Rest in Peace: Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) joins with the rest of the technology world in mourning the death of 56-year old Steve Jobs. Jobs, who passed away on this date in 2011, was the mastermind behind Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac and iTunes.

"We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," read a statement by Apple’s board of directors. "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. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts."

In 2004, he beat back an unusual form of pancreatic cancer, and in 2009 he was forced to get a liver transplant. After several years of failing health, Jobs announced on Aug. 24, 2011 that he was stepping down as Apple’s chief executive.

"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," Jobs wrote in his letter of resignation. "Unfortunately, that day has come."

One of the great minds of this time. Jobs truly revolutionized consumer technology as we know it. He will be missed.

Apple Shows Its iRacist Underbelly to the Black Community

Soulclap to Your Black World for letting us know about the racist behavior of a white manager at a major Apple store in New York. It turns out that two Black men, Nile Charles and Brian Johnston went to the Apple store to purchase some headphones. The transaction should have been quick and simple.

Not so fast...

The manager of the store is an old white guy. The manager allowed his racial prejudices to run wild in his mind ... and he felt comfortable enough within the Apple culture to let his mouth run wild. He approached the two African American customers and let them know that if they were not buying anything or speaking with a Mac specialist then they would need to leave the store.

“And before you say I’m racially discriminating against you, let me stop you. I am discriminating against you.”

The two young men may not recall the Rodney King incident from back in the day ... but, they had the gumption to begin recording the racist nonsense being spewed by this Apple store manager on their cellphones. Their recording shows another Apple employee joining the discussion,

“Now you have to go. If you want to know why, it’s because I said so. CONSIDER ME GOD. You have to go.”

The two young men left the store ... and went directly to their lawyer. They have brought a lawsuit against Apple. The lawsuit is working its way through the New York judiciary. In the meantime, the folks at Apple may want to become acquainted with BDPA so that they can become exposed to Black people in some context outside of the courtroom!

Tech Tip: Using iPad

BDPA member Kai Dupe' loves his iPad. He recently shared a Tech Tip about Apple's iPad that I thought would be of interest to BETF-Blog readers.






Kudos to Kai for making this Tech Tip available to us.

Do you own an iPad?

Apple Inc. Coco Camp -- Deadline: April 26, 2009

Cocoa Camp
August 17 - 21, 2009

Cocoa Camp is a week-long session at Apple Inc. headquarters in California for students who want to learn to build iPhone applications using Cocoa. This will be a lab-style environment with both lecture and exercies including hands-on training activities led by Apple engineers.

Apple will be responsible for the following expenses: [Read More]