Great piece on Jobs' innovations

JOBS WELL DONE: The rarefied qualities that made Steve Jobs such a towering figure during the last decade are fascinatingly examined by N.Y. Times media columnist David Carr. “When the iPod and iTunes were unveiled in 2001, the music industry was under siege from piracy, with services like Napster thriving on the free use of its content,” Carr writes. “Jobs’ take-it-or-leave-it deal gave Apple control over pricing, data, distribution and platform, a proposal of towering hubris. But the industry, kicking and screaming all the way, eventually went along, and 10 billion song downloads later, digital revenue is a fundamental part of the business. In the process, Apple brought a practical end to the album format—allowing people to buy individual songs and create their own playlists. iTunes not only supplied a legitimate, easy-to-use alternative to piracy, it created a runway for services like Pandora and Spotify.” (8/31a)