The trials of Jobs

As did the ill-fated prophet Job, Apple’s Steve Jobs has seen his share of setbacks and tribulations.

Granted, the Sabeans didn’t carry off his oxen, and no dark wind destroyed his children’s home. But in 1985, after riding to wealth and power at Apple Computer, Jobs lost control of the company that he co-founded in his garage with Steve Wozniak. Only after a mostly unprofitable interlude at NeXT computer did Jobs redeem himself though his association with Pixar and return to Apple in 1997.

Since then, the company has stayed at the forefront of computer and industrial design, pioneering such innovations as peer-to-peer networking, wireless networking, the capacious iPod and, most recently, its online iTunes Music Store.

Now comes Jobs, the master computer evangelist, on the most challenging crusade of his life: persuading IT to take Apple seriously.

That could be harder than it sounds. Most IT departments support Apple equipment mainly for specialized chores such as video, graphic design, or animation, but not as the backbone of the datacenter. There are plenty of those in IT who admire Apple’s engineering, but time and again the company’s genius has been applied to what are essentially consumer innovations.

But give Jobs and Apple credit. The switch to the Unix-based Mac OS X was disruptive but smart. And as Tom Yager reports this week, the upcoming version — code-named Panther — brings agility to otherwise clunky Unix.

Apple’s latest IT hardware — including the 2.5TB 3U Xserve RAID array and updated 1U Xserve units — is as easy to manage as it is easy on the eye. Apple’s hardware, once expensive, is now priced competitively. And its software is a bargain. As Yager notes, even proprietary versions of Linux — the favored open source alternative — typically run $2,500 to $5,000 vs. just $999 for an unlimited-user OS X server license.

All of this makes an intriguing pitch. That’s why we asked caricature artist Darren Thompson to create this week’s cover illustration of Jobs as fiery preacher, holding the Book of Apple in one hand. With Jobs in the pulpit, you may or may not walk away converted, but you know it’ll be a heck of a sermon.

In other business, we’re gearing up for the annual InfoWorld 100 awards to the top 100 corporate projects that best enhance a company’s business with technology.

Last year, top honors went to the University of Pennsylvania’s National Digital Mammogram Archive, which stores and delivers digitized X-rays throughout North America; the Providence Health System for Web services-based systems integration; and the Global Transportation Network consortium, which offers a one-stop Web site for ocean shippers.

Know of a project that we should consider? Tell us about it. Nominations will remain open until 5 p.m. PDT on Monday, Sept. 8.