August 25, 2026 at 11:58 am | Blog | No comment
Turning on my iPad this morning and delving into Twitter I was confronted by a stream of updates all hailing the same iNews: ‘Steve Jobs steps down as CEO’. Although not unexpected it’s a shock none the less, especially with the new iPhone around the corner.
I am also amazed and awed that Steve Jobs continued to serve as Apple CEO for as long as he did due to the fact he is extremely ill. His passion and commitment have driven him forward, but a time comes when other factors take precedence.
Steve Jobs statement reads:
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.
I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
There has always been an underlying worry from both Apple consumers and investors as to what would happen once Steve Jobs steps down, a fear shown as Apple stock fell by 7% yesterday. The concern is that without Steve Jobs at the helm the quality and innovation Apple are regarded for will leave with him. Remember, this is the man who transformed Apple into a company that is now richer than the USA, provided the world with a usable OS, and gave us the iPod, iPad, iPhone, iTunes plus the App Store all of which revolutionised not just technological hardware but the marketplace and how people use and interact with technology on a daily basis.
Personally, I’ve become weary of Apple and as readers may know I’m defecting to Google and Android later this year. That said, I love and adore Apple and could never revert back to my old Windows ways. But maybe this is a fitting time for Steve Jobs to stand down, not only for health reasons but Apple has possibly become a victim of it’s own infamy.
Thank you Steve Jobs. You have given the technical world so much. Apple Fanboys and Fangirls the world over salute you.
August 23, 2026 at 1:28 pm | Blog | No comment
It’s a little known fact that I have a degree in Popular Music. Another, possibly more well known, fact is that I was (and sometimes still am) a singer songwriter. But for a while music started to annoy me. In fact, I went off music totally. And I can’t blame Simon Cowell this time.
I’ve been an advocate of digital music for many years and as an example of how much I recently got rid of my whole CD collection after digitising it, something I have repeated with my DVD collection. Digital is the now and the future. But this also has a down side.
iTunes may have broken the music store model, but it’s become a product of its own success (maybe iCloud will change this, but heck Ping didn’t) and for sometime I felt we, the consumers, have become complacent with art forms such as music and film, to which we now have almost infinite access to thanks to the web and mobile platforms. But the demons have been wrestled and I now believe digital platforms have also aided music - film is yet to change and is where music was almost ten years ago.
So what changed my mind? Spotify.
And I know I’m not alone here as many of my friends have converted to the platform and dare not turn back.
They why is simple - access to a huge online repository of music; the fact I can share great music with friends through Facebook, Twitter and also directly through Spotify; the radio feature which has lead me to some great music I’ve never heard….oh, I could go on.
I now feel like the music collector and hoarder I was aged 14. I’m now discovering great music - old and new - and sharing it with my muso friends, creating long and complicated collaborative playlists. I’ve finally fallen in love with music again!
Spotify is great for the consumer, but for the artist it’s not such a clear winner - and I speak from experience here. The money made on a played track is minuscule and you’d need to be megastar status to make something from it. But to a small unsigned, or signed, artist it means your music is out there and available for discovery or promotion. So, swings and roundabouts. Better to be out there than not.
Do you have a Spotify playlist you’d like us to subscribe to? I’m always looking for new music so post a link in the comments below!
You can find me on Spotify also! And yes. There are some strange playlists…don’t judge me!
August 10, 2026 at 6:47 pm | Blog | No comment
This week has been possibly one of the worst for this country. The recent riots that have dogged London and other key cities have shown the worst of our society. From a personal perspective I’m sad to see the city I’ve lived in and currently work in shown to the world in such shameful fashion.
From The Digital Times perspective, it’s been sad to see social media ‘blamed’ for the organisation of these riots and also for the spreading of information. Well, I ask the nee sayers to be quiet and look at the good that social media has done.
In a speech earlier today, PM David Cameron echoed the sentiment: ”We have seen the worst of Britain, but I also believe we have seen some of the best of Britain - the million people who have signed up on Facebook to support the police, coming together in the clean-up operations”.
Add to this the rallying of Twitter users to oust looters and the adoption of #riotcleanup and #OperationCupOfTea, you can see that people do care about the society they live in - offline and online.
We are lucky enough to have freedom of speech and social media is a channel, or megaphone, that allows us to use our voices. As with offline society, there are always going to be pockets of people who abuse this right and who will use social for bad. But online those who use it for good have a bigger voice, one that carries and as we have seen can be used for amazing things.
Finally, there’s been a lot of awful stories this week and a lot of fear. To put our faith back in society, post us storied of the good things you’ve experienced or heard this week, on or off line.
Keep calm and carry on people….
