Can Apple stay sweet beyond Jobs?
- Getty Images
It's hard to imagine Apple without the iconic turtleneck-clad figure of Steve Jobs at the helm. It's a future that will soon be upon us.
I've spent the last day crossing Silicon Valley, balancing my iPhone and iPad, trying to get as clear a picture as possible as to what Apple will be like under Tim Cook. And the answer is: it won't change much ... at first.
"Stay hungry. Stay foolish." The impact of Steve Jobs on a CNN news team
Rarely is news of a CEO stepping down a worldwide trending, all-caps-making event. But it is when it's Steve Jobs.He led a company that transformed a vast array of businesses - personal computing, portable and online music, smarter mobile telephony and post-PC computing. He delivered a string of products that appealed to our emotions by focusing on the user experience and consumer happiness.
He even pioneered a retail experience that was shanzhai'd in China.
Anyone who's held an iPod has no doubt pressed a mental pause button today to consider an Apple without Steve Jobs. And yet, Steve Jobs has made an impact not only on consumers the world over, but producers as well - producers of business plans, even producers of one hour news bulletins.
In 2009, a colleague and I threw out a question. "If Steve Jobs produced a news show, what would it look like?"
Arab Unrest: The Times They Are A-Changin'
With Moammar Gadhafi's future increasingly uncertain, this photo - taken in Libya less than one year ago - is a symbol of how quickly the Middle East and North Africa has changed since the Arab unrest first took hold in January.
Colonel Gadhafi is seen posing with three of the ten major leaders of the region in 2010, and very friendly they look too. To his far left is Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, whose ousting in January began the so-called "Arab Spring". To Gadhafi's immediate left is Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh who was badly injured in an assassination attempt in June. He has yet to return to his country after leaving for treatment in Saudi Arabia. Then to Gadhafi's right, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who fled Cairo in February after his people staged a revolution in 18 days.
It is a fascinating snapshot of a very different time in the Middle East as the world waits to see what the future holds for Libya.
Remember, you can stay up to date with the very latest developments in Libya on the CNN.com "Just In" live blog.
Aung San Suu Kyi revives her political campaign: iReport
In Myanmar, a witness to history. Here is eyewitness video of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in rural Myanmar filed by iReporter Htoo Tay Zar. This is Suu Kyi's first political tour since her house arrest was lifted in November.
Two months ago on News Stream, I interviewed U.S. Senator John McCain who had traveled to Myanmar. He met with Suu Kyi along with senior government leaders. McCain called for specific, concrete action before the U.S. would consider lifting sanctions - the unconditional release of more than 2,000 political prisoners and guarantees of the safety of Suu Kyi as she travels around the country.
Now free, Suu Kyi is making her first trip into the countryside since her 2003 tour ended in house arrest. She is reviving her political campaign... and the military junta is no doubt watching closely.
Fighting famine, one packet at a time
This is what emergency food aid looks like.
I'm holding a packet of “Plumpy Nut,” a high-calorie peanut-based paste donated by UNICEF for tonight’s News Stream focus on famine relief.
Some 12 million people are facing starvation in Africa today. “Plumpy Nut” is one of many nutrition supplements being used to stave off starvation.
“Plumpy Nut” looks like and tastes much like peanut butter. It’s a nut-based product that contains milk, soy, sugar, minerals and vitamins.
And it hits the top needs of the malnourished - it has a significant calorie count (500 kcal), high-quality protein, and a long shelf life. They’re also sweet so young children are willing to eat it.
A parent can simply tear off a corner of the packet, and feed it to a child straight from the package. Each packet has enough nutrition for an infant, but not enough for a teenager.
It is not a miracle cure. “Plumpy Nut” and other emergency food aid supplements do not address long-term malnutrition.
But it is helping fight the acute famine we’re seeing today in the Horn of Africa, fighting famine one packet at a time.
Want an explanation for the UK riots? Go back to school
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We were about to put the “Great” back into Britain. Just as the Swinging Sixties and Cool Britannia defined the youth of previous generations, the twin beacons of the Royal Wedding and the London Olympics were expected to give today’s young ‘uns something to shout about. Well, they’re shouting alright. And looting. And trashing. And burning.
Clearly, those partaking represent a tiny minority. But they’re making the majority of headlines out of Fleet Street this week.
Sachin Tendulkar's hunt for a hundred hundreds
Call him the Little Master, the God of Cricket or an icon in cricket-crazed India, one thing is certain: Sachin Tendulkar sits on the brink of making history… again. He is close to becoming the first cricketer to knock his 100th international 100.
That’s scoring one hundred runs, one hundred times. And that's something special.
It was hoped that Tendulkar would rewrite the record books in the first test at the so-called "Mecca of cricket", Lord's. It would have been almost too perfect. It would have been his 100th international century, on the 100th match between the two nations and on the 2000th test match ever. In short, it would have been numerical poetry. FULL POST
iReport turns 5!
Sina Weibo CEO speaks out on China Net freedom... and censorship
Charles Chao is one of the most powerful men in China.
His Internet empire, Sina.com, hosts hundreds of millions of Net users and online expression that is unprecedented in both scale and intensity.
The mind-boggling statistic is well known - China is home to nearly half a billion Internet users. And Sina's Weibo, or microblog, rules the roost. It's the country's biggest social media site, with sleek functionality compared to both Twitter and Facebook.
Unlike other high-profile China dotcom CEOs, Chao is not a technocrat with an engineering degree. He's a former TV reporter from Shanghai who pursued further studies in the United States. (It's safe to say he's probably the most influential alumnus of the University of Oklahoma School of Journalism.)
I interviewed Chao at Sina.com headquarters in Beijing in mid-June, before the July 23rd Wenzhou train tragedy which has been called a "watershed moment" for the site.
The high-speed train collision killed 39 people and sparked a massive outpouring of anger directed at officials for their handling of the crash. Much of that outrage played out on Sina Weibo. But even before then, Weibo actively played host to fierce online debates about corruption and social injustice in China.
Chao is well aware of the power his Website has in advancing freedom of expression in China. He says: "China has become much more open and much more transparent. People have a lot of freedom to express themselves and Weibo can bring that freedom to a next level. Not only can they express, they can distribute that content and opinions with their Weibo account."
But the Sina chief is also acutely aware of the delicate balancing act he must strike - in growing the Sina Weibo user base in a hyper-competitive environment, meeting the expectations of a Web audience accustomed to speaking their minds, and not offending the Chinese government to the point of a shut-down.
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