It looks like the wait is almost over for the iPhone 5, and none too soon since my 3G is almost done, time for an upgrade!

Apple is now competing with Exxon to be the most valuable company in the world. When Apple was founded in 1976, it would have been hard to believe the great success that awaited the company 35 years later.

I read a great article recently about the company records of Apple and Steve Jobs at Stanford University. This is just one of the fascinating collections in the Stanford Silicon Valley Archives. The largest collection of materials on Silicon Valley history in the world.

Over the decades Apple has had its ups and downs, but the driving force behind its success has indisputably been Steve Jobs. His retirement as the CEO of Apple came as huge news in the tech and business world last month and he will be impossible to replace.

In the Apple archive there are company documents from its earliest years. Orders for dozens and hundreds of Mac computers as opposed to the millions of units they are selling today. One letter in the collection comments on Steve’s inexperience. Photos in the collection show Steve as laid back and casual, not wearing shoes at a board meeting in 1988, but we know that he was more driven to succeed than any CEO in the modern era.

As delicious as it looks. Credit: Nick Siekierski

Here is the Youtube video about the article. (look for the Hoover Tower in the first shot)

Also, here is the video of Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement speech in 2005. It’s one of the most inspirational speeches of its type that you’ll ever hear. (Many thanks to a good friend for recommending it to me several years ago.)

It’s Aloha Friday!