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Letter from Steve Jobs

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

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.

Steve 

Hi. My name is Sandy, and I am a content management system addict.

It's been several weeks since my last installation.

I've been trying to learn how to publish sites using Jekyll on Github. Before that I played with Refinery and Docuwiki. For a while there, I was testing half a dozen wiki systems at once. I have installed and uninstalled more CMSes than most people have ever used. (I'm not trying to brag; it's more of a confession.)

I thought this tinkering would end when I bit the bullet and committed to Posterous, but I find I'm still looking around.

I like Posterous, I really do. It does many things very well. I think it deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as Dropbox, another amazing free tool that I use every day.

Posterous has a couple of drawbacks, which make me unwilling to fully commit. First, it's a hosted solution, which means I don't have full control of my data. I like and trust the current owners of Posterous, but if the company changes hands I could lose all my content and customization through the malice or incompetence of the new owners. I don't think it will happen, but the fact that it *could* happen makes me a bit nervous and unwilling to commit.

Posterous also has fewer design and layout options than its chief rival Tumblr, and those themes mostly come from just two sources. I'm not a gifted designer myself but I like to have a distinct look and feel for my site. This is a lot to ask from a free tool, I know, but there it is. I want it to be perfect. 

Douglas Adams said, "We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that works." Boy is that ever true. 

I spend all day in an office using Windows and Lotus Notes on a Dell computer, writing and editing in Sharepoint 2007, and coping with security software that blocks or scans everything I do in order to protect me from bad hackers and their malware. My job at the Service Desk is to help people with their technical problems, most of which are in some way related to Windows, Lotus Notes, Dell computers, Sharepoint 2007, BlackBerry devices, and/or malware. 

When I come home, I pick up my MacBook Air and search for stuff that works. 

(This might be a good time to mention that I work at World Vision Canada. This little article -- in fact, everything I write on the Web -- is my own opinion and not the opinion of my employer or anyone else at WVC.) 

Where was I? Oh yes - content management systems.

Way back in the 20th century, before my children were born, I used a dial-up modem to connect to local bulletin board systems. I logged on to CompuServe for work, then logged off as quickly as possible to ensure that my monthly bill would not be too high.

Around 1994, I discovered the World Wide Web, and began to write basic HTML files. I got a job writing about technology for a major metropolitan newspaper. I registered a domain name, and started to make my own Web site.

The Web of today was unthinkable back then. High speed Internet meant data transfer speeds reaching 33.6 kbit per second. The big brains at Microsoft weren't sure whether to compete with AOL and CompuServe or with the fledgling World Wide Web, so they equipped Windows 95 with both MSN and Internet Explorer.

I wrote my own HTML files for a couple of years, spending hours each week re-publishing my newspaper column online. I loved the final product but I did not like how long it took to make each page. In time, I discovered HTML editors, which made it easier to write HTML but -- for the most part -- produced ugly, terrible HTML code. Web browser technology was changing rapidly at the time, and it was important to make sure your site was compatible with each new version, and the new features it introduced.

The convenience and automation of HTML editos cost me some control of layout and the look and feel of the site. I found that some HTML editing software was incompatible with the pages created by previous software. Each time I switched editors, I had to go back and fix some pages, or be prepared to abandon everything that went before.

This was also true from a content standpoint; when I changed my email address, I discovered that it's difficult and time-consuming to change the contact information on hundreds of Web pages without some form of automation.

I was delighted to discover something called Movable Type, a so-called "content management system" that separated the job of writing from the job of managing the Web site. Writing, or "content", was typed into a box. Movable Type used these "posts" and built a Web site around them.

This separation of content from layout is A Good Thing. The goal is to have a system that can change the style and layout of your text easily, whether it's one page or 100 pages. The "document preparation system" called LaTeX is a good example of this principle.

Movable Type was the first system I found that applied this idea to Web publishing. I watched its development eagerly, and installed each new version on my little corner of the Web. MT grew and developed until finally, with the release of version 3.33, it was perfect. Well, not perfect, but that's how I choose to remember it. Because soon after that, everything went south. Moveable Type 4 was very different from previous versions, and not in a good way. I upgraded then stuck it out stubbornly, waiting for things to get better, but they did not. MT fanatics are still at it today, hammering away at version 5 and an open source project called Open Melody that spun off from Movable Type.

MT had competitors, of course, but they were not as good. At least, they were not as good right away. One of the little upstarts, WordPress, long ago became more popular and easier to use than Movable Type, and easier to customize with handsome designs and fancy layouts. I stubbornly stuck with MT much longer than I should have, mostly due to the product manager, who bravely and stubbornly defended both Movable Type and Six Apart in public much longer than either of them deserved.

When I was done with MT, I tried to love WordPress. It made a very good first impression: I loved the famous five minute installation process, the simple admin panel, and the many, many attractive themes. WordPress does many things well, and continues to get better with every update.

Of course, WordPress also has some problems. The best known problem has to do with security. If you don't keep your WordPress installation updated, bad guys will exploit known vulnerabilities and turn your WordPress system into a malware factory. Another related problem is the need to update Wordpress frequently. Automatic updating does not work with some Web hosts (mine, for example), so every update to WordPress must be installed right away or you risk infection by malware.

These are big problems that should be enough to keep me away from WordPress, but I haven't found anything better. Every time there's a major new release of WordPress I try it again, hoping things have improved. Every time I find something new to like, but I always end up erasing the installation and deleting the database a few days later. The care and feeding of a WordPress site is too much for me.

I want to write, not manage a publishing system. At least that's what I've been telling myself. Maybe what I really want is to write about new content management systems that are shiny, new and full of promise, as well as existing CMSes that are dying and likely doomed to failure.

One thing is sure: I am obsessed with Web publishing tools.

Whenever I have some spare time, I find myself exploring the Web, looking for new content management systems. What's the hot new thing for disillusioned guys like me who have tried every CMS and found them wanting? Where are the WordPress exiles going, and where will they be six months from now?

So that's the report from here right now: I'm still writing about games, gadgets and toys for SEVEN magazine. I'm still working a mostly-great day job in the IT department at World Vision Canada. And in my spare time, I'm obsessing about the latest and great content management systems.

This week, for example, I'm wondering if I should buy a Mac mini loaded with Lion Server just to try out Wiki Server 3. It looks better than most of the open source wiki tools I've tried, but there's no way to know without getting my hands on Lion and Lion Server.

Or maybe I should go to bed.

No food, no coffee until my birthday on June 17. I have just 30 hours to raise money for hungry kids. Details here: http://bit.ly/j8WAvY

Nintendo game system + creativity = cool video

via my son Alex

I'm enjoying The Switch, Mike Snider's series of articles for Globe Technology. This quote from part 2 jumped out at me:

"Companies that are unwilling to use disruptive technology in their favour put themselves at a disadvantage. As business models make delivering content online profitable, I have little doubt that content creators will continue to bypass traditional delivery methods in favour of direct-to-consumer methods."

Good stuff. Read more here:

• Goodbye cable bills, now I get my TV for free
• Dear Rogers Hi-Speed, I'm leaving you for someone else

I've been thinking about switching from Rogers to TekSavvy myself but keep putting it off. Meanwhile, the monthly bill keeps coming in and the bandwidth cap is still in place. Hmmm...

Sometimes it takes a while to get from idea to reality.

Fast forward to 14:10

Leaving in a Huff is a fun read.