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Steve Jobs crusades against the consumers who criticize Apple, eclipsing Bill Gates as the tech world's Darth Vader, in this Taiwanese animated news show.
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Farhad Manjoo reports from San Francisco:
Steve Jobs walked slowly on to the stage this morning at Apple's iPod press event, his first public appearance since undergoing a liver transplant earlier this year. Jobs looked thin, but was otherwise full of energy, and seemed—from afar, at least—in much better health than he did last year at this time. "I'm very happy to be here with you all," he said. "I now have the liver of a mid-20s person who died in a car crash. I wouldn't be here without such generosity."
There'd been much speculation about whether he'd show up today. Even before Jobs' medical leave, Apple had been moving away from having Jobs headline all its events. This seemed wise—Steve Jobs isn't going to be Apple's CEO forever, and it only made sense to groom other executives to take on Jobs' main public role: launching new products. On the other hand, Jobs still commands a room like no other corporate titan, and Apple sees enormous rewards—in press coverage and in fan obsession—from his public appearances. Today's press event suggests that Jobs isn't going anywhere soon; he'll continue to share the stage with other Apple executives, but there's no doubt about who is still in charge at Apple. "I'm vertical, back at Apple, and loving it," he said.
As for today's product reveal, there were no major surprises. Apple added a video camera and FM radio to the iPod Nano, updated iTunes, and added a few new features to the iPhone and iPod Touch—pretty much everything that Apple-watchers had expected. Also, Norah Jones appeared to perform a couple songs. Apple's most anticipated product—the rumored tablet computer—didn't show. Maybe the next time we see Steve.