In a New York Times interview with John Markoff, Steve Jobs reveals some details about the MacBook Air, and his thoughts on Google's Android and Amazon's Kindle.
First, Jobs revealed that Apple had gone through about 100 design prototypes to find the "right" form for the MacBook Air. He and Jonathan Ive "were not certain that they would be able to fit the computer into the package that they came up with."
On Amazon's Kindle book reader, Jobs sees the concept as flawed and claims that people simply don't read any more, suggesting a dedicated Apple book-reader is unlikely in the near future:
"It doesn't matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people dont read anymore," he said. "Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people dont read anymore."
Finally, on upcoming competition from Google's Android mobile phone platform, Jobs seems doubtful, stating that creating a phone is a lot harder than it looks. Ironically, this mirrors comments made by Palm's CEO about the potential threat of an Apple iPhone before it was announced.
Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries.
In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
Monday September 14, 2026 10:48 pm PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple released iOS 27 this week, and despite the company's focus this year on refining its flagship operating system and nixing bugs, there are still many additional features to explore, not least of which is Apple's new context-aware Siri, re-tooled for the generative AI era.
Which iPhones Support Every iOS 27 Feature?
This year's major iPhone software update isn't all about AI, though,...
Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27.
During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14.
iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update.
Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
