Jeff Robbin
Encyclopedia
Jeffrey L. "Jeff" Robbin
is the vice president of consumer applications at Apple, Inc. He is an American
computer engineer and entrepreneur
notable for creating the MP3
player SoundJam MP
with Bill Kincaid
that was eventually bought by Apple and renamed iTunes
. He remains the lead software designer for iTunes
.
Robbin and Kincaid worked for Apple in the 1990s as system software engineers on their operating system
project Copland
; the project was later abandoned. Both left Apple, where Robbin created Conflict Catcher
and Kincaid worked at a startup.
After listening to a show on the radio channel NPR
, Kincaid created hardware and device driver
support for the Diamond
Rio
line of digital audio players. He then enlisted Jeff Robbin to develop the front-end for an MP3
-playing software they named SoundJam MP
. Dave Heller completed the core team. The three chose Casady & Greene as distributor, whom Robbin had previously worked with to distribute Conflict Catcher.
The software saw early success in the Mac music player market, competing with Panic's
Audion
. "We got [SoundJam] to pretty much be the premiere MP3 player on the Mac," said Robin Casady, co-owner of Casady & Greene.
In early 2000 Apple was looking to purchase an MP3 player and approached both Casady & Greene (SoundJam) and Panic (Audion). Because Panic was caught up in negotiations with AOL
, their meeting with Apple never took place. Instead, Apple purchased SoundJam MP in a deal covered by a two-year secrecy clause.
SoundJam MP was renamed iTunes
. Robbin, Kincaid, and Heller moved to Apple as the founding developers of iTunes. All three continue to work at Apple, with Robbin as the current lead developer of iTunes.
Robbin was also involved in developing the iPod
, as co-lead of the initial iPod team with Tony Fadell
and acting as lead developer of the initial iPod firmware.
Although Robbin's role has been published in a number of articles that have disclosed his name and role, an October 16, 2005 article in TIME
claimed that Steve Jobs had prohibited the magazine from publishing Robbin's last name, explaining that Steve was worried about competitors "poaching his talent".
He is rumored to be working on Apple's (as-yet-unconfirmed) TV project.
Jeff Robbin
Jeffrey L. "Jeff" Robbin is the vice president of consumer applications at Apple, Inc. He is an American computer engineer and entrepreneur notable for creating the MP3 player SoundJam MP with Bill Kincaid that was eventually bought by Apple and renamed iTunes...
is the vice president of consumer applications at Apple, Inc. He is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
computer engineer and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
notable for creating the MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
player SoundJam MP
SoundJam MP
SoundJam MP was an early MP3 player for the Mac OS, bought in 2000 by Apple and renamed iTunes. The program was written by Jeff Robbin and Bill Kincaid, published by Casady & Greene.-History and launch:...
with Bill Kincaid
Bill Kincaid
William S. "Bill" Kincaid is an American computer engineer and entrepreneur notable for creating the MP3 player SoundJam MP with Jeff Robbin that was eventually bought by Apple and renamed iTunes....
that was eventually bought by Apple and renamed iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
. He remains the lead software designer for iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
.
Robbin and Kincaid worked for Apple in the 1990s as system software engineers on their operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
project Copland
Copland (operating system)
Copland was a project at Apple Computer to create an updated version of the Macintosh operating system. It was to have introduced protected memory, preemptive multitasking and a number of new underlying operating system features, yet still be compatible with existing Mac software...
; the project was later abandoned. Both left Apple, where Robbin created Conflict Catcher
Conflict Catcher
Conflict Catcher was a popular utility software application for the Mac OS, written by Jeff Robbin and published by Casady & Greene. It aided Macintosh users in solving operating system conflicts with extensions and control panels...
and Kincaid worked at a startup.
After listening to a show on the radio channel NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
, Kincaid created hardware and device driver
Device driver
In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....
support for the Diamond
Diamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia is a company that specializes in many forms of multimedia technology. They have produced graphics cards, motherboards, modems, sound cards and MP3 players, however the company began with the production of the TrackStar, a PC add-on card which emulated Apple II computers...
Rio
Rio (digital audio players)
Rio was the brand name of a line of digital audio players, best known for producing the "Diamond Rio" model that was the impetus for a lawsuit in 1998 by the Recording Industry Association of America...
line of digital audio players. He then enlisted Jeff Robbin to develop the front-end for an MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
-playing software they named SoundJam MP
SoundJam MP
SoundJam MP was an early MP3 player for the Mac OS, bought in 2000 by Apple and renamed iTunes. The program was written by Jeff Robbin and Bill Kincaid, published by Casady & Greene.-History and launch:...
. Dave Heller completed the core team. The three chose Casady & Greene as distributor, whom Robbin had previously worked with to distribute Conflict Catcher.
The software saw early success in the Mac music player market, competing with Panic's
Panic (company)
Panic is an Oregon-based American software company that specializes in shareware applications for Mac OS X. It was founded by Steven Frank and Cabel Sasser....
Audion
Audion (software)
Audion is an audio player by Panic. It was originally a commercial program, but with the dominance of Apple's iTunes, development was halted and it was released as freeware.-Design:...
. "We got [SoundJam] to pretty much be the premiere MP3 player on the Mac," said Robin Casady, co-owner of Casady & Greene.
In early 2000 Apple was looking to purchase an MP3 player and approached both Casady & Greene (SoundJam) and Panic (Audion). Because Panic was caught up in negotiations with AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
, their meeting with Apple never took place. Instead, Apple purchased SoundJam MP in a deal covered by a two-year secrecy clause.
SoundJam MP was renamed iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
. Robbin, Kincaid, and Heller moved to Apple as the founding developers of iTunes. All three continue to work at Apple, with Robbin as the current lead developer of iTunes.
Robbin was also involved in developing the iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
, as co-lead of the initial iPod team with Tony Fadell
Tony Fadell
Anthony M. Fadell is a Lebanese American computer science engineer. He was known for being the Senior Vice President of the iPod Division at Apple Inc., having succeeded Jon Rubinstein in 2006. On November 4, 2008, Apple announced that Fadell would be stepping down as Senior Vice President but...
and acting as lead developer of the initial iPod firmware.
Although Robbin's role has been published in a number of articles that have disclosed his name and role, an October 16, 2005 article in TIME
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
claimed that Steve Jobs had prohibited the magazine from publishing Robbin's last name, explaining that Steve was worried about competitors "poaching his talent".
He is rumored to be working on Apple's (as-yet-unconfirmed) TV project.