"He's the greatest entertainer and showman in the business," says one prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist.
Some Hollywood filmmakers agreed that, with help from Jobs, legal Internet sales of their movies could transform their business.
"The business is going to go down, down, down before they finally realise what Steve Jobs and a few others have already realised — that there is a way to make a business model out of this and then people won't steal it quite so readily," George Lucas, director of "Star Wars", says last month on CNBC.
Apple executives declined to discuss their plans. When asked at a conference last month whether the company would sell video via an iTunes-like store, Jobs says Apple's "actions of the future" would answer that question, adding that it is working on "great things" in its labs.
Poker-faced Apple already is showing some of its cards, however:
• Besides providing video support on iTunes, Apple's latest version of QuickTime comes with the H.264 codec, which lets consumers view high-definition video with less bandwidth and storage space than its predecessors. H.264 shipped with Apple's latest operating system, called Tiger, and a preview version of the software is available for Microsoft's Windows.
• The computer maker has been rolling out new products such as the Mac Mini and Airport Express, which costs £88.99 and is designed to wirelessly stream music to a stereo as well as create a small wireless network. Future versions could be designed to handle movie and television, as well. Apple's agreement to use Intel chips starting next year also will make it easier to build a low-cost home media player, many experts argue.
• Apple is getting more serious about embracing the entertainment business' biggest concern: protecting the intellectual-property rights of movies and music. Jobs' experience as a moviemaker provides added credibility.
Apple is making its biggest strides in software. When iTunes launched in May, four bands provided music videos: Gorillaz, Morcheeba, Dave Matthews Band and Thievery Corporation. The total has since expanded to more than 16.
