Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs one of Time's 20 'most influential Americans'

Steve Jobs has been named as one of the 20 most influential Americans of all time by Time magazine, placing his name with iconic historical greats such as George Washington, Alexander Graham Bell, and Albert Einstein.

The list, a chronological listing of "the trailblazers, visionaries and cultural ambassadors who defined a nation," refers to Jobs as the "high priest of the digital age." In a brief summary, Time recounts some of the career highs and lows of the late Apple co-founder.

Jobs was a visionary whose great genius was for design: he pushed and pushed to … Read more

Steve Jobs' Android comments won't be in Apple-Samsung trial

Steve Jobs won't be heard in the Apple-Samsung patent infringement trial after all.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh today granted an Apple request to ban disparaging comments the late Apple CEO made about Google's Android operating system, according to a Reuters report. Apple had asked the court to exclude any statements attributed to Jobs by Walter Isaacson, Jobs' biographer, about wanting to destroy Android because it's allegedly a stolen product and his intention to go to "thermonuclear war" to achieve that goal.

The disputed comments were made during interviews with Isaacson before Jobs died … Read more

Steve Jobs admired Zuckerberg too much to compete with him

Remember when Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs said he admired Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg? That's apparently what Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson before he died. Well, it turns out Jobs' statements of respect for Zuckerberg weren't just mere rhetoric.

Jobs' appreciation for Zuckerberg was echoed once again today by Isaacson. He was speaking with Washington Post Company Chairman and CEO Donald Graham, who also happens to be a Facebook board member. Business Insider has the quotes:

"Jobs meant an enormous amount to the education of Mark," Graham told Isaacson. "Mark will talk … Read more

Kutcher-led Steve Jobs biopic fills out additional cast

Casting for the upcoming Steve Jobs film starring Ashton Kutcher continues to fill out.

Per the Hollywood Reporter, the film has snagged actors J.K. Simmons and Kevin Dunn, the latter of whom recently played the father of Shia LaBeouf's character in Michael Bay's "Transformers" series. Simmons has been tapped for the role of venture capitalist Arthur Rock, with Dunn playing Gil Amelio, who was briefly Apple's CEO ahead of Jobs' return.

Other additions include actors Elden Henson, Giles Matthey, Lenny Jacobson and Victor Rasuk. Of that bunch, Henson will play early Mac team member … Read more

Steve Jobs' 'Lost Interview' up for rental on iTunes

Those of you eager to watch "Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview" can now rent it via iTunes for $3.99.

The 70-minute Q&A with Jobs was conducted by Robert X. Cringely[*] for his 1996 PBS documentary "Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires." Only ten minutes of the original conversation were used for the documentary. But Cringely was able to able to get the rest of it from director Paul Sen, who had made a VHS copy of it that he kept in his garage.

[*] Aka tech journalist Mark Stephens. Other tech … Read more

Feds want publishers in e-book case to rat on Apple

It's time to drop dime, says the U.S. government.

The U.S. Department of Justice want three of the five book-publishing houses accused of participating in a price-fixing scheme with Apple to start turning over evidence against their alleged co-conspirators, court documents show.

In April, the U.S. Department of Justice accused five of the country's six largest book publishers of conspiring with Apple to raise prices on e-books. The government alleges that the co-conspirators forced e-book retailers, such as Amazon, to adopt a new business model, one that would enable the publishers to snatch control of … Read more

Steve Jobs movie starring Ashton Kutcher begins filming

The curtain has risen and the shooting has begun on the Hollywood biopic "jOBS" starring Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs.

Kutcher arrived on set today at Jobs' childhood home, according to Pacific Coast News. He donned a trimmed beard and shaggy hair -- looking actually not too different than when he's not playing Jobs.

The movie will focus on the earlier years of Jobs' life, from 1971 to 2000, producer Mark Hulme said in April. And rather than being about to Walter Isaacson's best-selling biography "Steve Jobs," the movie is supposedly based on widely … Read more

Steve Jobs revealed blackmail fears, drug use in DOD document

Steve Jobs was forced to divulge several details about his life when he was seeking Top Secret security clearance in 1988.

The details were made public today in a questionnaire that Jobs had to fill out at the time for the Department of Defense, which was recently obtained by Wired through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Responding to a question on how he might be susceptible to blackmail, Jobs revealed that he had an illegitimate daughter and was concerned that he could be blackmailed if someone were to kidnap her. But a person at the DOD apparently wasn't … Read more

Matthew Modine to play John Sculley in Steve Jobs biopic

The roster for the upcoming Steve Jobs film starring Ashton Kutcher has picked its bad guy. That is to say, the man who ousted Jobs from Apple in 1985, John Sculley.

In a note sent to CNET and other outlets this afternoon, actor Matthew Modine's agency announced he'd be playing Sculley in the film, which begins principal photography this month.

Jobs famously hired Sculley away from Pepsi-Cola to run Apple with the line, "Do you really want to sell sugar water, or do you want to come with me and change the world?" Sculley took him … Read more

Jobs' 'thermonuclear war' quote fair game in court, judge says

Controversial quotes made by late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs last year claiming Google's Android operating system was a "wholesale" rip-off will be fair game as evidence in court, a judge said this week.

"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong," Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson, in the book, which hit shelves last October.

"I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war … Read more