What's Next for Apple? Steve Jobs won't ever tell you -- but we will. Here's what a trail of intriguing evidence reveals about where the world's hottest company is going.
By Paul Sloan, Paul Kaihla, April 2005 Issue Steve Jobs was rocking back and forth in his chair at the head of his conference room table -- and venting. It was January 2002, and the target of his ire was the music business. The industry was reeling from Internet piracy and, as Jobs saw it, doing nothing about it. Even Jobs himself, a man accustomed to commanding people's attention, had been largely ignored by music execs. Jobs railed to his audience, a few Apple (AAPL) lieutenants and Paul Vidich, then a senior exec at Warner Music, about the industry's total lack of imagination. "Until now," Jobs said, "I've never had a living, breathing music executive come to Apple." Vidich sat quietly. "Why is it," Jobs continued, "that the people who run the music industry just don't get it?" Vidich could have taken this the way Jobs certainly meant it -- as an insult. But as Vidich listened, he couldn't help thinking that he agreed. Finally, he spoke up. "Steve," he said, "that's why we're here. We need some help." It's amazing to consider what has happened since that encounter at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. In three years Apple has utterly changed the way people listen to music, and Jobs has become the hero of the very people he was lambasting. Top acts are eager to sell their music via the iTunes music store. The iPod music player has become totemic; it's selling at a rate of about 40 per minute. White buds sprout from so many ears that a sudden human evolutionary adaptation seems to have taken place. ... http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863,1037197,00.html Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _______________________________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
