model is a faster processor and two cameras. The cameras will allow the user to use Apple's Facetime feature.

The new iPad is also 33% thinner and a tad shorter than the original iPad.  The new version will also come in black and white colors.  The iPad will be available and ship to consumers on March 11.

Application developers are also excited.  Manny Gomez of Gomez Industires loves the fact that price has stayed the same and now believes that the HP TouchPad will be priced accordingly.  He also thinks this might open the platform for more "intense" games.  Taking a jab at Apple's not letting users to view flash videos on products, Manny added, "one can now NOT view Flash sites 10 times faster on the iPad2."

Another app developer, George Salcedo says the iPad 2 will be a success in that it will sell 20 million units.  He also thinks the iOS operating system is showing its age.  He is encouraged by the faster processor and feels app developers will waste no time in developing apps to take advantage of it.

As with any Apple announcement, Apple took shots at their competitors.  Just the debut of this new tablet is a statement enough as they continue to lead the pack when it comes to tablet computers.



Obama Meets With Tech Leaders Including Steve Jobs

Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs, on medical leave from the company he co-founded, attended a meeting of technology industry leaders with US President Barack Obama in northern California on Thursday.

Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, was joined by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and other members of the Silicon Valley elite for talks with Mr Obama at a venture capitalist's sprawling estate outside San Francisco.

Mr Jobs, 55, a high-tech visionary who has come to embody Apple's turbulent history and some of the industry's most cutting-edge products, stepped away from the company on medical leave last month. It was the third time in seven years that he has taken time out because of health reasons.

Mr Obama's two-day West Coast visit was aimed at promoting technological innovation to help boost the struggling US economy and reduce stubbornly high unemployment - considered crucial to his 2012 re-election chances.

Mr Obama met with 12 leaders from technology companies and discussed ways to work together to invest in innovation and promote private sector job growth, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said after the meeting.