• Jeff Chiu / AP

    In this photo taken Oct. 25, 2011, a photo of an old keyboard is shown next to a letter written about Steve Jobs at Stanford's Green Library in Stanford, Calif. Historians and entrepreneurs who want to understand the rise of Apple Inc. and its founder Steve Jobs will find a treasure trove of clues in Stanford University's Silicon Valley Archives.

    'This joker is going to be calling you': Archives offer a window into the early days of Apple

    In the summer of 1976, a printer who had just met Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak jotted down an apologetic note to a colleague about the young entrepreneurs: "This joker [Jobs] is going to be calling you ... They are two guys, they build kits, operate out of a garage ... Told him we'd like to see what they've got ... Sounds flakey. Watch it!"

    The letter forms part of Stanford University's Apple Collection, a treasure trove of documents, books, software, videotapes and marketing materials that were donated by Apple in 1997.

    "Through this one collection you can trace out the evolution of the personal computer," Stanford historian Leslie Berlin told The Associated Press. "These sorts of documents are as close as you get to the unmediated story of what really happened." Read more.

  • First statue of Steve Jobs unveiled in Budapest

    Laszlo Balogh / Reuters

    Hungarian sculptor Erno Toth unveils his statue of the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs during a ceremony in a private business park in Budapest, Dec. 21.

    Zsolt Szigetvary / EPA

    A man takes picture with an Apple iPad of a Steve Jobs monument by Hungarian sculptor Erno Toth in the Graphisoft Park, Budapest, Dec. 21.

    By Phaedra Singelis, NBC News

    According to Reuters:

    A Hungarian software company unveiled what it said was the world's first bronze statue of Apple Inc co-founder Steve Jobs Wednesday, calling him one of the greatest personalities of the modern age.

    The bronze work by sculptor Erno Toth stands in the Budapest campus of architectural software maker Graphisoft.

    "He was one of the greatest (personalities) in our era, that's what we wanted to express with this sculpture here," Graphisoft Chairman Gabor Bojar told Reuters.

    Today's Reuters story

    Previous story on the statue.

  • Jeff Chiu / AP

    A man walks past an Apple store employee which was closed off by a white curtain in Palo Alto, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 19. Apple closed a number of its stores for a memorial service for co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs. The service took place at company headquarters in Cupertino, and was also webcast to employees worldwide.

    Apple employees celebrate Jobs, stores close

    AP reports:

    CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple Inc.'s famous penchant for secrecy remained intact Wednesday as the company's retail stores were curtained and employees were close-lipped about a private memorial service to celebrate the life of company co-founder Steve Jobs.

    The service, announced to Apple employees in an email by CEO Tim Cook, took place Wednesday morning at company headquarters in Cupertino. It was also being webcast to employees worldwide.

    Apple planned to keep its stores closed for several hours so employees could watch the service. At stores across Northern California, white curtains were draped across the windows to block the view from outside.

  • Tribute to Steve Jobs created in sticky notes

    Michaela Rehle / Reuters

    The face of Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs created in adhesive notes on the window of an apple store in Munich, Germany Oct.17. Jobs, counted among the greatest American CEOs of his generation, died on October 5, 2011, at the age of 56, after a years-long and highly public battle with cancer.

    After seeing all the sticky notes left in honor to Steve Jobs last week, I came across this today and was struck by the image.

    More on PhotoBlog of Steve Jobs.

    Slideshow: Steve Jobs through the years.

  • Photographers remember Steve Jobs as a very challenging photo subject

    apple.com via Reuters

    Apple Inc co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs picture is featured on the front page of the Apple website after his passing in this screen grab October 5, 2011.

    By Rich Shulman

    The Photo District News blog PDNPulse has a fascinating post about the experience of several photographers shooting Steve Jobs over the years.

    The piece tells the story of the iconic photo on Apple's website (above), shot in 2006 by fashion and commercial photographer Albert Watson. Watson shot the picture with film on a 4x5 camera.

    “If you look at that shot, you can see the intensity. It was my intention that by looking at him, that you knew this guy was smart,” Watson says, adding, “I heard later that it was his favorite photograph of all time.”

    Photojournalist Ed Kashi writes:

    “He was one of the most difficult subjects I ever dealt with during my Silicon Valley years but I appreciated his awareness of identity, setting and message of the images. There was one time I had to get a picture with him and Ross Perot and when Jobs acted up Perot turned to him and like a stern parent said ‘Steve, Grow up!!’

    Related: More Kashi images of Steve Jobs

    Capturing Steve Jobs On Camera: Photographer Peter Stember Remembers

    In a Private Light: Diana Walker’s Photos of Steve Jobs

    Ed Kashi/VII

    Left: Steve Paul Jobs, founder of NeXT Inc. at the company headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. in 1988. Right: Steve Jobs and John Sculley at the Apple Annual Meeting in Hawaii in 1984.

    msnbc.com's Technolog coverage of Steve Jobs

  • Apple fans around the world pay tribute to Steve Jobs

    msnbc.com staff and news service reports:

    "I was so saddened. For me it was like Michael Jackson or Princess Diana — that magnitude." Stephen Jarjoura, 43, Sydney.

    "My teachers asked me what kind of person I wanted to be and I told them I wanted to be like Steve." Henry Men Youngfan, engineering student, Beijing.

    From the titans of high technology to teenagers armed with iPads, millions of people around the world mourned digital-gadget genius Steve Jobs as a man whose wizardry transformed their lives in big ways and small. Read the full story.

    Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

    CUPERTINO, CA: Chinese exchange students from nearby De Anza College use candles to create the Apple logo and Steve Jobs' last name in Chinese characters.

    Kin Cheung / AP

    HONG KONG: A boy looks at a figure of Steve Jobs next to flowers laid in his tribute at an Apple store.

    Yuriko Nakao / Reuters

    TOKYO: An apple is placed next to a flower at the entrance of the Shibuya Apple store.

    Yuriko Nakao / Reuters

    TOKYO: Satoko Sakai prays in front of flowers outside the Shibuya Apple store.

    Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

    CUPERTINO, CA: An iPhone-lit tribute to Steve Jobs outside Apple headquarters.

     

  • Former Apple CEO and founder Steve Jobs has died

    John G. Mabanglo / EPA

    Apple CEO Steve Jobs off stage watching application demonstrations at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California,

    Paul Sakuma / AP

    Apolline Arnaud, 12, a neighbor of Steve Jobs, writes a message in front of Jobs' home in Palo Alto, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011.

    Andrew Burton / Getty Images

    Surina Shukri, from New York, lights a candle in remembrance of Steve Jobs, founder and former CEO of Apple Inc, outside the Apple Store at West 66th Street on October 5, 2011 in New York City.

    Stephen Lam / Reuters

    Software developer Steve Streza displays a photograph of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs after news of Jobs' death outside the Apple Store in San Francisco, Calif. October 5, 2011.

    AP reports:

    CUPERTINO, California — Apple Inc. said the company's co-founder Steve Jobs died Wednesday. He was 56.

    In a brief statement the company said Jobs died Wednesday. He had been battling pancreatic cancer.

    "We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," the company said in a brief statement. "Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."

    Read the full story here.

    Related stories:

  • Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple

    Kimberly White / Reuters

    Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs (L) stands beneath a photograph of him and Apple-co founder Steve Wozniak from the early days of Apple during the launch of Apple's new "iPad" tablet computing device in San Francisco, California, in this January 27, 2010 file photograph. Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple, the company announced August 24. Tim Cook, the company's Chief Operating Officer, who has been standing in for Jobs during his medical leave, has been named the new CEO, with Jobs becoming Chairman.

    Reuters

    Apple Inc.'s Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs is shown in this combination of file photographs dating (top row L to R) 2000, 2003, 2005,(bottom row L to R) 2006, 2008 and 2009. Jobs has resigned his position as CEO of Apple,and recommended that COO Tim Cook replace him, the company announced August 24.

    Tom Munnecke / Getty Images

    American businessman and engineer Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer Inc, at the first West Coast Computer Faire, where the Apple II computer was debuted, in Brooks Hall, San Francisco, California, April 16th or 17th, 1977.

    Steve Jobs resigned today. Full story here.

  • Kimberly White / Reuters

    Apple CEO Steve Jobs appears on stage during a news conference at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. on July 16, 2010. Jobs said that Apple is addressing antenna and reception issues with the iPhone 4, saying "we are not perfect" and "we want to make all our users happy."

    Steve Jobs and the iPhone 4

    MSNBC.com story: Apple gives free bumpers to all iPhone 4 owners