Jobs

Buzz Out Loud 823: Sad trombone

Whence comes the sad trombone, and other questions of great worldly importance dominate today's discussions, but there is, in fact, other technology news today. For example, Steve Jobs is OK, but citizen journalism may not be; iTunes isn't going to have to shut down after all (but copyright pricing remains outrageously stupid); and Microsoft extends the life of the Windows XP loophole...presumably all the way to Windows 7's doorstep. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 823

Steve Jobs heart attack… not http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10057521-37.html

Music publishers keep same download rate, Apple keeping … Read more

Heart attack or not, Apple needs an heir

CNN's iReport featured a story on Friday saying that a "reliable source" told them that Apple CEO Steve Jobs suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. Since then, Apple has denied the report, saying nothing of the sort happened. After confirming Apple's statement, CNN took the article down.

So it looks like Jobs is doing just fine. But then again, what if he wasn't? I'm willing to accept that he never had the heart attack (why would Apple lie?), but doesn't it beg the question of whether or not Apple should appoint an heir apparent?

I know, I know: some people believe Jobs' health is a private matter and should stay that way, but the stock price plummeted on an unsubstantiated report that Jobs had a heart attack. Can you imagine how far it would fall if it was true?

See, what too many seem to forget is that Jobs is the key to Apple's success and the figurehead that shareholders look to for safe-keeping of their money. Thousands of people are willing to put their retirements in the proper judgment of Jobs, and I think it's time Apple wakes up and realizes that simple fact.… Read more

Jobs heart attack rumor not true, Apple stock swings

Apple has denied a rumor posted on CNN's iReport page that Steve Jobs suffered a heart attack Friday morning.

The unsubstantiated rumor, posted on the "citizen journalism" section of CNN called iReport, caused a sharp drop in Apple's stock price around 7 a.m. PDT before company representatives were able to deny the charge. Blogs such as Silicon Alley Insider initially published the rumor as written on CNN with the 21st century fig leaf--a question mark at the end of the headline--but updated its story after hearing from Apple representatives. CNN has since removed the post … Read more

eMusic CEO leaves for venture capital firm

David Pakman, CEO of eMusic, is leaving the online music service at the end of the year, he said in an interview with CNET News on Monday.

Pakman said he is departing after five years at eMusic to become a partner at a venture capital firm. He declined to specify which firm.

An important part of Pakman's legacy at eMusic is that the company continues to exist. How many CEOs of digital music stores have been around for five years or longer? I can think of only one: Apple's Steve Jobs.

Pakman has watched stores from MTV, Microsoft, … Read more

Daily Debrief: Microsoft Zune updates

At last week's Apple event, CEO Steve Jobs informed the crowd that Apple holds roughly 73 percent of the MP3 market share. According to his numbers, Microsoft has a hold on a little more than 2 percent of the market. Given the ubiquity of the iPod versus the Zune, it's not hard to believe those figures, even if it's give or take a few percentage points.

On Tuesday, Microsoft released a new round of upgrades for its Zune, in hopes of making the gadget more competitive with the Apple offerings, and perhaps eating into that market dominance. … Read more

Report: $100 billion would foster 2 million green jobs

Unemployment would plummet along with the reliance on and cost of foreign oil, if the U.S. government invested $100 billion to create 2 million green jobs, according to a report from progressive groups.

The report, released Tuesday and backed by the Center for American Progress, projected that it would take two years to cultivate 2 million new jobs in six areas related to clean technologies.

Positions paying at least $16 per hour would include installing solar panels and wind turbines, expanding mass transit, renovating buildings, developing smart electrical grids, and brewing better biofuels.

The authors compared the cost as … Read more

The 404 181: Where Natali is not selling her hair on eBay...yet.

On today's show, we reveal our favorite fragrances, briefly touch on the new Apple offerings, disappear into e-Ink, rip into the Geek Squad and Microsoft's new "gurus," send text messages to inanimate household objects, and try to convince Wilson to take a shower in public in the name of animal rights.

Don't bust out that checkbook yet, my friends, contrary to popular belief, Natali Del Conte's hair is not on eBay...yet. We'll be the first ones to break that news, but until then you'll just have to listen to our show to get your NDC fix. Lots of news to talk about today, which we get to right after we guess each other's favorite eau de liquid smells. No surprise here, but Jeff's is the sweet scent of Natali's hair that he creepily compares to a cherry lollipop. Anyway, we also get the scoop on a few more tech-related gems, including a story about energy companies testing a program that will send you a text message on behalf of your thermostat if you forget to turn it off when you leave the house. Hey, I'm all for energy conversation, but are ya kidding me!? So now, on top of ignoring text messages from my close friends and family members, I have to deal with spam from my household appliances, too!? I guess I can see it being useful when I forget to turn off the oven, but I'd prefer to get the news by driving up to a burning apartment rather than getting a text from my oven that says "Hey, dummy--you forgot to turn me off, so now I'm spitting hot fire at all your physical possessions. See you at home!" No thanks, gas company, you can keep the service--I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Episode 181 Download today's podcast … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 805: See you all...tomorrow?

The Large Hadron Collider comes online tomorrow (Wednesday, September 10), so we're just kind of assuming we'll be here for tomorrow's show. Of course, if it uses .NET, we're definitely doomed, if Computerworld's speculations about the daylong outage of the London Stock Exchange are to be believed. In any case, if today is our last show, at least we brought balance to the force. We discuss new Zunes and new iPods in (mostly) equal doses.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 805

Microsoft confirms Zune details http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10034897-56.html http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2008/sep08/09-08ZuneFallUpdatePR.mspx … Read more

Don't miss a moment of today's Apple event

Very soon the fourth annual Apple September music event will begin over at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. This year it's called "Let's Rock." Can't make it? No problem, we here at CNET have you covered.

CNET News Apple reporter extraordinaire Tom Krazit will be live-blogging the whole thing. That means he'll be reporting up the minute what's happening, while also throwing in some context and analysis when he can. Head over to his One More Thing blog for all the action.

Keep checking back throughout the morning for … Read more