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Former Apple executive & board member Bill ‘The Coach’ Campbell passes away

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[UPDATE: Apple has issued a statement on the passing of Bill Campbell, saying he “believed in Apple when few people did.” Via Daisuke Wakabayashi:

Bill Campbell was a coach and mentor to many of us at Apple, and a member of our family for decades as an executive, advisor, and ultimately a member of our board. He believed in Apple when few people did and his contributions to our company, through good times and bad, cannot be overstated. We will miss his wisdom, his friendship, his humor, and his love for life.]

Re/code today reports that Silicon Valley icon and longtime Apple board member Bill “The Coach” Campbell has passed away at age 75 after a long battle with cancer. The unfortunate news comes from “many prominent tech players,” following earlier unconfirmed reports. Campbell was a mentor to many tech leaders, including Steve Jobs, Larry Page, and Jeff Bezos.


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Bill Campbell interview sheds light on his time at Apple, Steve Jobs, and more

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In an interview with Fortune, outgoing Apple board member Bill Campbell discussed the years he spent at Apple, from his recruitment by John Sculley as head of marketing in 1983, to the post-Jobs era spearheaded by former COO Tim Cook. Campbell tells of a young Steve Jobs as he slowly rose to the role of CEO:

“I watched him emerge as a CEO in real time,” Campbell says. “I had a continuum with him. I watched him when he was general manager of the Mac division and when he went off and started NeXT. I watched Steve go from being a creative entrepreneur to a guy who had to run a business.”


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Tim Cook ‘actively’ seeking to add new directors to Board

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The Wall Street Journal today published a brief profile on Apple CEO Tim Cook as the Cupertino-based company continues to be shaped in the image of Cook rather than co-founder Steve Jobs. The profile has some interested tidbits, but it is otherwise light on new information aside from information regarding Cook’s plan for the Apple Board of Directors. According to the report, Cook is “actively” looking to add fresh faces to the Board:


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Eddy Cue accepts award on behalf of Steve Jobs, with very personal speech [Video]

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Apple senior VP Eddy Cue has tweeted a link to a video in which he accepted on behalf of Steve Jobs induction into the Bay Area Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was created by the Bay Area Council to recognize prominent entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay area.

[tweet https://twitter.com/cue/status/400162837789540352 align=”center”]

The 14-minute video (below) contains some memorable Steve Jobs clips, a message from his friend and Intuit chairman/Apple Board memeber William Campbell – and an emotional speech by Eddy Cue, in which he talks of what Steve meant to him as both a friend and a colleague … 
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Analyst claims Apple ‘iWatch’ wrist-device is over a year away, explains why watch more practical than glasses

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‘iWatch’ Concept (<a href="http://viptest.9to5mac.com/2013/03/12/more-interesting-iwatch-concepts-imagine-ios-on-the-smaller-screen-curved-displays/">many more here</a>)

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has provided seemingly accurate information about previous Apple hardware releases (timing non-withstanding), claims that Apple’s much-rumored wearable wrist device will not arrive until late 2014. The analyst pinpoints production to begin sometime in the second half of the year:


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Apple board member Bill Campbell points to future with intimate devices like Google Glass and iWatches [Video]

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFWG51nGmGA]

Businessweek covers a talk given by Apple (and former Google) board member Bill Campbell who “held court” on Friday at the Mountain View headquarters of Intuit, where he serves as chairman. Notably, he discussed former Apple execs Tony Fadell who now runs Nest and Ron Johnson who just got fired from JCPenney. Of Nest, he pre-announced new products, saying

“You would think that people would yawn at something as boring as a thermostat,” Campbell said. “So, I’ve been surprised at how it has done and is doing. It will be the first of many products that come out of that company, which has a brilliant CEO and engineering team.”

Of Ron Johnson‘s exit at JCP, he said, “You have to keep your current business going while you experiment with a new one. He didn’t do that. He just put a bullet hole in his current business.”

GOOD ADVICE.

But perhaps most interesting for those yearning for an iWatch, Campbell told the business software company
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Aerial footage of Steve Jobs Celebration (Video)

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CBS copters, captured by CNET, caught some of the Celebrate Steve program today put on by Apple.  As we’d been tweeting live, Tim Cook, Bill Campbell and Al Gore spoke and Norah Jones and ColdPlay played music (ending with “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”).  Apple retail employees shut down Store operations from 12-3 ET to view a private screening of the event.

One of the touching moments was said to have been when they played Jobs’ rendition of “The Crazy Ones”, below:


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