Fortune: Jobs most powerful person in business
updated 04:55 pm EST, Tue November 27, 2007
Jobs most powerful person
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has officially taken the title of the most powerful person in business, ranking no. 1 on Fortune's Power 25 list ahead of Media colossus Rupert Murdoch. "During the first two decades of his remarkable 30-year career, the Apple Inc. founder twice altered the direction of the computer industry," says Fortune. "In 1977 the Apple II kicked off the PC era, and the graphical user interface launched by Macintosh in 1984 has been aped by every other computer since." The executive's iconic iPod became the 600-pound gorilla of the digital music player business, and Apple's unique retail stores recently helped the company to report yet another record quarter.
The business of desktop publishing, which is now a global endeavor reaping untold sums of money each year, was the brainchild of Jobs alongside the laser printer and personal computer networks. Apple's boss purchased Pixar animation studios for pennies on the dollar, only to sell the firm -- which now known to be largely responsible for the development of computer-animated feature films -- for $7.4 billion earlier this year.
"Since returning to Apple in 1997, he has changed the dynamics of consumer electronics with the iPod, and persuaded the music industry, the television networks, and Hollywood to distribute their wares with the iTunes Music Store," Fortune writes. "With his hugely successful Apple Stores, he gave the big-box boys a lesson in high-margin, high-touch retailing. And this year, at the height of his creative and promotional powers, Jobs orchestrated Apple's entry into the cellular telephone business with the iPhone."
Jobs is responsible for morphing no less than five industries into huge successes: Computers, Hollywood, music, retail, and wireless phones.
"At this moment, no one has more influence over a broader swath of business than Jobs."
Steve Jobs
11/27, 06:45pm reply
They ought to place a statue of him in the valley. His genius and risk taking have given untold pleasures to millions of people.
He has seriously and positively changed the world we live in unlike other "powerful" individuals who shuffle paper and claim profit or produce inferior products.
Congratulations to Steve on being "annointed" by Fortune.
Jacklibog
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Dec 2003
well done
11/28, 12:57am reply
well deserved title and honor, now, srevr, just find the time to have Leopard fixed, those PeeCee converts are not very stabe...
boazh
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2004
And yet...
11/28, 09:19am reply
every time someone criticizes something of Apple (for example, paying for ringtones, DRM on video/audio, tying the iPhone to a single carrier), everyone says its not Apple's fault or their desire to just rake in dough from their loyal customers, but the insistence of RIAA, MPAA, or the cell industry.
Why not let Jobs use his powerfulness for good? Why not just say "We're adding a ring-tone maker into iTunes. You don't like it RIAA, tough!" (BTW, it's funny that Apple has given people the ability to make their own music easier then ever, with Garageband, yet no one to convert that music to a ringtone, because, I guess, you want to make sure you pay yourself or something).
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Testudo...
11/28, 12:42pm reply
Go Out to Google.com and search a little and you will find there are many methods of getting ringtones onto an iPhone without going thru the "official" pay service dictated by actually AT&T and the music folks_
Also at least 2 of those methods can be used directly thru iTunes itself after editing and clipping what you want from Garageband or any other Audio Software_
Dude - you really - really should educate yourself more before you "open yore mouth"_
UberFu
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Oct 2002
Re: testudo
11/28, 12:56pm reply
So you're saying that its a non-issue because there's some back-door methods to install a ringtone of music you already own? Great. I thought they were supposed to make software that's easy to use. The point isn't that it's impossible vs. possible, its "why not just build the feature right in there?". Oh, right, Apple's not as strong as a bunch of sissy music execs...
Oh, and if you paid any attention (I know, it's hard through all that apple a**-kissing), but you'd note that Apple has disabled previous ringtone abilities in its firmware updates (which, like the hijacking, was then adjusted for). There's nothing that says v1.0.3 of the OS won't break the thing again.
I know, you probably also think Apple hiding and masking your music on your ipod isn't an issue, either, since you can get to the content with some software. Some people would actually think it would be nicer to have direct access, so you could just easily copy stuff around, if you wanted.
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
It's true
11/28, 05:00pm reply
He's the man
ethical_paul
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Mar 2002