Posting messages on blogs, social networks and at Apple stores, people continue to express gratitude and condolences.

We have much to learn from Steven P. Jobs.

Now it’s here!

Look at this:

Just print out the template (by clicking on the print button below the video).

Hand write the letters and numbers in the chart, take a photo of your completed template (use a webcam, digital camera or just scan it), modify any of the symbols if you so desire, and voila! You have a custom made font.

At this point, you can’t download your font but you can write messages from their site (and they hope to include this feature at a later date).

Enjoy!

Fascinating. Beautiful.

I find this concept so intriguing, so interesting. Consider the potential. We are on the cusp of collaborative global efforts with endless possibilities.

Kudos to Steve Jobs, Jonathan Ive and everyone else at Apple.

Look how far you’ve come. People seem to forget your status as the underdog just a decade or two ago.

I remember.

I remember being reluctant to switch from the industry leader, to move from a PC to a (gasp!) Mac. The PC was king. IBM was a player — a blue chip/work-there-for-50-years-get-a-pension-and-a-gold-watch company. In fact, I remember having IBM as a client, touring a facility in Poughkeepsie, New York and marveling at the mainframes.

What a different world it was. It was all about the software. Or so some people thought.

Who predicted that you would be bigger than Microsoft?

Not many.

But you are. I consider it a magnificent accomplishment, worthy of some applause and respect.

Instead, you get an uproar over death grips and faulty antennas.

Many (most?) iPhone owners don’t mind a little frustration and imperfection.

My guess? The vast majority of iPhone 4 owners (okay, well, at least my husband and I) believe the product is marvelous. Beautiful and efficient. Elegant and powerful.

Yet some critics delight in their schadenfreude over a pseudo furor that’s actually relatively insignificant.

Why?

It leads me to wonder (with some degree of sadness) why people like to knock other peoples’ success. Why they expect (demand?) perfection and then pounce (shine a spotlight on it?) when they discover the slightest flaw.

I believe in a principle of abundance, where people support one another and trumpet the greatest achievements of friends, family members and respected colleagues, then support them and encourage them through hard times or whenever they stumble.

So I applaud you, Apple.

And you know what?

The iPhone has improved the quality of my life. I often forget that it’s a phone because that’s the least important part of the device. People who don’t use the iPhone don’t understand that fact. It’s not about the telephone. Even the word, telephone, is so…last millennium.

Now, it’s all about the apps…and the developers’ passions. Not to mention the passion of each and every iPhone owner. Each device is so customized, so specific to each user that it becomes special. Each owner makes it special, depending on his/her own interests, needs and passions.

Oh, and FaceTime?

It’s now. It’s tomorrow. It’s very Jetsons. And it works. Simply. It helped me endure some recent trips away from my family. Heck, it made them feel as if they were right there with me. It affected our quality of life. It brought us immeasurable joy.

So forget about those naysayers, haters and foes.

Congratulations on another extraordinary creation.

http://media.theonion.com/flash/video/onn_player.swf
Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Village

No, seriously though, what do you think about the burgeoning privacy issues? No big deal or the beginning of a world ruled by potentially corrupt mega-corps-as-big-brother(s)? Or something somewhere in between? Heh.

http://media.theonion.com/flash/video/onn_player.swf
New Google Phone Service Whispers Targeted Ads Directly Into Users' Ears

Aw, c’mon now, it’s just meant to make you smile. Did it? Did the corners of your mouth turn up just a little?

I hope so.

Check out some of his remarks at this year’s All Things Digital Conference:

http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/main.swf

This one (above) is on the iPhone and the iPad.

And how about that whole Gizmodo mess?

http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/main.swf

Finally, watch him when talks about Google (below) and at the end softly says, “Just because we’re competing with somebody doesn’t mean we have to be rude.”

http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/main.swf
Wonderful. Very nice.

For more videos (brief enough to view selectively) click here.

_____________________________________________

Updated with coverage of the oil spill!

Check it out:

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=education/2010/05/27/sn.0528.cnn

The site is “a ten minute, commercial-free daily news program” geared to middle and high-school students.

If you’ve been looking for ways to get your teens interested in the news, I recommend bookmarking the CNN Student News site and showing it to your kids. It’s geared to them, so it’s a bit more hip, clean and concise than the main CNN site.

And, yeah, they’re on Facebook, too.

I think that we can learn a great deal about collaboration and competition by watching this interview* (again?), especially now, in 2010. Let me know what you think.

http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/microPlayer.swf

Love it.

____________________
It’s from 2007. Jobs and Steve Ballmer are expected to speak at this year’s D8, (the eighth annual All Things Digital Conference (June 1-3). For coverage click here.

They seem to be going in an interesting direction…

Not bad, for a start.

What do you think?