Service name	iTunes Store
Service screenshot
Service logo
Opened	April 28, 2003 (as iTunes Music Store)
Pricing	À la carte, tiered; limited time rentals available for some movies
Platforms	Mac OS X, Windows, Apple TV, and iOS.
Format	Unprotected AAC (.m4a) @ 256 kbit/s (music), protected AAC (.m4p) @ 32 and 64 kbit/s (audiobooks), unprotected MPEG-4 Video (.m4v) (music videos), protected MPEG-4 Video (.m4v) (other video)
Restrictions	(Protected) Music — streaming to five computers every 24 hours, unlimited CDs (seven with an unchanged playlist), unlimited iPods and iPhones.
Catalogue	More than 28 million songs worldwide, 1,000,000+ podcasts (USA), 40,000+ music videos (USA),3,000+ TV shows (USA), 20,000+ audiobooks (USA), 2,500+ movies (USA), 300,000+ App Store Apps
Preview	90 seconds (Music, TV, & Video) / 90 seconds (Audiobooks) / 30+ seconds (Movies)
Streaming	Previews and Podcasts only
Protocol	iTunes Music Store Protocol (itms://)
Availability	See article
Features	Allowance, "Just For You", Celebrity Playlists, gift certificates and gift cards, iMix, billboard charts, advanced search
Support	Web only; See article
Homepage	itunes.com
Footnotes	}}

The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple Inc. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, it has been the largest music vendor in the United States since April 2008, and the most popular music vendor in the world since February 24, 2010, when it served its 10 billionth song download. It now offers over 28 million songs, videos and apps; by October 4, 2011, the store had sold 16 billion songs. The iTunes Store's revenues in the first quarter of 2011 alone totalled nearly US$1.4 billion.

While most downloaded files initially included restrictions on their use, enforced by FairPlay, Apple's implementation of digital rights management, iTunes later initiated a shift into selling DRM-free music in most countries, marketed as iTunes Plus. On January 6, 2009, Apple announced that DRM had been removed from 80% of the entire music catalog in the U.S. Full iTunes Plus availability was achieved on April 7, 2009 in the U.S., coinciding with the introduction of a three-tiered pricing model; however, television shows, many books, and movies are still FairPlay-protected.

Features and restrictions[link]

Pricing model[link]

Since the introduction of the iTunes Store, individual songs were all sold for the same price with no subscription fee (in contrast to most existing online music stores at the time of introduction, which charged a monthly fee for access to their catalog). Music in the store is in the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format, which is the MPEG-4-specified successor to MP3. Songs with DRM are encoded at 128 kbit/s. As of the January 2009 Macworld Expo, Apple has announced that all music in iTunes will be available without DRM, and encoded at the higher-quality rate of 256 kbit/s. Previously, this model, known as "iTunes Plus", had been available only for music from EMI and some independent labels. Previews, ninety seconds in length, are available free, prior to buying a song. iTunes had the option between fully loading previews before playing, or simply streaming the preview; the former feature was removed with the release of iTunes 8.

Feature length movies and television episodes are available for purchase. Movies tend to be priced below a DVD of the same film while television episodes are approximately double the cost of a song.

Finally, some games are available for some models of iPods for various prices, but none as expensive as a feature length film. In addition, the iTunes Store now offers Apps, which are applications used for various purposes (games, maps, movie showtimes, etc.) that are compatible with the iPod Touch and iPhone, although some Apps are specifically for the iPhone only. Some Apps cost money (called "Paid Apps") and some are free (called "Free Apps"). Developers can decide which price they want for apps. When someone downloads an App, 70 percent of the purchase goes to the developer(s), and 30 percent goes to Apple.

At the Macworld 2008 keynote, Steve Jobs, who was Apple's CEO at the time, announced iTunes movie rentals. Movies are available for rent in the iTunes Store on the same day they are released on DVD. They are only viewable for 24 hours after users begin viewing them. This feature is not yet available in all countries but it is available in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Weekly promotions[link]

There is a weekly promotion in which one to three songs are available to download for free to logged-in users. Free downloads are available on Tuesdays, and remain free until the following Tuesday. Some artists choose to have select songs available for no charge. This is not available at all iTunes Stores. Some iTunes television programs have begun the same technique to encourage brand loyalty; although those stay longer. In fact, the iTunes Store used to have a link to "Free TV" on its home page and the TV Shows section's home page which links to a complete listing of free TV shows, however it has disappeared (the page has remained online). Apple still offers free TV episodes; some channels, such as ABC and NBC, have their own pages of "Free Season Premieres".

There are usually three types of free songs on the United States iTunes Store: the regular featured free song, the Discovery Download (featuring songs from different genres), and the Canción de la Semana (Latino free single of the week). Most recently, iTunes has been weekly offering free music videos.

iTunes Store for iOS[link]

The release of the iPhone and iPod Touch brought the introduction of the iTunes Music Store. This version of the iTunes Store allows owners of the iPod Touch and iPhone to purchase music and download podcasts directly on the portable music device. Originally to access the store the user had to be connected to a Wi-Fi network in order to enter the store, hence its original name: the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. However, at Macworld 2009, Apple issued a software update which automatically allowed 3G and EDGE users to access the store's full functionality for files smaller than 10 MB. The 3.0 update added the ability to download movies, TV shows, audiobooks, iTunes U, and ringtones on the devices. However, on 18 February 2010, Apple increased the 10MB limit to 20MB.

Customer support[link]

Apple provides customer support for the iTunes Store over the phone through AppleCare; Timothy Noah of ''Slate'' has also found a customer service line. Most customer service inquiries are handled online, via the Report a Problem link in the iTunes application.

Catalog content[link]

Music[link]

The store began after Apple signed deals with the five major record labels at the time, EMI, Universal, Warner, Sony Music Entertainment, and BMG (the last two would later merge to form Sony BMG - which was later turned back into Sony Music Entertainment, with BMG becoming defunct as of October 8, 2008). Music from more than 2,000 independent labels were added later, the first from The Orchard on June 24, 2003.

The store has more than 20,000,000 songs, including exclusive tracks from numerous artists. Not all artists are available on iTunes, including some popular ones such as AC/DC or Tool.

New songs are added to the iTunes catalog every day, while the iTunes Store is updated each Tuesday. Apple also releases a 'Single of the Week' in both English and sometimes Spanish and usually a 'Discovery Download' on Tuesdays, which are available for free for one week.

Downloaded songs come with song information (name, artist, album) already filled out, though iTunes provides a free service by Gracenote to do this for songs not purchased from the store, although they must be imported with iTunes. Songs that have an entry in the iTunes Store also come with album artwork (Artwork is embedded in the metadata). As of the release of iTunes 7, the artwork can be obtained for songs not purchased from the store for free if the user has an iTunes Store account. Purchased songs do not come with lyrics already typed in to the application's window for them; nor does iTunes provide a service for acquiring the missing lyrics. However, several third-party applications exist to locate and automatically add lyrics to the user's music.

"Album Only" songs[link]

Some songs are available from the store by "Album Only", meaning the song can only be acquired through the purchase of the entire album, whereas most songs can be downloaded separately from the album they belong to. Most songs above 10 minutes in length are automatically album-only songs. Soundtracks also often have many Album Only tracks.

Movie soundtracks normally include songs owned by many different labels, making licensing more complex. For example, ''Forrest Gump: The Soundtrack'' includes songs from Peacock Records, Argo Records & Capitol Records, among many others. ''Greatest Hits'' by Red Hot Chili Peppers has only one song, "Higher Ground", that is not available for download on a per song basis, whilst ''Circus'' (Britney Spears' 2008 album) has two songs that are only available for album download only which are ''Rock Me In'' and ''Phonography''.

"Work Only" songs[link]

Some tracks are listed as "Work Only", which means they can only be obtained by purchasing the entire piece of work (within the album); the tracks cannot be bought as singles. One explanation given for this model is that the artist wants users to appreciate "the work" as a whole, instead of in fragments.

Sub-divisions[link]

When entering the U.S. music store, there are multiple sub-divided stores that one can go into. These stores are either found under 'More In Music,' 'Genres,' 'Pre-Orders,' 'Celebrity Playlists' and 'Free Downloads.' Within 'More In Music,' one can enter various stores such as Starbucks Entertainment and iTunes Essentials. Groupings of music based upon the artist of the music (Artist Essentials), the genre or history of the music (Genres and History), or any other similarities (My Groove) are on iTunes Essentials.

Each grouping of music is essentially a pre-made playlist. The songs in the playlist are all listed in order of their importance, starting with the artist's most well-known song. These playlists usually contain either 45 or 75 songs equally distributed in three sections: The Basics (the biggest, best, and most important songs), Next Steps (usually composed of popular songs just beyond the hits) and Deep Cuts (under-appreciated songs). Occasionally, specific ''Artist Essentials'' do not have a Deep Cuts section. This usually depends on how many releases the artist has completed over the years.

Within 'Genres,' one can enter music stores that only have one genre. These genres include alternative, blues, children's music, Christian & gospel, classical, comedy (this includes comedy rock and stand-up comedy), country, dance, electronic, hip-hop/rap, jazz, Latino, pop, R&B;/soul, reggae, rock, singer–songwriter, soundtrack, vocal, and world. There are a total of 20 genres in the U.S. music store. 'Pre-Orders' lists albums that one can pre-order before the album is released. 'Celebrity Playlists' contains lists of songs chosen and described by celebrities. 'Free Downloads' are songs that subscribed iTunes Store users can obtain for free.

On November 1, 2006, Apple created a category for Latino and Hispanic content, "iTunes Latino". Telemundo and Mun2 made some of their popular programs available for purchase, becoming the first Hispanic television content in the store. It offers music, music videos, audiobooks, podcasts and television shows in Spanish in a single concentrated area. The brief descriptions given to the content is in Spanish as well as several sub-categories. Gibraltarian Flamenco Metal band Breed 77, released an exclusive album called Un Encuentro to coincide with the launch of "iTunes Latino". It features 11 songs, all from previous albums, but all sung in Spanish.

Song censorship[link]

There is a policy of censoring profanity in song titles on iTunes. This has resulted in a Scunthorpe glitch, by which inoffensive titles are censored due to a coincidental string of letters.

If the song has an explicit label, it will be marked "explicit" next to the song title. If a song is marked "explicit" it is unavailable for purchase if "restrict explicit content" is checked under the parental controls preference. Often there will be a "clean" mark next to the title of some songs, meaning the lyrics have been censored, and is available to purchase on all accounts. Generally if a song is marked "clean" there is an explicit version available as well.

Podcasts[link]

The iTunes Store has over 150,000 podcasts available to subscribe. Once a podcast has been subscribed to, iTunes will automatically download new episodes to that person's iTunes library. They are available for free and are of various ratings. Devices with iOS 4.2 onwards allows the download of podcasts automatically in your device.

Audiobooks[link]

The iTunes Store also includes over 20,000 hours of audiobooks, encoded at 32 kbit/s (22.050-24.000 kHz, mono) and 64 kbit/s (22.050 kHz, stereo). Ninety-second previews are offered for every book. These books are provided by Audible.com. This is the same format available if the user signs up directly with Audible.com and chose the "iPod" format.

The main difference is that it is unnecessary to sign up for a subscription to get audiobooks as is the case with Audible. A small discount is provided through buying audiobooks through the iTunes Store, but on a selective basis by Apple in comparison to an "always on member discount" if one has an Audible subscription. The "Audiobooks" category also includes radio shows and all other audio-only programs, except podcasts.

Video[link]

In October 2005, Apple announced the latest iPod would be capable of playing video files, which would be sold online through the iTunes Store in the U.S. These videos included 2,000 music videos and episodes of popular television programs. Apple made a deal with Disney to be the first supplier of TV shows. The first shows available included episodes of ''Lost'' and ''Desperate Housewives'' with each episode becoming available the day after it originally aired on broadcast TV. Several short animated films by Pixar are available.

The selling of videos on iTunes sparked considerable debate as to whether there was a paying audience for programming available for free on TV. As MP3 Newswire pointed out, users are not so much paying for the TV programs themselves. Instead they are really paying for a service that offers the convenience of someone else digitizing free broadcast episodes for them for their portable device, each episode in commercial-free form, and a convenient place to select and download individual shows. Through an updated version of QuickTime Pro, users can create their own videos for the iPod, including digitized versions of programs recorded on their VCR if they wish to take the time and effort to save the cost.

With the launch of iTunes 8, many TV shows, such as ''The Office'' and ''Heroes'', have begun offering their programing in High Definition (HD). Until March 7, 2012, the HD content available on iTunes was in 720p (1280 x 720). After this date, 1080p content (1920 x 1080) was offered alongside 720p.

In addition to the launch of high definition TV shows, iTunes 8 allowed for the rental of movies through the iTunes Store. The playing of movie rentals must begin within 30 days of purchase and must be completed within 24 hours of having been started.

In March 2009, Apple announced that iTunes customers can purchase and rent selected movie titles in HD from their computers. Previously, HD movie rentals were only available for purchase and playback on the Apple TV. HD movies available for purchase are priced at $19.99, introduced with titles such as ''Quantum of Solace'' and ''Twilight''.

iTunes U[link]

On May 30, 2007, iTunes U was announced at Cupertino, California. The service was created to manage, distribute, and control access to educational audio and video content and PDF files for students within a college or university as well as the broader Internet; it has since been updated to include grade schools Kindergarten to 12th grade. The member institutions are given their own iTunes U site that makes use of Apple's iTunes Store infrastructure. The online service is without cost to those uploading or downloading material. Content includes course lectures, language lessons, lab demonstrations, sports highlights and campus tours provided by qualifying two- and four-year accredited, degree-granting, public or private colleges, universities, elementary, middle, and high schools in the United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom.

An advantage iTunes U has over traditional podcasting tools is that access to content can be restricted because of the use of the iTunes infrastructure end-to-end. Authentication is handled by the member college or university, who prompts a visitor for information (like an account and password specific to that institution) and then passes a certain token on to the iTunes U web site. That token contains (indicates) the access level for that visitor. An example might be a class podcast that can only be accessed by students enrolled in the class.

There is material from a myriad of places, including colleges and universities, on iTunes U. There are over 350,000 files available to download. Individual universities can be visited through the Universities & Colleges section, and other institutions can be visited through the "Beyond Campus" section.

The functions of iTunes U are much like those of Podcasts in that users can either download individual streams or subscribe to a stream so that iTunes will automatically download it.

Since making changes to individual iTunes U sites may be difficult to users not well-versed in XML tools (i.e. XQuery), Richard Wolf at the University of Illinois at Chicago has created the Woolamaloo application and Woolamaloo Automator Actions for OS X to aid users in the setup and editing of sites. Woolamaloo makes it easy for non-programmers to use the iTunes U web services. By using the Automator workflow tool in OS X, the Woolamaloo Automator Actions can not only be configured but can then be combined with other actions to help with any routine iTunes U administrative tasks. After receiving multiple requests, Mr. Wolf subsequently released Woolamaloo for Windows.

iPod games[link]

On September 12, 2006, the iTunes Store began to offer additional games for purchase with the launch of iTunes 7, compatible with the iPod Classic or iPod Nano with video playback. Launch titles included: Bejeweled, Cubis, Mini Golf, Mahjong, Pac-Man, Tetris, Texas Hold 'Em, Vortex, and Zuma. Though they are downloaded through iTunes, the games cannot be played within the application itself; they can only be played on an iPod Classic or iPod Nano.

App Store[link]

With the launch of iPhone 3G and the 2.0 iOS firmware for iPod Touch and iPhone owners, the App Store allows people to download applications through the iTunes desktop software or the App Store on their iPhones. As of October 4, 2011, there are over 500,000 third-party applications available. The applications can only be run on iPhones, iPod Touch or iPads. Each application is also protected with iTunes FairPlay DRM. Developers of these applications receive 70 percent of the income and free applications are distributed without charge to the developer.

iBookstore[link]

As with the launch of the App Store on both the iOS as a standalone application and in iTunes as a section of the iTunes store, the iBookstore has been launched on both platforms in a similar fashion, with the desktop software being used to store and sync iBooks purchases exclusively with iDevices. The iPhone OS software update on 21 June 2010 allowed iPhone and iPod touch customers in the US to buy iBooks, with other countries coming on stream soon after.

Reception[link]

Since its launch, the iTunes Store has crossed many milestones. In the first 18 hours, the store sold about 275,000 tracks and more than 1,000,000 in its first 5 days. When released for Windows in October 2003, iTunes was downloaded more than 1,000,000 times in the first 3 days, selling more than 1,000,000 songs in that period. On December 15, 2003 Apple announced that it had crossed 25 million songs sold.

In January 2004 at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, Steve Jobs announced (Sellers, 2004) that an unnamed person had purchased US$29,500 worth of music. On March 15, 2004, Apple announced that iTunes Music Store customers had purchased and downloaded 50 million songs from the iTunes Music Store. A song sold on iTunes gives the artist 9 cents in profit. They also reported that customers were purchasing 2.5 million songs a week which translates to a projected annual run rate of 130 million songs a year. The 50 millionth song was "The Path of Thorns" by Sarah McLachlan.

On April 28, 2004, the iTunes Music Store marked its first anniversary with 70 million songs sold, clear dominance in the paid online music market and a slight profit. The store also offers hundreds of movie trailers and music videos, in an attempt to boost soundtrack sales. In the conference, Steve Jobs reiterated that a subscription service is still not in the interest of customers and reported that only 5 million of the 100 million songs offered in the Pepsi giveaway campaign were redeemed, which he blamed on technical problems in Pepsi distribution. According to an Apple Press Release released on August 10, 2004, the iTunes Music Store is the first store to have a catalog of more than one million songs. Also, the iTunes Music Store at that point maintained an over 70 percent market share of legal music downloads.

The emerging monopoly of the store has been criticised by Mike Lang of Miramax for "effectively strangling the industry". He says that because the music industry has allowed too few content providers, it is now suffering. Lang views the issue as being more of a threat than music piracy.

Milestones[link]

Music[link]

:*100 million songs sold: Summer, 2004 ::(Kevin Britten of Hays, Kansas, bought the 100 millionth song, and the twenty-year-old was given a call from Steve Jobs congratulating him.) :*125 million songs sold: September 1, 2004 :*150 million songs sold: October 14, 2004 :*200 million songs sold: December 16, 2004 ::(Ryan Alekman of Belchertown, Massachusetts, bought the 200 millionth song, which was one of the tracks on U2's digital box set ''The Complete U2.'') :*250 million songs sold: January 24, 2005 :*300 million songs sold: March 2, 2005 :*400 million songs sold: May 10, 2005 On July 5, 2005 Apple announced a promotion counting down to half a billion songs sold. :* 500 million songs sold: July 18, 2005 ::(Amy Greer of Lafayette, Indiana, bought the 500 millionth song, "Mississippi Girl" by Faith Hill.) :*850 million songs sold: January 10, 2006 :*1 billion songs sold: February 23, 2006 ::(Alex Ostrovsky of West Bloomfield, Michigan, bought the billionth song, "Speed of Sound" by Coldplay. He later got a call from Steve Jobs with the news that the sixteen-year-old was getting ten iPods, an iMac, a $10,000 music gift certificate, and a scholarship established in his name at the Juilliard School.) :*1.5 billion songs sold: September 12, 2006 :*2 billion songs sold: January 10, 2007 :* 2.5 billion songs sold: April 9, 2007 :*3 billion songs sold: July 31, 2007 :*4 billion songs sold: January 15, 2008 :*5 billion songs sold: June 19, 2008 :*6 billion songs sold: January 6, 2009 :*8 billion songs sold: July 21, 2009 :*8.6 billion songs sold: September 9, 2009 :*10 billion songs sold: February 24, 2010 ::(Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia, downloaded "Guess Things Happen That Way" by Johnny Cash. At 71 years old, he was the oldest milestone winner. He received a call from Steve Jobs and a $10,000 iTunes gift card.) :*15 billion songs sold: June 6, 2011

Video[link]

:*1 million videos sold: October 31, 2005 :*3+ million videos sold: December 6, 2005 :*8 million videos sold: January 10, 2006 :*15 million videos sold: February 23, 2006 :*45 million videos sold: September 12, 2006 :*50 million television episodes sold: January 10, 2007 :*1.3 million feature-length films sold: January 10, 2007 :*2 million feature-length films sold: July 31, 2007 :*200 million television episodes sold: October 16, 2008 :*1+ million HD episodes sold: October 16, 2008

Applications[link]

:*10 million apps downloaded: July 14, 2008 :*100 million apps downloaded: September 9, 2008 :*200 million apps downloaded: October 22, 2008 :*300 million apps downloaded: December 5, 2008 :*500 million apps downloaded: January 16, 2009 :*800 million apps downloaded: March 17, 2009 :*1 billion apps downloaded: April 23, 2009 :*1.5 billion apps downloaded: July 14, 2009 :*1.8 billion apps downloaded: September 9, 2009 :*2 billion apps downloaded: September 28, 2009 :*3 billion apps downloaded: January 5, 2010 :*7 billion apps downloaded: October 20, 2010 :*10 billion apps downloaded: January 22, 2011 :*15 billion apps downloaded: July 7, 2011 :*25 billion apps downloaded: March 5, 2012

Market share[link]

:*Steve Jobs announced in his "It's Showtime" keynote that Apple had 88% of the legal U.S. music download market on September 12, 2006. :*Apple announced that the iTunes Store had sold more than two million movies, making it the world's most popular online movie store on April 11, 2007. :*Apple announced that iTunes Store surpassed Best Buy to become the second biggest music seller in the USA behind Wal-Mart on February 26, 2008 and eventually became number one on April 3, 2008.

Internationalization[link]

Originally only Mac OS X users who had credit cards with a U.S. billing address could buy songs with the service, but Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, announced plans to support both Windows and non-American users. The Windows version of iTunes and support for the Windows platform from the iTunes Music Store were announced on October 16, 2003, with immediate availability. Beginning in 2004, the service has become available in a number of countries other than the United States:

{| class = "wikitable" |- ! rowspan="2" | country ! colspan="9" | product type ! rowspan="2" | affiliate network ! rowspan="2" | price/song |- ! Music ! Music Videos ! Podcasts ! TV shows ! Movies ! Apps ! Books ! iTunes Match ! iTunes U |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.59 - 0.99 GBP(0.91 - 1.53 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 CAD(0.67 - 1.25 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 9 - 12 SEK(1.25 - 1.67 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 8 - 10 NOK(1.32 - 1.66 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 1.60 - 2.20 CHF(1.53 - 2.11 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 8 - 10 DKK(1.52 - 1.90 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 150 - 250 JPY(1.81 - 3.02 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 1.19 - 2.19 AUD(1.28 - 2.35 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 1.79 - 2.39 NZD(1.29 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 9 - 15 MXN(0.71 - 1.19 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 EUR(0.92 - 1.72 USD) |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- | || || || || || || || || || || || 0.69 - 1.29 USD |- ! rowspan="2" | country ! Music ! Music Videos ! Podcasts ! TV shows ! Movies ! Apps ! Books ! iTunes Match ! iTunes U ! rowspan="2" | affiliate network ! rowspan="2" | price/song |- ! colspan="9" | product type |- |}

To buy files through the store, a user must install the proprietary digital media player iTunes to access the store. This software is available only for certain versions of the Macintosh or Windows operating systems. According to an Apple Press Release, the European iTunes Music Stores sold a combined total of 800,000 songs in one week, with 450,000 of those songs sold in the UK.

The Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Greek stores have been localized.

On 3 December 2004 the British Office of Fair Trading referred the iTunes Music Store to the European Commission because it prevents consumers in one EU country from buying music from stores in other EU countries, in violation of EU free-trade legislation; the immediate cause of the referral was because the €0.99 price charged in the Eurozone equates to UK£0.68 in sterling, rather than the UK£0.79 actually charged there.

iTunes Music Store in Japan had 1 million songs available at start. In the next four days the store had sold one million songs – the pace faster than that of the U.S. store. In addition to a long delay, Apple failed to have one set price for singles. Pundits speculated that this may have indicated the introduction of new price structure to the rest of the stores in future, in favor of record labels who would like to see higher prices for new songs. This extension to other countries was announced in January 2009.

The release of video-capable iPods also saw the store launch in Australia with music videos and short films by Pixar. iTunes Gift Cards (as they are now known) are now also available in many more stores such as JB Hi-Fi, David Jones, and the Woolworths chain of stores. Access was inadvertently given to some people in New Zealand, too. Failed negotiations with the Sony BMG label meant that none of that label's artists were available at the time of launch; they were later added on January 17, 2006.

New Zealand users had briefly been able to buy from the Australian store when it first opened until that loophole was closed.

On November 1, 2006, the store started offering a range of Latino content including television shows and music for its Hispanic American, Mexican and Puerto Rican clients.

The Spanish used on the Mexican store has been modified to Mexican Spanish.

As of the 2009 Macworld Conference & Expo, Apple had given no new information of the (possible; future) inclusion and expansion of music videos, TV-shows and movies in other European countries. The stores of the UK, Germany and France currently remain the only European Stores with local and/or localized selections of TV-shows, movies and music videos.

Payment options[link]

A user must also pay with an iTunes gift card or a credit card with a billing address in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, or the United States. Apple also offers other payment methods (like Paypal), which differ from country to country. Residents in other countries can only buy a gift card from a merchant or download free podcasts and previews.

Available file formats / History thereof[link]

Originally, songs were encoded using FairPlay-encrypted 128 kbit/s AAC streams in an mp4 wrapper, using the .m4p extension.

While licenses to the AAC compression and the mp4 file format are readily available, Apple generally has not licensed its proprietary FairPlay encryption scheme to other mobile device manufacturers, so only devices from Apple are able to play the Fairplay-encrypted songs sold at the iTunes Store. The only exceptions were three mobile phones sold by Motorola in the years 2005–6: the Motorola ROKR E1, the Motorola RAZR V3i, and the Motorola SLVR L7.

Currently the ''digital booklets'' included with some albums are in PDF. With the present iPod software, these files are not readable on iPods without third party software. However, with the release of their latest firmware update for the iPhone and iPod Touch, these can be converted to books and viewed in the iBooks application.

From May 29, 2007 tracks on the EMI label were made available in a DRM-less format called iTunes Plus. These files are unprotected and are encoded in the AAC format at 256 kbit/s, twice the bitrate of standard tracks bought through the service. They are labelled as "purchased AAC audio file" (.m4a) rather than "protected AAC audio file" (.m4p) in iTunes and the context menu obtained by right-clicking the song includes an option to convert to MP3.

In January 2009, Apple announced that all music would be available in the iTunes Plus format, bringing an end to the sale of music with DRM on iTunes. In April, the sale of protected music ended in the western versions of the store, making all music in the iTunes Store "iTunes Plus". iTunes store users may choose to "upgrade" any of their downloaded iTunes music to iTunes Plus if they wish, but most songs require payment to do so. FairPlay DRM-protected music is still available in the Japanese iTunes store.

In September 2009, Apple introduced the iTunes LP format (known pre-launch by the code name "Cocktail") which features visual, interactive content alongside album tracks and lyrics.

Digital rights management[link]

Apple's FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) is integrated into iTunes, which manages songs purchased in the m4p file format from iTunes Store before January 2009. iTunes relies on FairPlay to implement three main restrictions:

Users can make a maximum of seven CD copies of any particular playlist containing songs in the m4p file format purchased from the iTunes Store.

Users can access their purchased songs in the m4p file format on a maximum of five computers.

Songs in the m4p file format can only be played on a computer with iTunes or an iPod; other MP3 devices do not support FairPlay encoded tracks.

There are no restrictions on number of iPods to which a purchased song can be transferred nor the number of times any individual song can be burned to CD.

When Apple initially introduced FairPlay, songs purchased through iTunes had limits of three simultaneous machines and ten CD copies of a playlist. The adjustment to the current limits was implemented with the introduction of iTunes 4.5 in April 2004, presumably as the result of re-negotiations Apple had with major labels.

Apple's DRM technology is breakable. Various programs have been written to remove the FairPlay wrapper and allow the AAC files to be used without technological restriction. More simply, a user can convert protected files to an unprotected format format by using iTunes to burn them to an audio CD and ripping the CD back to iTunes. If the CD is ripped back to iTunes in a lossy format, some audio quality will be lost in this transcoding. An alternative way of transcoding the files is to record the "Wave Out Mix" using an audio recording program (such as Audacity or Audio Hijack Pro) while playing the song on iTunes — and then encoding it to a format of the user's choice.

Competitors accused Apple of using iPod, the iTunes Store, and "FairPlay" to establish a vertical monopoly and a lock-in for iPod users to use the iTunes Store exclusively (and vice versa). This "lock" had two aspects:

Apple has maintained tight control of its FairPlay encryption. Other online music stores cannot sell music files encoded with FairPlay, and competing devices from companies such as Creative Labs and iriver cannot play such files. This means that consumers who want to listen to songs downloaded from the iTunes Store must either have an Apple device (iPod, iPhone, iPad) or convert the files to an open format.

The iPod does not play files encoded in the Microsoft's WMA format or RealNetwork's Helix-protected format used by other online music stores. iPod owners who want to play music from other stores must circumvent the files' DRM.

In July 2004, RealNetworks debuted an application named Harmony, which converted files purchased from RealNetworks' RealRhapsody service into a FairPlay-compatible format that an iPod could play. In response, Apple accused RealNetworks of "adopting the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod." and released a firmware upgrade that rendered iPods incapable of playing such files. On January 3, 2005, an iTunes Music Store customer sued Apple, alleging the company broke US antitrust laws by freezing out competitors.

In 2006, a controversy erupted about a French draft law aimed at reinforcing the protection of works of art against "piracy", or illegal copying; some clauses of the law could possibly be used to request Apple to provide information about its FairPlay system to manufacturers of competing players. Apple and associated lobbying groups protested the draft law, going as far as to suggest that it condoned "state-sponsored piracy." Some U.S. commentators claimed that the law was a protectionistic measure against the iPod.

Movement against DRM[link]

On February 6, 2007, Steve Jobs called on the Big Four record labels to allow their music to be sold DRM-free. This approach was advocated by the Open Music Model as being revenue maximizing. On April 2, 2007, Apple and the record label EMI announced that the iTunes Store would begin offering, as an additional purchasing option, tracks from EMI's catalog encoded as 256 kbit/s AAC without FairPlay or any other DRM.

On May 29, 2007, Apple released version 7.2 of its iTunes software, allowing users to purchase DRM-free music and music videos from participating labels. These new files, available through the iTunes Store, have been called iTunes Plus music by Apple. iTunes Plus content was offered at a higher price than the DRM-protected versions of the same content.

In October 2007, iTunes Plus became automatic instead of optional for all iTunes Plus licensed content. In addition, the price of iTunes Plus reverted to the lower DRM price.

Almost immediately after the launch of iTunes Plus, reports surfaced that the DRM-free tracks sold by the iTunes Store contained identifying information about the customer, embedding the purchasing account's full name and e-mail address as metadata in the file. This information has always been in iTunes downloads both with and without Fairplay DRM.. Privacy groups expressed concerns that this data could be misused if possessions carrying the files were stolen, and potentially wrongly incriminate a user for copyright infringement.

On January 6, 2009 at the Macworld Expo, Apple announced a significant overhaul of the iTunes Plus catalog with Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI offering all their music in iTunes Plus immediately. As of the announcement, 8 million songs were available in Apple's DRM-free format. As of April 2009, all songs became available in the iTunes Plus format, except from the Japanese iTunes Store; the Japanese store would not undergo full conversion until February 22, 2012.

Promotions[link]

On Super Bowl Sunday, February 1, 2004, Apple launched a promotion with Pepsi in which they gave away 100 million songs, through tokens on selected soft drink bottle caps. Unfortunately for Apple, Pepsi failed to properly distribute the bottles to major metropolitan areas until only weeks before the promotion ended, despite a one-month extension of the deadline by Apple. The promotion was repeated beginning January 31, 2005, with 200 million songs available, and an iPod Mini given away every hour.

On July 1, 2004, Apple announced that, starting with the sale of the 95 millionth song, an iPod would be given away to the buyer of each 100 thousandth song, for a total of 50 iPods. The buyer of the 100 millionth song would receive a PowerBook, iPod, and US$10,000 gift certificate to the iTunes Music Store.

Ten days later, on July 11, Apple announced that 100 million songs had been sold through the iTunes Music Store. The 100 millionth song was titled "Somersault (Dangermouse Remix)" by Zero 7, purchased by Kevin Britten of Hays, Kansas. He then received a phone call from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who offered his congratulations, as well as a 40 GB 3rd Generation iPod laser-engraved with a message of thanks.

Inspired by Pepsi's marketing success with iTunes giveaways, Coca-Cola partnered with 7-Eleven to give away a free iTunes song with every . Slurpee frozen beverage until July 31, 2005. Songs could be redeemed until August 31, 2005 by entering a code printed on the Slurpee cup into the iTunes Music Store application. Coca-Cola did this in spite of having its own music store, myCokeMusic.com, that competed with the iTunes Music Store in Europe. myCokeMusic.com ceased business on July 31, 2006.

On July 5, 2005, Apple announced that they were counting down to half a billion songs. The buyer of every 100 thousandth song up to 500 million would receive an iPod Mini and a 50-song gift card. The grand prize for the person who downloads the 500 millionth song was 10 iPods of their choice, a 10,000-song gift card, 10 50-song gift cards or 4 tickets to the Coldplay world tour. Twelve days later, on July 17, Apple announced that 500 million songs had been sold through the iTunes Music Store. The 500 millionth song, purchased by Amy Greer of Lafayette, Indiana, was "Mississippi Girl" by Faith Hill.

On July 28, 2005, Apple and The Gap announced a promotion to award iTunes music downloads to Gap customers who tried on a pair of Gap jeans. From August 8 to August 31, 2005, each customer who tried on any pair of Gap jeans could receive a free download for a song of their choice from the iTunes Music Store.

On February 7, 2006, Apple announced that they were counting down to the billionth song download and began a promotion similar to the previous 100 million and 500 million countdown. Whoever downloaded the billionth song would receive a 20" iMac, ten 60 GB iPods, and a US$10,000 iTunes Music Card. The billionth song was purchased on February 23, 2006 by Alex Ostrovsky of West Bloomfield, Michigan. The purchased song was "Speed of Sound" as part of Coldplay's ''X&Y;'' album.

On July 25, 2006, Facebook and iTunes began offering a promotion where members of the Apple Students group would receive a free 25 song sampler each week until September 30 in various music genres. The idea behind the promotion was to get students more familiar and enthusiastic with each service as Autumn classes approached. However in order to prevent abuse of the promotion, the weekly code that Facebook provided stopped working after it was redeemed one million times. In addition, the promotion caused discontent among international students, as the code was only valid in the U.S. iTunes Music Store.

On April 10, 2009, Apple announced that it will be counting down to the billionth app. Apps being the applications for iPod Touch and iPhone. Launching a counter that is constantly running on Good Friday, Apple starting counting down. Connor Mulcahey, age 13 of Weston, CT, downloaded the billionth app, "Bump" by Bump Technologies, and will receive a Macbook Pro 17", a 32 GB iPod Touch, a Time Capsule, and a $10,000 Gift Card for the iTunes store.

On February 11, 2010 Apple announced that it would be counting down to 10 billion songs downloaded. A $10,000 gift card was offered as a prize. On February 25, 2010, the 10 Guess Things Happen That Way by Johnny Cash purchased by Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia.

Other platforms[link]

Currently, iTunes is supported on Mac OS X (Leopard and above) and Windows operating systems. iTunes was known to run passably well in Linux on x86-based computers using the Wine compatibility layer. However, as of 13 December 2011, with the latest releases of iTunes & Wine, this is no longer the case.

iTunes is supported also on iPod Classic, iPod Nano iPod Shuffle, iPod Touch and iPhone. iTunes Store is available only on iPod Touch and iPhone.

Technical details[link]

Store pages are delivered using standard HTML with a special header. This change was made when iTunes 9.0 was released. iTunes uses WebKit to render these pages on the screen.

Prior to iTunes 9.0, the iTunes Store was delivered using a custom XML format that describes the position of all of the elements, boxes, album art and all of their properties — including whether a reference link can be dragged out of iTunes and into another document. The App Store portion of the store is still rendered in this fashion.

The store's back-end software uses WebObjects - Apple's own application server it acquired from NeXT. Content is uploaded to the iTunes data store using an internal Apple program called iTunes Producer, which automatically encodes and adds metadata to uploaded files.

Legal disputes[link]

Apple Records[link]

For three years, The Beatles' record company Apple Records were in a legal dispute, ''Apple Corps v. Apple Computer'', with Apple Computer over the name "Apple." On May 8, 2006, a ruling was declared in favor of Apple Computer, but Apple Records said it would appeal the ruling. Despite this, plans were announced by Neil Aspinall in April 2006 to completely remaster and release the entire Beatles catalog on an unspecified online music service, as well as release some previously unheard work by the band. No date was set at that time. It has also been reported that the Beatles' music catalog might initially be appearing on iTunes only, as Apple is reported to be negotiating with Britain's EMI group over an online distribution deal that might be exclusive for a limited time.

During his January 9, 2007 Macworld Keynote address, Apple CEO Steve Jobs used the band's song "Lovely Rita" to introduce the music-playing capabilities of the company's new iPhone. This was regarded by industry observers as further evidence that the Beatles catalog would be introduced to the iTunes Music Store catalog in the near future. On February 5, 2007, Apple Corps and Apple Inc. announced they had reached a settlement in their legal dispute.

In a related development, Apple announced on August 14, 2007 that the entire solo catalog of John Lennon would be available on iTunes. The solo catalogs of the other three Beatles, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison, are also available on iTunes.

On November 16, 2010, the entire Beatles catalog was officially made available on the iTunes Store.

The Consumer Council of Norway EULA challenge[link]

On June 6, 2006, The Consumer Ombudsmen in Norway, Sweden and Denmark launched a common open letter to Apple regarding the EULA of iTunes through the Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman Bjørn Erik Thon. The iTunes case is based upon an official complaint filed by The Consumer Council of Norway on January 25, 2006.

The main allegations were that:

The EULA is unbalanced to disfavor the customer. Scandinavian law requires any written agreement to favor both parties. The weak party also enjoys protection from exploitation according to Norwegian consumer laws.

The iTunes Store's use of Digital rights management limits the number of devices purchased songs can be played on.

iTunes' contract entitles the company to at any time change the terms of the contract without notice, including the selection of players or software that must be used for iTunes files, and also the number of times a customer can change or copy already purchased files.

The EULA is both vague and hard to understand for the customers.

The EULA states that the legal relationship between the company and customers is regulated by English contract law. It is unreasonable to expect Norwegian consumers to have comprehensive knowledge of English law. Products marketed to Norwegian consumers in Norway are subject to Norwegian law — a right that cannot be waived by a clause in a company's standard customer contract.

The EULA removes iTunes' responsibility regarding damage to the consumer's computer due to software errors even though responsibility cannot be waived in Scandinavian Law.

Apple responded July 31, 2006.

On January 22, 2007, German and French consumer groups joined forces with Norway and Finland. Their goal is to create a united European front against iTunes (Germany and France have each had their own negotiation process with iTunes). According to the press statement Apple is in favor of this. The key points in the negotiations were:

Interoperability — the consumer should have the right and ability to play his or her music on any device of his or her own choice.

Change of conditions — iTunes must revoke their right to change the terms and conditions (EULA) at any time without the consent of the consumer.

Liability — iTunes should change its clause limiting its liability to recover consumer damages if they are caused by content sold by iTunes.

Applicable Law — Consumers entering into a contract with iTunes should be able to rely on the consumer protection rules according to the law of the country in which they live.

EU anti-trust case[link]

In 2004, Which? magazine complained to the European Commission about the higher prices in UK for the same songs sold in the EU. Typically 0.99 Euro in EU and 79 pence in the UK. In 2008 the Commission withdrew its investigation after Apple agreed to end the price discrimination.

Content disputes[link]

Universal Music Group[link]

On July 1, 2007, the ''New York Times'' reported that Universal (currently the world's biggest music corporation) would not renew its annual contract to sell music through iTunes. Instead, Universal said that it would market music to Apple at will, allowing it to remove its songs from the iTunes service on short notice if the two sides did not agree on pricing or other terms.

On August 9, 2007, UMG announced a plan to sell some songs in MP3 format, without Digital rights management, through a variety of online services such as Amazon MP3 and the newly created gBox. While these tracks continue to be available through the iTunes Store, Universal chose to license these songs in DRM-free formats only through other services.

NBC Universal TV series[link]

On August 31, 2007, Apple announced that programs on NBC's 2007-08 television schedule would not be available on iTunes. NBC had informed Apple the previous day that it would not be renewing its contract. It was later clarified that this change only applied to series produced by NBC Universal-owned Universal Media Studios, including Universal-produced shows on other networks such as ''House''. NBC programs produced by other studios, such as ''Chuck'' (Warner Bros.) and ''Journeyman'' (20th Century Fox), would remain available on iTunes.

Apple has publicly asserted that NBC would only renew their contract if Apple agreed to a price increase of US$4.99 per episode, which they did not. NBC disputes that claim, claiming that Apple balked at NBC's request to package shows together and make wholesale pricing more flexible. NBC claims that they never asked to double the wholesale price and insisted that their shows would be sold by the iTunes Store through early December. Other networks who sell their shows via iTunes did not follow suit. On December 1, 2007 NBC shows were pulled from iTunes.

On September 9, 2008, Apple and NBC Universal announced that NBC's TV shows were once again available on the US iTunes Store.

The UK iTunes Store has many shows from NBC available, though they are distributed by Universal Studios. The pricing for these seasons are higher than they were on the US store, an example being, Season 3 of The Office is priced at UK£43.47 (roughly US$72) vs. $52.99 (US Store HD).

See also[link]

Comparison of online music stores

Apple TV - Set top device that plays media from iTunes on an enhanced definition or high definition television

Digital booklet - Liner notes included in selected online purchases supplied in PDF

iBookstore - Similar store, also from Apple, delivering ePub content to iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad

Notes and references[link]

Free iTunes Codes

Category:Apple Inc. services Category:Online music stores Store Category:Video on demand services

ca:ITunes Store da:ITunes Store de:ITunes Store el:ITunes Store es:ITunes Store fr:ITunes Store ko:아이튠즈 스토어 io:Muzika butiko iTunes is:ITunes Store it:ITunes Store mk:ITunes Store nl:ITunes Store ja:ITunes Store no:ITunes Store pl:ITunes Store pt:ITunes Store ru:ITunes Store sv:Itunes Store ta:ஐரூன்சு கடை th:ร้านดนตรีไอทูนส์ tr:İTunes Store uk:ITunes Store zh:ITunes Store

name	Steve Jobs
birth name	Steven Paul Jobs
birth date	February 24, 1955
birth place
death date	October 05, 2011
death place	Palo Alto, California, U.S.
death cause	Pancreatic cancer
nationality	American
occupation	Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, Apple Inc. Co-founder and CEO, Pixar Co-founder and CEO, NeXT Inc.
alma mater	Reed College (dropped out)
years active	1974–2011
boards	The Walt Disney Company Apple Inc.
religion	Zen Buddhism
ethnicity	Syrian, German
spouse	Laurene Powell(1991–2011, his death)
children	Lisa Brennan-Jobs Reed Erin Eve
relatives	Mona Simpson (sister)
signature	Steve Jobs signature.svg
signature size	120px }}

Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs (; February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, designer and inventor. He is best known as the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Through Apple, he was widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution and for his influential career in the computer and consumer electronics fields. Jobs also co-founded and served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios; he became a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, when Disney acquired Pixar.

In the late 1970s, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak engineered one of the first commercially successful lines of personal computers, the Apple II series. Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potential of Xerox PARC's mouse-driven graphical user interface, which led to the creation of the Apple Lisa and, one year later, the Macintosh. During this period he also led efforts that would begin the desktop publishing revolution, notably through the introduction of the LaserWriter and the associated PageMaker software.

After losing a power struggle with the board of directors in 1985, Jobs left Apple and founded NeXT, a computer platform development company specializing in the higher-education and business markets. In 1986, he acquired the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm, which was spun off as Pixar. He was credited in ''Toy Story'' (1995) as an executive producer. He remained CEO and majority shareholder at 50.1 percent until its acquisition by The Walt Disney Company in 2006, making Jobs Disney's largest individual shareholder at seven percent and a member of Disney's Board of Directors.

After difficulties developing a new Mac OS, Apple purchased NeXT in 1996 in order to use NeXTSTEP as the basis for what became Mac OS X. As part of the deal Jobs was named Apple advisor. As Apple floundered, Jobs took control of the company and was named "interim CEO" in 1997, or as he jokingly referred to it, "iCEO". Under his leadership, Apple was saved from near bankruptcy, and became profitable by 1998. Over the next decade, Jobs oversaw the development of the iMac, iTunes, iPod, iPhone, and iPad and on the services side, the company's Apple Retail Stores, iTunes Store and the App Store. The success of these products and services, providing several years of stable financial returns, propelled Apple to become the world's most valuable publicly traded company in 2011. The reinvigoration of the company is regarded by many commentators as one of the greatest turnarounds in business history.

In 2003, Jobs was diagnosed with a pancreas neuroendocrine tumor. Though it was initially treated, he reported a hormone imbalance, underwent a liver transplant in 2009, and appeared progressively thinner as his health declined. On medical leave for most of 2011, Jobs resigned as Apple CEO in August that year and was elected Chairman of the Board. He died of respiratory arrest related to his metastatic tumor on October 5, 2011. He continues to receive honors and public recognition for his influence in the technology and music industries.

Steve Jobs has widely been referred to as "legendary", a "futurist" or simply "visionary", and has been described as the "Father of the Digital Revolution", a "master of innovation", and a "design perfectionist".

Early life and education[link]

Steven Paul Jobs was born in San Francisco on February 24, 1955 to two university students, Joanne Carole Schieble and Syrian-born Abdulfattah "John" Jandali (), who were both unmarried at the time. Jandali, who was teaching in Wisconsin when Steve was born in 1955, said he had no choice but to put the baby up for adoption because his girlfriend's family objected to their relationship. The baby was adopted at birth by Paul Reinhold Jobs (1922–1993) and Clara Jobs (1924–1986), an Armenian-American whose maiden name was Hagopian. Later, when asked about his "adoptive parents," Jobs replied emphatically that Paul and Clara Jobs "were my parents." He stated in his authorized biography that they "were my parents 1,000%." Unknown to him, his biological parents would subsequently marry (December 1955), have a second child Mona Simpson in 1957, and divorce in 1962.

The Jobs family moved from San Francisco to Mountain View, California when Steve was five years old. The parents later adopted a daughter, Patti. Paul was a machinist for a company that made lasers, and taught his son rudimentary electronics and how to work with his hands. The father showed Steve how to work on electronics in the family garage, demonstrating to his son how to take apart and rebuild electronics such as radios and televisions. As a result, Steve became interested in and developed a hobby of technical tinkering.

Clara was an accountant who taught him to read before he went to school. Clara Jobs had been a payroll clerk for Varian Associates, one of the first high-tech firms in what became known as Silicon Valley.

Jobs was an intelligent and innovative thinker, but his youth was riddled with frustrations over formal schooling. At Monta Loma Elementary school in Mountain View, he was a prankster whose fourth-grade teacher needed to bribe him to study. Jobs tested so well, however, that administrators wanted to skip him ahead to high school—a proposal his parents declined.

Jobs then attended Cupertino Junior High and Homestead High School in Cupertino, California. At Homestead, Jobs became friends with Bill Fernandez, a neighbor who shared the same interests in electronics. Fernandez introduced Jobs to another, older computer whiz kid, Stephen Wozniak (also known as "Woz"). In 1969 Woz started building a little computer board with Fernandez that they named “The Cream Soda Computer”, which they showed to Jobs; he seemed really interested. Jobs frequented after-school lectures at the Hewlett-Packard Company in Palo Alto, California, and was later hired there, working with Wozniak as a summer employee.

Following high school graduation in 1972, Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Reed was an expensive college which Paul and Clara could ill afford. They were spending much of their life savings on their son’s higher education. Jobs dropped out of college after six months and spent the next 18 months dropping in on creative classes. He continued auditing classes at Reed while sleeping on the floor in friends' dorm rooms, returning Coke bottles for food money, and getting weekly free meals at the local Hare Krishna temple. Jobs later said, "If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts."

Early career[link]

In 1974, Jobs took a job as a technician at Atari, Inc. in Los Gatos, California. He traveled to India in mid-1974 to visit Neem Karoli Baba at his Kainchi Ashram with a Reed College friend (and, later, an early Apple employee), Daniel Kottke, in search of spiritual enlightenment. When they got to the Neem Karoli ashram, it was almost deserted as Neem Karoli Baba had died in September 1973. Then they made a long trek up a dry riverbed to an ashram of Hariakhan Baba. In India, they spent a lot of time on bus rides from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh and back, then up to Himachal Pradesh and back.

After staying for seven months, Jobs left India and returned to the US ahead of Daniel Kottke. Jobs had changed his appearance; his head was shaved and he wore traditional Indian clothing. During this time, Jobs experimented with psychedelics, later calling his LSD experiences "one of the two or three most important things [he had] done in [his] life". He also became a serious practitioner of Zen Buddhism, engaged in lengthy meditation retreats at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the oldest Sōtō Zen monastery in the US. He considered taking up monastic residence at Eihei-ji in Japan, and maintained a lifelong appreciation for Zen. Jobs would later say that people around him who did not share his countercultural roots could not fully relate to his thinking.

Jobs then returned to Atari, and was assigned to create a circuit board for the arcade video game ''Breakout''. According to Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, Atari offered $100 for each chip that was eliminated in the machine. At that time, Jobs had little specialized knowledge of circuit board design and made a deal with Wozniak to split the fee evenly between them if Wozniak could minimize the number of chips. Much to the amazement of Atari engineers, Wozniak reduced the number of chips by 50, a design so tight that it was impossible to reproduce on an assembly line. According to Wozniak, Jobs told him that Atari gave them only $700 (instead of the offered $5,000), and that Wozniak's share was thus $350. Wozniak did not learn about the actual bonus until ten years later, but said that if Jobs had told him about it and had said he needed the money, Wozniak would have given it to him.

In the early 1970s, Jobs and Wozniak were drawn to technology like a magnet. Wozniak had designed a low-cost digital "blue box" to generate the necessary tones to manipulate the telephone network, allowing free long-distance calls. Jobs decided that they could make money selling it. The clandestine sales of the illegal "blue boxes" went well, and perhaps planted the seed in Jobs' mind that electronics could be fun and profitable.

In 1976, Jobs and Wozniak formed their own business, which they named “Apple Computer Company” in remembrance of a happy summer Jobs had spent picking apples. At first they started off selling circuit boards, but eventually they produced a complete computer prototype. Jobs began attending meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club with Wozniak in 1975. He greatly admired Edwin H. Land, the inventor of instant photography and founder of Polaroid Corporation, and would explicitly model his own career after that of Land's.

The revised, second-generation NeXTcube was released in 1990, also. Jobs touted it as the first "interpersonal" computer that would replace the personal computer. With its innovative NeXTMail multimedia email system, NeXTcube could share voice, image, graphics, and video in email for the first time. "Interpersonal computing is going to revolutionize human communications and groupwork", Jobs told reporters. Jobs ran NeXT with an obsession for aesthetic perfection, as evidenced by the development of and attention to NeXTcube's magnesium case. This put considerable strain on NeXT's hardware division, and in 1993, after having sold only 50,000 machines, NeXT transitioned fully to software development with the release of NeXTSTEP/Intel. The company reported its first profit of $1.03 million in 1994. In 1996, NeXT Software, Inc. released WebObjects, a framework for Web application development. After NeXT was acquired by Apple Inc. in 1997, WebObjects was used to build and run the Apple Store, MobileMe services, and the iTunes Store.

Pixar and Disney[link]

In 1986, Jobs bought The Graphics Group (later renamed Pixar) from Lucasfilm's computer graphics division for the price of $10 million, $5 million of which was given to the company as capital.

The first film produced by the partnership, ''Toy Story'', with Jobs credited as executive producer, brought fame and critical acclaim to the studio when it was released in 1995. Over the next 15 years, under Pixar's creative chief John Lasseter, the company produced box-office hits ''A Bug's Life'' (1998); ''Toy Story 2'' (1999); ''Monsters, Inc.'' (2001); ''Finding Nemo'' (2003); ''The Incredibles'' (2004); ''Cars'' (2006); ''Ratatouille'' (2007); ''WALL-E'' (2008); ''Up'' (2009); and ''Toy Story 3'' (2010). ''Finding Nemo'', ''The Incredibles'', ''Ratatouille'', ''WALL-E'', ''Up'' and ''Toy Story 3'' each received the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, an award introduced in 2001.

In the years 2003 and 2004, as Pixar's contract with Disney was running out, Jobs and Disney chief executive Michael Eisner tried but failed to negotiate a new partnership, and in early 2004, Jobs announced that Pixar would seek a new partner to distribute its films after its contract with Disney expired.

In October 2005, Bob Iger replaced Eisner at Disney, and Iger quickly worked to patch up relations with Jobs and Pixar. On January 24, 2006, Jobs and Iger announced that Disney had agreed to purchase Pixar in an all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion. When the deal closed, Jobs became The Walt Disney Company's largest single shareholder with approximately seven percent of the company's stock. Jobs's holdings in Disney far exceeded those of Eisner, who holds 1.7 percent, and of Disney family member Roy E. Disney, who until his 2009 death held about one percent of the company's stock and whose criticisms of Eisner — especially that he soured Disney's relationship with Pixar — accelerated Eisner's ousting. Jobs joined the company's board of directors upon completion of the merger and also helped oversee Disney and Pixar's combined animation businesses from a seat on a special six-person steering committee. Upon Jobs's death his shares in Disney were transferred to the Steven P. Jobs Trust led by Laurene Jobs.

Return to Apple [link]

In 1996, Apple announced that it would buy NeXT for $427 million. The deal was finalized in late 1996, bringing Jobs back to the company he co-founded. Jobs became ''de facto'' chief after then-CEO Gil Amelio was ousted in July 1997. He was formally named interim chief executive in September. In March 1998, to concentrate Apple's efforts on returning to profitability, Jobs terminated a number of projects, such as Newton, Cyberdog, and OpenDoc. In the coming months, many employees developed a fear of encountering Jobs while riding in the elevator, "afraid that they might not have a job when the doors opened. The reality was that Jobs's summary executions were rare, but a handful of victims was enough to terrorize a whole company." Jobs also changed the licensing program for Macintosh clones, making it too costly for the manufacturers to continue making machines.

With the purchase of NeXT, much of the company's technology found its way into Apple products, most notably NeXTSTEP, which evolved into Mac OS X. Under Jobs's guidance, the company increased sales significantly with the introduction of the iMac and other new products; since then, appealing designs and powerful branding have worked well for Apple. At the 2000 Macworld Expo, Jobs officially dropped the "interim" modifier from his title at Apple and became permanent CEO. Jobs quipped at the time that he would be using the title "iCEO". Jobs quipped that the $1 per annum he was paid by Apple was based on attending one meeting for 50 cents while the other 50 cents was based on his performance.

Reality distortion field[link]

Apple's Bud Tribble coined the term "reality distortion field" in 1981, to describe Jobs's charisma and its effects on the developers working on the Macintosh project. Tribble claimed that the term came from ''Star Trek''. Since then the term has also been used to refer to perceptions of Jobs's keynote speeches.

The RDF was said by Andy Hertzfeld to be Steve Jobs's ability to convince himself and others to believe almost anything, using a mix of charm, charisma, bravado, hyperbole, marketing, appeasement, and persistence. Although the subject of criticism, Jobs's so-called reality distortion field was also recognized as creating a sense that the impossible was possible. Once the term became widely known, it was often used in the technology press to describe Jobs's sway over the public, particularly regarding new product announcements.

Inventions and designs[link]

His design sense was greatly influenced by the Buddhism which he experienced in India while on a seven-month spiritual journey. His sense of intuition was also influenced by the spiritual people with whom he studied.

, Jobs is listed as either primary inventor or co-inventor in 342 United States patents or patent applications related to a range of technologies from actual computer and portable devices to user interfaces (including touch-based), speakers, keyboards, power adapters, staircases, clasps, sleeves, lanyards and packages. Most of these are design patents (specific product designs) as opposed to utility patents (inventions). He has 43 issued US patents on inventions. The patent on the Mac OS X Dock user interface with "magnification" feature was issued the day before he died.

Apple I Computer[link]

The first significant invention that Steve Jobs was involved in was the Apple I which came along in 1976. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who was at the time working for HP, scraped together some cash for printed circuit boards. Then they planned to sell the machine as a kit for $666.66. A store called the Byte Shop ordered 50 fully assembled devices, and sold them all. The Apple’s first computer was for hobbyists and engineers so it was made in small numbers.

Apple II Computer [link]

During 1976, Steve Wozniak begins work on the Apple II, and then he left HP to join Apple computer. In March 1977, Apple Computer moves from Jobs' garage to an office in Cupertino. Apple Computer delivers its first Apple II system, for US$1295 in April 1977. Steve Jobs once said the Apple II could be described as an "appliance" computer. The Apple II was the first computer to be enclosed in plastic. Jobs insisted that molded plastic was essential to the computer as a consumer item. The desired effect was evidently achieved. The Apple II was “elegantly styled" and it became compared to an "overgrown pocket calculator".

Ten months after its introduction, Apple Computer began work on an enhanced Apple II with custom chips, code-named Annie, in 1978. At the same year, they begins work on a supercomputer named Lisa; it featured a bit-sliced architecture. After two and a half years, 50,000 Apple II units had been sold until 1979. Nearly one-third of Canadians credited the Apple II as the first personal computer which having the most impact on society.

The Macintosh Computer[link]

The Macintosh was introduced in January 1984. The computer had no “Mac” name on the front, but rather just the Apple logo. The Macintosh have a friendly appearance since it was meant to be easy to use. The disk drive is below the display, the Macintosh was taller, narrower, more symmetrical, and far more suggestive of a face. The Macintosh was identified as a computer that ordinary people could understand.

The NeXT Computer[link]

After Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985, he started a company that built workstation computers. The NeXT Computer was introduced in 1989. The world’s first web browser was created on the NeXT Computer. The NeXT Computer was the basis for today’s Macintosh OS X and iPhone operating system (iOS).

iMac[link]

Apple iMac was introduced in 1998, it symbolized the return of Steve Jobs to the top spot in the company. iMac’s colorful appearance showed how high Steve Jobs immediately set the bar for innovative and disruptive design. Apple claimed "the back of our computer looks better than the front of anyone else's". The first cartoonlike iMac, clad in Bondi Blue plastic, caused a stir. In 1999, Apple introduced Graphite gray Apple iMac. Since then it has been switched to all-white. Also the design revolutions created an connection with the user, including the handle and when the computer went to sleep, iMac become a breathing light. The Apple iMac sold for $1,299 at that time. There was some technical revolutions for iMac too. The USB ports being the only device inputs on the iMac. So the iMac’s success helped popularize the interface among third party peripheral makers, which is evidenced by the fact that many early USB peripherals were made of translucent plastic to match the iMac design.

iPod[link]

The first generation of iPod released in October 23, 2001. The innovations of iPod were its small size. The capacity of the first generation iPod ranged from 5G to 10 Gigabytes. The iPod sold for US$399 and more than 100,000 iPods were sold before the end of 2001 . Steve Jobs achieved a superior listening pleasure and functional pocket-sized music player by the invention of iPod. After the introduction of iPod, Apple has taken a big bite out of the music industry. Also, the iPod’s success prepared the way for the iTunes music store and the iPhone. After the 1st generation of iPod, Apple released the hard drive-based iPod classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, video-capable iPod Nano, screenless iPod Shuffle in the following years.

iPhone[link]

Steve Jobs began work on the first iPhone in 2005. After many months of hard work, the first iPhone was released on June 29, 2007. There was a survey that said six out of ten Americans were aware about the release of the iPhone. The Apple iPhone is a small device with multimedia capabilities and functions as a quad-band touch screen smartphone. Just a year later, the iPhone 3G was released in July 2008. The key feature for the iPhone 3G was it supported assisted GPS, 3G data and quad-band UMTS/HSDPA. In June 2009, the iPhone 3GS, which supported voice control, a better camera, and a faster processor was introduced by Phil Schiller. iPhone 4 was described as “this changes everything, again", by Steve Jobs in June 2010. It is thinner then previous models. The iPhone 4 has a five megapixel camera which can record videos in 720p HD, and it also adds an secondary front facing camera for video calls. The newest model of the iPhone was introduced in October 2011, called the iPhone 4S. The selling point for the iPhone 4S was Siri, which is a virtual assistant that is capable of voice recognition.

Philanthropy[link]

Arik Hesseldahl of ''BusinessWeek'' magazine stated that "Jobs isn't widely known for his association with philanthropic causes", compared to Bill Gates's efforts. In contrast to Gates, Jobs did not sign the Giving Pledge of Warren Buffett which challenged the world’s richest billionaires to give at least half their wealth to charity. In an interview with ''Playboy'' in 1985, Jobs said in respect to money that “the challenges are to figure out how to live with it and to reinvest it back into the world which means either giving it away or using it to express your concerns or values.” Jobs also added that when he has some time we would start a public foundation but for now he does charitable acts privately.

After resuming control of Apple in 1997, Jobs eliminated all corporate philanthropy programs initially. Jobs’ friends told ''The New York Times'' that he felt that expanding Apple would have done more good than giving money to charity. Later, under Jobs, Apple signed to participate in Product Red program, producing red versions of devices to give profits from sales to charity. Apple has gone on to become the largest contributor to the charity since its initial involvement with it. The chief of the Product Red project, singer Bono cited Jobs saying there was "nothing better than the chance to save lives," when he initially approached Apple with the invitation to participate in the program. Through its sales, Apple has been the largest contributor to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, according to Bono.

Personal life[link]

Jobs's birth parents met at the University of Wisconsin. Abdulfattah "John" Jandali, a Syrian Muslim, taught there. Joanne Carole Schieble was his student; they were the same age because Jandali had "gotten his PhD really young." In December 1955, ten months after giving up their baby boy, Schieble and Jandali married. In 1957 they had a daughter, Mona. They divorced in 1962, and Jandali lost touch with his daughter. Her mother remarried and had Mona take the surname of her stepfather, so she became known as Mona Simpson.

In the 1980s, Jobs found his birth mother, Joanne Schieble Simpson, who told him he had a biological sister, Mona Simpson. They met for the first time in 1985 and became close friends. The siblings kept their relationship secret until 1986, when Mona introduced him at a party for her first book.

After deciding to search for their father, Simpson found Jandali managing a coffee shop. Without knowing who his son had become, Jandali told Mona that he had previously managed a popular restaurant in the Silicon Valley where "Even Steve Jobs used to eat there. Yeah, he was a great tipper." In a taped interview with his biographer Walter Isaacson, aired on ''60 Minutes'', Jobs said: "When I was looking for my biological mother, obviously, you know, I was looking for my biological father at the same time, and I learned a little bit about him and I didn't like what I learned. I asked her to not tell him that we ever met...not tell him anything about me." Jobs was in occasional touch with his mother Joanne Simpson, who lives in a nursing home in Los Angeles. When speaking about his biological parents, Jobs stated: "They were my sperm and egg bank. That's not harsh, it's just the way it was, a sperm bank thing, nothing more." Jandali stated in an interview with the ''The Sun'' in August 2011, that his efforts to contact Jobs were unsuccessful. Jandali mailed in his medical history after Jobs's pancreatic disorder was made public that year.

In her eulogy to Jobs at his memorial service, Mona Simpson stated: :I grew up as an only child, with a single mother. Because we were poor and because I knew my father had emigrated from Syria, I imagined he looked like Omar Sharif. I hoped he would be rich and kind and would come into our lives (and our not yet furnished apartment) and help us. Later, after I'd met my father, I tried to believe he'd changed his number and left no forwarding address because he was an idealistic revolutionary, plotting a new world for the Arab people. Even as a feminist, my whole life I'd been waiting for a man to love, who could love me. For decades, I'd thought that man would be my father. When I was 25, I met that man and he was my brother.

Jobs's first child, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, was born in 1978, the daughter of his longtime partner Chris Ann Brennan, a Bay Area painter. For two years, she raised their daughter on welfare while Jobs denied paternity by claiming he was sterile; he later acknowledged Lisa as his daughter. Jobs later married Laurene Powell on March 18, 1991, in a ceremony at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. Presiding over the wedding was Kobun Chino Otogawa, a Zen Buddhist monk. Their son, Reed, was born September 1991, followed by daughters Erin in August 1995, and Eve in 1998. The family lives in Palo Alto, California.

In the unauthorized biography, ''The Second Coming of Steve Jobs,'' author Alan Deutschman reports that Jobs once dated Joan Baez. Deutschman quotes Elizabeth Holmes, a friend of Jobs from his time at Reed College, as saying she "believed that Steve became the lover of Joan Baez in large measure because Baez had been the lover of Bob Dylan" (Dylan was the Apple icon's favorite musician). In another unauthorized biography, ''iCon: Steve Jobs'' by Jeffrey S. Young & William L. Simon, the authors suggest that Jobs might have married Baez, but her age at the time (41) meant it was unlikely the couple could have children.

Jobs was also a fan of The Beatles. He referred to them on multiple occasions at Keynotes and also was interviewed on a showing of a Paul McCartney concert. When asked about his business model on ''60 Minutes'', he replied:

My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each other's negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts. Great things in business are never done by one person, they are done by a team of people. Jobs told Walter Isaacson "...he came to like the idea of having a uniform for himself, both because of its daily convenience (the rationale he claimed) and its ability to convey a signature style." He was a pescetarian.

Jobs's car was a silver Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG, which did not display its license plates, as he took advantage of a California law which gives a maximum of six months for new vehicles to receive plates; Jobs leased a new SL every six months.

In a 2011 interview with biographer Walter Isaacson, Jobs revealed at one point he met with U.S. President Barack Obama, complained of the nation's shortage of software engineers, and told Mr. Obama that he was "headed for a one-term presidency." Jobs proposed that any foreign student who got an engineering degree at a U.S. university should automatically be offered a green card. After the meeting, Jobs commented, "The president is very smart, but he kept explaining to us reasons why things can't get done.... It infuriates me."

Jobs contributed to a number of political candidates and causes during his life, giving $209,000 to Democrats, $19,000 to associated special interests and $1,000 to a Republican.

Health issues[link]

In October 2003, Jobs was diagnosed with cancer, and in mid-2004, he announced to his employees that he had a cancerous tumor in his pancreas. The prognosis for pancreatic cancer is usually very poor; Jobs stated that he had a rare, far less aggressive type known as islet cell neuroendocrine tumor. Despite his diagnosis, Jobs resisted his doctors' recommendations for mainstream medical intervention for nine months, instead consuming a special alternative medicine diet in an attempt to thwart the disease. According to Harvard researcher Dr. Ramzi Amir, his choice of alternative treatment "led to an unnecessarily early death". According to Jobs's biographer, Walter Isaacson, "for nine months he refused to undergo surgery for his pancreatic cancer – a decision he later regretted as his health declined." "Instead, he tried a vegan diet, acupuncture, herbal remedies and other treatments he found online, and even consulted a psychic. He also was influenced by a doctor who ran a clinic that advised juice fasts, bowel cleansings and other unproven approaches, before finally having surgery in July 2004." He eventually underwent a pancreaticoduodenectomy (or "Whipple procedure") in July 2004, that appeared to successfully remove the tumor.

Death[link]

Jobs died at his California home around 3 p.m. on October 5, 2011, due to complications from a relapse of his previously treated islet-cell neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer, He had lost consciousness the day before, and died with his wife, children and sister at his side.

Both Apple and Microsoft flew their flags at half-staff throughout their respective headquarters and campuses. Bob Iger ordered all Disney properties, including Walt Disney World and Disneyland, to fly their flags at half-staff, from October 6 to 12, 2011.

His death was announced by Apple in a statement which read:

For two weeks following his death, Apple's corporate Web site displayed a simple page, showing Jobs's name and lifespan next to his grayscale portrait. Clicking on the image led to an obituary, which read: An email address was also posted for the public to share their memories, condolences, and thoughts. Over a million tributes were sent, which are now displayed on the Steve Jobs memorial page.

Also dedicating its homepage to Jobs was Pixar, with a photo of Jobs, John Lasseter and Edwin Catmull, and the eulogy they wrote:

A small private funeral was held on October 7, 2011, of which details were not revealed out of respect to Jobs's family. Apple announced on the same day that they had no plans for a public service, but were encouraging "well-wishers" to send their remembrance messages to an email address created to receive such messages. Sunday, October 16, 2011, was declared "Steve Jobs Day" by Governor Jerry Brown of California. On that day, an invitation-only memorial was held at Stanford University. Those in attendance included Apple and other tech company executives, members of the media, celebrities, close friends of Jobs, and politicians, along with Jobs's family. Bono, Yo Yo Ma, and Joan Baez performed at the service, which lasted longer than an hour. The service was highly secured, with guards at all of the university's gates, and a helicopter flying overhead from an area news station.

A private memorial service for Apple employees was held on October 19, 2011, on the Apple Campus in Cupertino. Present were Cook, Bill Campbell, Norah Jones, Al Gore, and Coldplay, and Jobs's widow, Laurene, was in attendance. Some of Apple's retail stores closed briefly so employees could attend the memorial. A video of the service is available on Apple's website.

Jobs is buried at Alta Mesa Memorial Park, the only non-denominational cemetery in Palo Alto.. He is survived by Laurene, his wife of 20 years, their three children, and Lisa Brennan-Jobs, his daughter from a previous relationship. His family released a statement saying that he "died peacefully".

Media coverage [link]

Steve Jobs's death broke news headlines on ABC, CBS, and NBC. Numerous newspapers around the world carried news of his death on their front pages the next day. Several notable people, including US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and The Walt Disney Company's Bob Iger commented on the death of Jobs. ''Wired News'' collected reactions and posted them in tribute on their homepage.

Major media published commemorative works. ''Time'' published a commemorative issue for Jobs on October 8, 2011. The issues cover featured a portrait of Jobs, taken by Norman Seeff, in which he is sitting in the lotus position holding the original Macintosh computer, first published in ''Rolling Stone'' in January 1984. The issue marked the eighth time Jobs has been featured on the cover of ''Time''. The issue included a photographic essay by Diana Walker, a retrospective on Apple by Harry McCracken and Lev Grossman, and a six-page essay by Walter Isaacson. Isaacson's essay served as a preview of his biography, ''Steve Jobs''.

''Bloomberg Businessweek'' also published an commemorative, ad-free issue, featuring extensive essays by Steve Jurvetson, John Sculley, Sean Wisely, William Gibson, and Walter Isaacson. On its cover, Steve Jobs is pictured in gray scale, along with with his name and lifespan.

Although reporters wrote glowing elegies after Jobs died, ''Los Angeles Times'' media critic James Rainey reported that they "came courtesy of reporters who—after deadline and off the record—would tell stories about a company obsessed with secrecy to the point of paranoia. They remind us how Apple shut down a youthful fanboy blogger, punished a publisher that dared to print an unauthorized Jobs biography and repeatedly ran afoul of the most basic tenets of a free press."

Free software pioneer Richard Stallman drew attention to the tight corporate control Apple exercised over consumer computers and handheld devices, how Apple restricted news reporters, and persistently violated privacy: "Steve Jobs, the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom, has died". Malcolm Gladwell in ''The New Yorker'' asserted that "Jobs's sensibility was editorial, not inventive. His gift lay in taking what was in front of him ... and ruthlessly refining it."

Apple "has taken stances that, in my opinion, are outright hostile to the practice of journalism," said longtime Silicon Valley reporter Dan Gillmor. Under Jobs, Apple sued three "small fry" bloggers who reported tips about the company and its unreleased products and tried to use the courts to force them to reveal their sources. Under Jobs, Apple even sued a teenager, Nicholas Ciarelli, who wrote enthusiastic speculation about Apple products beginning at age 13. His popular blog, ThinkSecret, was a play on Apple's slogan "Think Different." Rainey wrote that Apple wanted to kill ThinkSecret as "It thought any leaks, even favorable ones, diluted the punch of its highly choreographed product launches with Jobs, in his iconic jeans and mock turtleneck outfit, as the star."

Honors and public recognition[link]

After Apple's founding, Jobs became a symbol of his company and industry. When ''Time'' named the computer as the 1982 "Machine of the Year", the magazine published a long profile of Jobs as "the most famous maestro of the micro".

Jobs was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, with Steve Wozniak (among the first people to ever receive the honor), and a Jefferson Award for Public Service in the category "Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under" (also known as the ''Samuel S. Beard Award'') in 1987. On November 27, 2007, Jobs was named the most powerful person in business by ''Fortune'' magazine. On December 5, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Jobs into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.

In August 2009, Jobs was selected as the most admired entrepreneur among teenagers in a survey by Junior Achievement, having previously been named Entrepreneur of the Decade 20 years earlier in 1989, by ''Inc. magazine''. On November 5, 2009, Jobs was named the CEO of the decade by ''Fortune'' magazine.

In November 2010, Jobs was ranked No.17 on ''Forbes'': The World's Most Powerful People. In December 2010, the ''Financial Times'' named Jobs its person of the year for 2010, ending its essay by stating, "In his autobiography, John Sculley, the former PepsiCo executive who once ran Apple, said this of the ambitions of the man he had pushed out: 'Apple was supposed to become a wonderful consumer products company. This was a lunatic plan. High-tech could not be designed and sold as a consumer product.'". The Financial Times closed by rhetorically asking of this quote, "How wrong can you be."

At the time of his resignation, and again after his death, Jobs was widely described as a visionary, pioneer and genius

On February 12, 2012, Jobs was posthumously awarded the Grammy Trustees Award, an award for those who have influenced the music industry in areas unrelated to performance.

In March 2012, global business magazine ''Fortune'' named Steve Jobs the "greatest entrepreneur of our time", describing him as "brilliant, visionary, inspiring", and "the quintessential entrepreneur of our generation".

The Disney movie John Carter is dedicated to Jobs.

Portrayals and coverage in books, film, and theater[link]

Books[link]

''The Little Kingdom'' (1984) by Michael Moritz, documenting the founding of (then) Apple Computer.

''The Second Coming of Steve Jobs'' (2001), by Alan Deutschman

''iCon: Steve Jobs'' (2005), by Jeffrey S. Young & William L. Simon

''iWoz'' (2006), by Steve Wozniak, a co-founder of Apple. It is an autobiography of Steve Wozniak, but it covers much of Jobs' life and work at Apple.

''Steve Jobs'' (2011), an authorized biography written by Walter Isaacson.

''Inside Apple'' (2012), a book by Adam Lashinsky that reveals the secret systems, tactics, and leadership strategies that allowed Steve Jobs and his company to work.

Documentaries[link]

''The Machine That Changed the World'' Part 3 of this 1992 five-part documentary, called ''The Paperback Computer'', prominently featured Jobs and his role in the early days of Apple. ''Triumph of the Nerds'' a 1996 three-part documentary for PBS, about the rise of the home computer/personal computer. ''Nerds 2.0.1'' a 1998 three-part documentary for PBS, (and sequel to ''Triumph of the Nerds'') which chronicles the development of the Internet. ''iGenius: How Steve Jobs Changed the World'' a 2011 Discovery Channel documentary hosted by Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman. ''Steve Jobs: One Last Thing'' a 2011 PBS documentary produced by Pioneer Productions. A slightly shortened and localized version of the show was broadcast in the United Kingdom the following day titled, ''Steve Jobs: iChanged the World'' on Channel 4. In February 2012, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released a 191-page file on Steve Jobs. The report was compiled during a 1991 background investigation of Jobs by the FBI after former president George H. W. Bush recommended his appointment to the President's Export Council. It consists of interviews with co-workers, friends, family members and even neighbors of Jobs.

Films[link]

''Jobs'' an upcoming independent film by Joshua Michael Stern. Jobs will be portrayed by Ashton Kutcher. ''Pirates of Silicon Valley'' a 1999 TNT film which chronicles the rise of Apple and Microsoft from the early 1970s to 1997. Jobs is portrayed by Noah Wyle.

Theater [link]

''The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs'' - The Public Theater, New York City, 2012, starring Mike Daisey.

References [link]

Further reading [link]

Bantam Doubleday Dell. ISBN 0-385-48684-7. Chapter 28

External links[link]

"Thoughts on Flash" by Steve Jobs, April 2010.

Bloomberg Game Changers: Steve Jobs A 48 minute video on Steve Jobs by Bloomberg

Steve Jobs Profile at ''Forbes''

Steve Jobs remembrance notes from the community.

Federal Bureau of Investigation dossier on Steven Paul Jobs.

Articles[link]

Interviews[link]

Steve Jobs in 1994: The Rolling Stone Interview, ''Rolling Stone'' 1994, republished January 17, 2011. Archived URL April 20, 1995. The Seed of Apple's Innovation, ''BusinessWeek'' October 12, 2004. How Big Can Apple Get?, ''Fortune'' February 21, 2005. ''Newsweek'', October 15, 2006.

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs (video and transcript of on stage interview), AllThingsD, May 30, 2007.

Videotaped Deposition of Steven P. Jobs in front of the Securities and Exchange Commission, March 18, 2008

Interview with Abdulfattah "John" Jandali, Jobs's biological father, by Mohannad Al-Haj Ali, published in ''Al Hayat'' and reprinted by Ya Libnan, February 28, 2011

Category:1955 births Category:2011 deaths Category:American adoptees Category:American billionaires Category:American chief executives Category:American computer businesspeople Category:American industrial designers Category:American inventors Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Swiss descent Category:American people of Syrian descent Category:American technology company founders Category:American Zen Buddhists Category:Apple Inc. Category:Apple Inc. employees Category:Articles with inconsistent citation formats Category:Businesspeople from California Category:Businesspeople in software Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Computer designers Category:Computer pioneers Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer Category:Disney people Category:Internet pioneers Category:National Medal of Technology recipients Category:NeXT Category:Organ transplant recipients Category:People from the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Pescetarians Category:Reed College alumni

af:Steve Jobs als:Steve Jobs ang:Steve Jobs ar:ستيف جوبز as:ষ্টীভ জব্‌চ ast:Steve Jobs gn:Steven Jobs az:Stiv Cobs bn:স্টিভ জবস zh-min-nan:Steve Jobs be:Стыў Джобс be-x-old:Стыў Джобс bcl:Steve Jobs bg:Стив Джобс bo:སེ་ཏེའི་ཧྥུ་འོ་པོ་སེ། bs:Steve Jobs br:Steve Jobs ca:Steve Jobs cv:Джобс Стив cs:Steve Jobs cy:Steve Jobs da:Steve Jobs de:Steve Jobs et:Steve Jobs el:Στηβ Τζομπς es:Steve Jobs eo:Steve Jobs ext:Steve Jobs eu:Steve Jobs fa:استیو جابز fr:Steve Jobs fy:Steve Jobs ga:Steve Jobs gv:Steve Jobs gd:Steve Jobs gl:Steve Jobs ko:스티브 잡스 hy:Սթիվ Ջոբս hi:स्टीव जॉब्स hr:Steve Jobs io:Steve Jobs ilo:Steve Jobs id:Steve Jobs is:Steve Jobs it:Steve Jobs he:סטיב ג'ובס jv:Steve Jobs kn:ಸ್ಟೀವ್ ಜಾಬ್ಸ್ pam:Steve Jobs ka:სტივ ჯობსი kk:Стив Джобс sw:Steve Jobs ku:Steve Jobs ky:Стив Жобс la:Stephanus Jobs lv:Stīvs Džobss lb:Steve Jobs lt:Steve Jobs li:Steve Jobs lmo:Steve Jobs hu:Steve Jobs mk:Стив Џобс mg:Steve Jobs ml:സ്റ്റീവ് ജോബ്സ് mt:Steve Jobs mr:स्टीव्ह जॉब्स mzn:استیو جابز ms:Steve Jobs my:စတိဗ်ဂျော့စ် nah:Steve Jobs nl:Steve Jobs ne:स्टिभ जब्स new:स्टीभ जब्स ja:スティーブ・ジョブズ no:Steve Jobs nn:Steve Jobs nrm:Steve Jobs oc:Steve Jobs uz:Steve Jobs pag:Steve Jobs pnb:سٹیو جابز nds:Steve Jobs pl:Steve Jobs pt:Steve Jobs ro:Steve Jobs qu:Steve Jobs ru:Джобс, Стив sa:स्टीव जाब्स sco:Steve Jobs sq:Steve Jobs scn:Steve Jobs simple:Steve Jobs sk:Steve Jobs sl:Steve Jobs ckb:ستیڤ جۆبس sr:Стив Џобс sh:Steve Jobs fi:Steve Jobs sv:Steve Jobs tl:Steve Jobs ta:ஸ்டீவ் ஜொப்ஸ் tt:Стив Джобс te:స్టీవ్ జాబ్స్ th:สตีฟ จอบส์ tr:Steve Jobs uk:Стів Джобс ur:سٹیو جابز vec:Steve Jobs vi:Steve Jobs war:Steve Jobs yi:סטיוו זשאבס yo:Steve Jobs zh-yue:喬布斯 bat-smg:Steve Jobs zh:史蒂夫·乔布斯