Steve Jobs

Was that a jobs plan Mitt Romney unveiled Tuesday or a Steve Jobs plan? Wanting voters to see him as the political version of the black turtleneck-clad business visionary, Romney said he's got a smartphone approach on how to improve the economy while Obama is more like a coin-op pay phone.

Steve Jobs doesn't take with him the technical capabilities of Apple. His departure does, however, disturb the cultural position of Apple, which has helped it build a uniquely powerful relationship with its fans.

Apple's cloud-based service tracks the music and other digital property on a listener's hard drive and makes it available wirelessly to devices that can connect to the Internet. iCloud, which arrives after a long negotiation with the major record labels, will be available for free this fall.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs appeared at the tech company's iPad event Wednesday in San Francisco, sending fans into a tizzy. Speculation over whether the tech innovator would be on the stage had nearly overtaken the rumor mills about what the company would actually announce.

Apple announced Monday that CEO Steve Jobs is taking another medical leave of absence. Jobs said he'll continue to be involved with major strategic decisions. Day-to-day running of the company will be left to Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, a longtime Apple executive.