The man made great products

Like most people, I didn't know Steve Jobs personally. But I do know a thing or two about his products, having worked with them professionally for years.

Everything Apple makes works. While some folks marvel at the company's innovations, I appreciate the fact that anything Apple is intuitively easy to use and functions as advertised. That says a lot about the former head of the company who died tonight.

From the design of the packaging to the development of software, Apple products gave people the impression that Jobs ran a different type of business. In this day and age where CEOs know much more about corporate profits than they do their own products or employees, Jobs was a breath of fresh air. You could feel his hands-on passion for perfection in every iPhone, iPod or Macintosh computer.

While Jobs was also a marketing genius and great pitchman, Apple products spoke for themselves. He didn't wait for the recession to end before pursuing his visions.

And, oh yeah, Apple became one of the most profitable companies in America at the same time other companies were cutting corners, laying off thousands of employees and providing services and products that no one wanted.

Jobs deserves a lot of credit for being the anti-CEO CEO and for creating a business model that a lot of other company leaders could learn from if they could put aside their shortsightedness and greed.

Buddhism and Steve Jobs.

One bad Apple spoiling a reputation

I am generally a big fan of Apple. However, the handling of the iPhone 4 technical problem is an indication that the company might have morphed from a consumer-friendly innovator that marched to the beat of a different (better) drummer to, well, just another company that puts profits above product and customer satisfaction.

The iPhone reception problem is real and doesn't appear to be software related as the company first said. Actually, the initial response from Apple head Steve Jobs was that people were holding the phone incorrectly. That didn't go over well with the public and was uncharacteristically stupid of Jobs to say.

Someone who works in the technology field recently demonstrated to me how the phone drops calls. It took him about 30 seconds to get the phone to malfunction. Other than that one rather significant flaw, the phone is a fascinating, user-friendly piece of hardware, like most Apple products.

The iPhone 4 is Apple's most successful product launch, which makes this debacle that much more significant. The company will hold a press conference tomorrow to address customer concerns.

I am not an iPhone user. I considered switching to the iPhone 3Gs recently, but my local dealer said that family-owned AT&T stores have not been permitted to sell iPhones, something that I did not previously know. She was not happy about Apple's decision to only market its phones through corporate franchise dealers. I could go to another AT&T store, but I generally prefer doing business with locally owned and operated companies whenever possible. Plus, something didn't seem right about Apple shutting out family businesses.

Apple's recent success with the iPod, iPad and iPhone is good news for a company that has always produced some of the best personal computers. However, Apple computers still struggle to compete with Microsoft Windows-based machines in terms of sales, mostly because of pricing.

Let's hope the company's handling of one rotten Apple doesn't open the flood gates to other problems experienced by previously revered manufacturers like Toyota. Jobs needs to address the iPhone problem with complete honesty and a plan to resolve consumer complaints. With the public suffering a massive British Petroleum hangover, we don't need for yet another company to try to spin and market its way out of a mess that it created.

Apple takes the next step with iPad

The Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, has done it again. His latest innovation, the iPad, appears to be a revolutionary device in the same way the company's Macintosh computers and iPod music players blazed new trails years ago. This isn't just an over-sized smart phone. This thing appears to have some serious possibilities that move us one step further away from clunky desktop and notebook computers. It has a screen you can actually see and a large virtual keyboard suitable for typing, yet it's still more portable than even the smallest notebook computers. Some complaints about the lack of certain features are already being raised, but with a device like this, I tend to see it as a start rather than a finished product. And it's a significant start that could evolve into various new products.

I can envision people being more likely to take this on a commuter train to read their morning newspaper than lugging along and cranking up a laptop. Is it more convenient than a paper news product? Well, that remains to be seen. Some folks will always prefer the feel of ink and disposable newsprint, I suppose. I will confess that paper and ink will always appeal to me. In some ways, newsprint is more high tech than anything invented to this point to replace it. Nothing loads faster and it has no annoying popups. But I am a realist and know that we can't keep cutting down trees forever. Nor can companies invest in massive printing presses and costly distribution methods.

If one thing could hurt the iPad, it's the cost. Starting at $499 and going up over $800, some will argue it doesn't do enough to justify such a purchase. People still want a real keyboard to type long documents on. They still want their smart phones to talk on and to easily carry in their pockets. I believe Apple will quickly need to update this device so that users can multitask on it. Still, with that said, there is nothing else on the market quite like the iPad. It makes the Kindle already look outdated.

Here's the link to video where Jobs describes the iPad. Along with his still getting it done in the technology field, I also applaud Jobs for wearing jeans to announce the launching of the iPad. Seeing him up there in a suit wouldn't have flown with most Apple groupies. Under Jobs, Apple has always marched to the beat of a different drummer. The jeans, like the iPad, are symbolic of that pioneering spirit.