Tim Cook is an operational wiz. Philip Schiller is a marketing maven. Jonathan Ive is a design visionary. The men at the helm of Apple are among the best at what they do. But none seems to have that spark of genius like Steve Jobs — an industry oddity studied by business school students for his creative vision, uncanny sense for what consumers want and shrewd leadership. And that’s the central issue Apple faces, now that Jobs has relinquished day-to-day control. Apple’s breakaway success has largely been defined by Jobs’s ability to repeatedly develop groundbreaking computers and electronics. But the super-competitive marketplace ensured that the dominance of many Apple products was short-lived. Read full article > >

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Can an Apple without Steve Jobs come up with the next big thing?

The producers of “The King’s Speech” are among the best bets for an Oscar, but remain largely unknown in Hollywood.

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‘King’s Speech’ Producers Await Seats at Table

Bach’s cello suites are among the best known works of classical music, now risking popularization to the point of fatigue as they provide background music for cat food commercials. But one hundred and forty years after the great composer’s death they were virtually unknown, until a young, aspiring Catalan cellist came across them in a musty music shop. Eric Siblin has captured an extraordinary romance–that of Pablo Casals, J.S. Bach, and their mutual obsession with the sonic possibilities of the cello. I put six questions to Siblin about his book, The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece, now appearing in paperback: . . .

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SCOTT HORTON—Bach’s Cello Suites–Six Questions for Eric Siblin