In July 2000, I met Jobs at the Macworld Expo NY 2000 at the Javits Center in New York City.

He was on stage in front of an audience of hundreds, introducing a lineup of candy-colored iMacs. Colorful computers were a novel idea then, because before the iMac, computers were beige and boxy. The iMac G3 looked like a TV you’d see in an alien cartoon. In classic Jobs fashion, he talked up the iMac, told us why it was so great, using exorbitant language, revealed the new brightly-colored iMacs, waited for the “oohs” and “ahhs” to quiet down, told us more reasons why it was great, and ended with his “one more thing,” which was the G4 Cube.

After his presentation, Jobs went to a large room to do one-on-one interviews with reporters. I was reporting on Apple for Bloomberg News and one of the the last reporters in line. We were cued up outside of the room. Ahead of me in line was a reporter from the USA Today. He asked if it was my first time interviewing Jobs. I said yes. He then explained how it would go. “Be careful, he said. “If he doesn’t like a question you ask, he’ll get up and leave. If he doesn’t like your tone of voice, he may leave the room. He might lie and say he’s going to the bathroom, and then not come back. Or he may just leave without a word.”

Soon it was my turn to interview Jobs. As we shook hands I noticed his short-facial hair and John Lennon-like glasses. He was still, quiet and aloof as we began to talk. I explained how I first used a Macintosh in college, which prompted me to later borrow money from my folks to buy a PowerBook. He relaxed once he knew I was familiar with his products. He stood up and walked me over to a table lined with the new iMacs and the soon-to-flop G4 Cube.

He began gushing about these products like a man showing off his new babies. His eyes lit up as he walked and talked excitedly about the new iMac colors: Indigo, Ruby, Sage, Graphite and Snow. I asked what would become of the colors introduced in 1999: Strawberry, Blueberry, Lime, Grape and Tangerine? He paused, raised his right hand to his chin, and stared at me for what seemed like a long time, Then, with a bemused look on his face, he finally said, “You know, you’re the first person to ask, and because you asked, I’ll tell you. I wasn’t going to mention this today. Those colors will be retired.”

The idea of computer exterior colors being retired was odd, but I knew it was news. He said he had not mentioned it because he wanted the spotlight to be on the new iMac lineup, not the outgoing line. He then spoke about the G4 Cube and the other Apple products introduced that day. I was itching to get out of there so I could call the Bloomberg headlines desk to tell them about the colors being retired. I didn’t want to get scooped by our competition. At Bloomberg, because so many traders watch the headlines, if you were first with a headline, it was often better than being first with a story. The editor who answered the breaking news phone was convinced it wasn’t news and almost hung up. Quickly, I talked him into sending the headline about the iMac colors being discontinued.

I collected more information about when the retiring iMacs would officially be pulled from stores and whether Apple was worried about customers being upset about no longer being able to buy a Blueberry iMac. I was sitting outside of the room where folks were carrying out the iMacs that had been on display, and then out Jobs came, still talking excitedly about the new products.

He looked at me and a wide-smile came across his face.

“Nice job on the colorful story,” he said.

I was impressed that he knew about the headline, but not surprised.
Jobs never missed a detail.

He’ll be missed at Apple for that, and by the rest of us, for his genius, vision and thoughtfulness. Those qualities will continue to be felt for years.

Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley’s plan is to do for places and experiences, what Amazon has done for books, and Netflix has done for movies. Crowley calls Foursquare a “recommendation engine.” I called it an “anticipation engine” when I caught up with Crowley at the at this month’s 140 Characters Conference in New York City. I asked him what changes are coming that users don’t expect? Will Foursquare evolve in ways that we’re not yet imagining? Watch the 140-second interview to hear what he said.

NEW YORK — Jeff Pulver took a few minutes to discuss what to expect at this year’s 140 Characters Conference: New York City. It’s the second annual conference, referred to as #140conf on Twitter. The #140conf tag has been used every day on Twitter since the conference a year ago, Pulver said. Last year’s conference helped propel NBC News journalist Ann Curry (@AnnCurry) from 40,000 followers to over 1 jmillion and also featured Wine Library TV’s Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee). Both Curry and Vaynerchuk are speaking again at this year’s conference. Also speaking at the conference, on April 20 and 21 at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump), Donny Deutsch (@Donny_Deutsch) and MC Hammer (@MCHammer).

“What we’re really looking at is the effects of the real-time Internet on both business and we the people ,” Pulver said during a recent interview at the Roger Smith Hotel (@RSHotel).

“We will be looking at the Haiti disaster,” and topics including media, fashion, music and sports. “The people define the moment,” said Pulver, who runs the conference and is also Vonage’s original founder. “It’s about serendipity. It’s about life.”

I attended last year’s 140 Characters Conference: New York City and connected with many folks there. The interaction at the conference helped me to become more active on Twitter. By the way, Pulver said, March 5 is the last day to get into the conference for $100 for both days. As of March 6, it goes up to $140 for both days. I’ll put the conference registration link here and the schedule link here, because I believe it’s well worth the investment.

It’s Apple’s comeback to Verizon’s latest attack on the iPhone which runs on AT&T’s wireless networks.

Verizon started this ad war by picking on AT&T. AT&T then sued Verizon earlier this month, saying Verizon was misleading viewers by suggesting customers not connected to AT&T’s 3G network will not be able to use their mobile phones at all. A judge ruled in Verizon’s favor and the ads continue to run. Verizon then took aim at Apple’s iPhone in its TV ads, which sucked Apple into this war. My view: Verizon can beat AT&T, but won’t win this fight with Apple.

“Everyone is chasing Apple at this point,” says Ryan Jacob, who manages the Jacob Internet Fund, which owns Apple shares. “Apple does spend a lot on advertising and probably felt it was appropriate to respond.”

Apple’s ads, which began airing this week, are considerably more subtle than AT&T’s, which accuse Verizon of false advertising, wrote Fortune‘s Philip Elmer-DeWitt. Jared Newman of PC World wrote that Apple’s new iPhone ads, aimed at Verizon, are “actually good,” and the computer-maker takes the high-road in the battle. “Instead of flinging mud at Verizon, they demonstrate how the iPhone takes advantage of AT&T’s ability to place calls and use data at the same time,” he wrote. It’s the show, don’t tell, tactic. Rather than calling Verizon names, they simply show what their product can do.

AT&T continues to point left, hoping that folks won’t look right. I saw an AT&T ad Monday night on TV featuring actor Luke Wilson walking on a large map colored with areas with AT&T’s wireless coverage in the U.S. He’s throwing postcards around aimed at different U.S. cities in an effort to show all the places where AT&T has wireless coverage. I believe viewers understand they can make and receive AT&T wireless calls almost everywhere. No matter how often AT&T tries to distract us in their new ads, iPhone owners are fully aware of the limits of their 3G network.

Whether it’s Verizon’s Droid phone or Palm’s (PALM) Pre phone, sold by Sprint (S), Jacob, who manages $40 million, says, “They don’t reach the variety of what you get on an iPhone.” When the real iPhone killer phone goes on sale, there will be overwhelming buzz on tech blogs and by worried Apple fans. The phone company selling that handset won’t need to throw mud or spend many ad dollars to spread the word.

I have applauded AT&T telling us how it is improving its 3G network. The company should continue to beat that drum. Verizon, on the other hand, is clever to play to its strength of its more reliable 3G network, but not smart to think it can outfox Apple’s unlimited marketing budget.

Now, that seems to be exactly what is happening. AT&T (T) reported on Tuesday that it had spent $65 million upgrading its wireless network in San Francisco since 2008. The phone company said it upgraded about 850 cell sites because of the rising demand put on its network since the iPhone started selling two years ago. That’s good news to many iPhone users, whose phone has become synonymous with “dropped calls.”

Asif Suria, a software consultant for CleanFish in San Francisco, for example, says “There’s a spot just north of the San Francisco airport where the service goes dead.” A colleague of Suria’s, who has a 10-minute commute in the area, also has problems with her iPhone and laments how Verizon’s wireless service is better than AT&T’s. “I’m hoping it will get better,” Suria said. “I don’t think $65 million is a whole lot to spend on improvements. We’ll see.”

The news from AT&T is good in at least two ways. First, since the company started improving its network over the past two years, third generation (3G) data traffic in AT&T’s network in the San Francisco area has jumped 2000 percent, according to a company press release. That has generally given a service boost to people who live in places such as San Mateo and South San Francisco.

Second, AT&T’s efforts to communicate the steps it is taking helps shine a better light on the company, which is often criticized for being out of touch with its customers.

Axel Merk, president and chief investment officer at Merk Mutual Funds in Palo Alto, Calif., says he appreciates that AT&T is investing in its coverage in his area. “You should be able to be on a conference call for an hour without having the call dropped,” says Merk. “This is 2009, not 1987.” He’s amazed at the poor quality of cell phone service in the U.S. and mostly uses his mobile phone for email. Merk says he prefers using land-lines because call quality is better.

What about other parts of the country? I have similar experiences in New York City using my iPhone and can name specific blocks where calls not only drop, but coverage fails completely. AT&T is aware of these complaints. By telling customers that it is addressing the problems and working on the solutions, AT&T has a chance to save, or at least improve, its reputation.

The stock closed 18 percent higher Tuesday, rising $30.49 to $202.22, the highest close in nine years. Count Priceline.com among the Internet companies that rallied in 2009. In the past year, Priceline has outperformed Amazon.com (AMZN) shares, which are up 168 percent and shares of Google (GOOG), which has gained 78 percent in the past 12 months. I decided to find out what’s going on at the company, which is known for its business model of letting customers name their price for travel services and then seeing what they get at the price.

Priceline benefited from a stronger-than-expected summer travel season as more customers used Priceline’s booking.com web site to reserve hotel rooms in Europe. Unlike many of us here in the U.S., Europeans aren’t as willing to give up their vacations during difficult economic times. They take longer vacations and much of August off and Priceline benefited.

“Many of us went into the summer assuming there would be a severe travel slump,” said Benchmark analyst Fred Moran. “While there was a bit of softness in the U.S., Priceline saw strength from a very strong summer travel season in Europe for leisure travelers.”

Jeffery Boyd, CEO of Priceline, said on the company’s earnings conference call on Nov. 9 that “Overall industry growth rates improved in the third quarter (this year) due to weakening economic conditions in the third quarter of 2008.” Moran and Boyd said the company also benefited from charging fewer online booking fees, leading to price-conscious consumers booking more trips. Travel isn’t making a comeback, Moran explained. What is surging are the number of travelers looking to save money.

James Cakmak, an analyst at Sidoti & Co. in New York, said Priceline has been expanding its presence across Europe and Asia. Booking.com is Priceline’s main destination for European customers and agoda.com is its primary Web site in Asia.

“Priceline dominates the European market and will benefit as more customers use travel sites,” Cakmak said. “As economies recover in the U.S. and around the world, fewer travelers may take the time to hunt for discounts before booking their trips,” Cakmak cautioned investors. That said, Priceline’s international growth should outweigh any slowdown in name-your-own-price travel when the U.S. economy improves.

Cakmak raised his price target to $229 on Priceline’s shares, from $221, while Moran, who has a buy rating on Priceline shares, raised his price target to $253, from $200 a share, because he expects higher earnings for the online travel company.

Priceline benefits when extra sales are booked, Moran said, because its websites and infrastructure are already built. “As much as anyone on the Internet, as the economic environment gets better, Priceline will reap the rewards,” he said. Priceline offers lower-than-retail-prices on hotel rooms, rental cars and flights and cruises.

My sister, who travels often for work, recommended I give Priceline a try this past summer. Who knew it was a trend among travelers? I thought the company was growing old, like its aging spokesman William Shatner. (He’s 78. Trekkies, that’s old.) Furthermore, who knew that the trend would point investors to an Internet stock that was beating shares of Internet giants Google and Amazon?

And the signs look good. The estimated earnings growth rate for the Standard & Poor’s 500 during the fourth quarter is 216 percent, according to Thomson Reuters. Even stripping out the volatile financial sector, the other eight out of nine sectors are expected to show a blended growth rate of 7 percent. But that’s still double the 3.5 percent economic growth of the U.S. economy in the third quarter. And Mezrich says it’s the fact that profit growth is outpacing the U.S. economy that stocks have rallied ahead of an economic recovery.

“Earnings are growing far, far faster than the economy,” says Mezrich, speaking to reporters at the Nomura offices in New York on Thursday. “You saw it in 2002, you saw it in 1991 and you’re probably seeing that now.” Earnings growth typically follows an economic recession. And the current situation sure supports that recent trend.

Seeing stocks recover losses is what’s being being experience by major investors, who are betting that the economic recovery taking shape in the U.S. will be much stronger than is widely believed, DailyFinance’s Vishesh Kumar wrote Thursday. The growing bullishness among major investors follows a wave of optimistic economic data that suggests prior views of a muted recovery might be far too gloomy.

“Profits will grow faster than the economy,” says Mezrich, who joined Nomura in 2006 and previously worked at UBS and Morgan Stanley. “The real question on how to gauge the performance of stocks is how profits will perform.” Mezrich typically looks at systematic factors such as momentum, value and risk to explain market movements.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 53 percent, while the the S&P 500 is up 58 percent through the close of trading Thursday since the market hit its lows in March. “The March 9 rally was about risk coming out of the market,” Mezrich says. “This has been extremely painful for many people. The market is coming back and likely will continue coming back.”

Investors should be enthused if they look back on the last recession and recovery in 2002 and 2003, he says. “It took about a year for that to turn around, but there was extraordinary profit growth.”

Profits were suppressed during the economic downturn, which is similar to what has gone on in the U.S. economy in the past 18 months. “This is a positive backdrop for when profits matter,” Mezrich says. “We’re maybe not yet there yet, because it’s still all about risk.”

That may irk AT&T, but the company does not dispute Verizon’s larger 3G coverage. But it is suing Verizon for highlighting its spotty coverage in a misleading manner. In Verizon’s ads, the maps display blank space in AT&T’s coverage area. The intent, according to Verizon, is to show where AT&T lacks 3G coverage. But AT&T claims the ads imply that AT&T provides no coverage at all in those areas.

I would argue that viewers are intelligent enough to know what Verizon means. I would further argue that by suing Verizon, the damage to AT&T is greater than the effects of any negative Verizon advertisement. Not only does the lawsuit draw attention to AT&T’s lack of 3G coverage, but its lack of a backbone too. Instead of trying to do damage control and prevent others from pointing out its flaws, AT&T should just solve the problem.

Walking home last night in New York City, I stopped at AT&T and Verizon stores to ask if the “There’s a map for that,” ads were having much impact. I spoke with a Verizon store manager, who wished to remain anonymous. He said the in-store map illustrating Verizon’s larger coverage is quite effective when selling phones, but no customers had mentioned the Verizon’s TV ads. At AT&T, the store owner, who also didn’t want to be identified, said he was aware of the TV ads, but said “it’s just a commercial.” No customers have talked about it. “The iPhone is the iPhone,” he said. “It sells itself.”

Mark Siegel, AT&T spokesman in Atlanta, said consumers don’t understand the blank space in the ads. “They don’t see it as no 3G coverage, they see it as no coverage at all,” he said in a phone interview. “That’s misleading and that’s why we’ve take the action we have.” Consumers are used to being told that blank areas on wireless maps mean no coverage, he said. Verizon spokesman Jim Gerace countered Siegel’s remarks telling DailyFinance, “This suit that AT&T filed is goofy. We clearly state in the ad that voice and data service is available outside of the 3G coverage area, which is their concern.”

By tackling Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon and Britain’s Vodafone, AT&T is sacking its rival when it should be beefing up its 3G network. If AT&T could fill those blank-map-gaps with wider 3G coverage, then Verizon would have little argument. AT&T is drawing more attention to its smaller-than-Verizon’s 3G network and more people are hearing that it’s slower too, from folks who use iPhones.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, in an interview with DailyFinance on July 23, told me that AT&T’s “data network behaves differently with the load of demand [from iPhone users] that’s being put on the network.” IPhone users have complained about the lack of 3G coverage and the slow speed while surfing the Web on their phones, not to mention dropped calls. In July, I asked Stephenson about the anger from iPhone users about AT&T’s poor network quality. He said he puts the network to the most drastic tests possible when he travels to large cities like New York and Los Angeles. He “abuses” his phone as much as he can, with Web surfing, app using, and e-mailing — “I beat those phones up,” he said. When there’s a problem, he calls his service-support team and gets them to fix it. “I’m on it like a hawk,” he told DailyFinance.

If he’s on it like a hawk, then AT&T should be telling us three-plus months later about solutions and improvements it has made to its network, not trotting out some half-baked lawsuit that ironically draws attention to the company’s still-sparse 3G coverage.

How about an announcement telling customers how AT&T has been working with Apple to help boost the quality of iPhone service? Heck, if Stephenson would say, “We’re still working on it, sorry we have nothing new to report,” that would be welcome news to many iPhone users, who are loyal to their phones in spite of being tethered to AT&T’s slow service. Simply telling folks they haven’t lost their focus on the problem, would be enough for many.

Instead, AT&T insults its customers with this third-grade-level lawsuit of “Verizon hit me first.” Please.

Back in July, I told Stephenson that I owned an iPhone and that I don’t recommend it to friends because the network quality can to often be poor. Add this silly lawsuit to the list of reasons I’d tell people to stay away from the iPhone until it works on a network besides AT&T’s.

During that time, Amazon’s stock was volatile, racing higher through price targets set by the likes of former Wall Street analyst Henry Blodget, and then reeling through declines of more than 50 percent as investors and analysts doubted its ability to grow. Last week, the stock reached a record-high after reporting earnings. Has Amazon finally convinced naysayers it’s here to stay?

More analysts and investors this week are saying yes. Amazon increased product choices while keeping inventory low and without losing its focus on superior customer service. A bonus is Amazon’s ideological leader, CEO Jeff Bezos, who, like Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs and Google (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt, serves as a chief motivator.

Amazon CFO Thomas Szkutak said worldwide sales were up 28 percent over last year, to $5.45 billion, for the most recent quarter. It spent 2.6 percent of its revenue on marketing itself as a one-stop online shop. Its inexpensive shipping costs have led to customers to expect cheap or free shipping, which eliminates a main hurdle for getting consumers to shop online.

James Mitchell, a Goldman Sachs analyst, asked Szkutak during Amazon’s earnings call last week about North American sales, up 23 percent to $2.84 billion from a year ago. Szkutak said customers buying more in each order boosted sales in the most recent quarter. He also pointed out that Amazon has $4 billion in cash, which gives it a solid foundation and shows that it’s building muscle.

“Amazon weathered the economic downturn better than traditional retailers,” said Benchmark analyst Fred Moran. “As those traditional retailers struggled, Amazon gained share.” Moran last week upgraded Amazon shares to buy from hold, and set a 12-month price target of $143 a share. “In the midst of a tough retail environment, and while consumers have been challenged, Amazon has grown, and now that we’re seeing some consumer relief, Amazon continues becoming more dominant,” Moran says.

For Amazon, success has led to more success. The larger the company grows, the more customers it attracts. There were many doubters, but it has built the default online mall. Amazon’s not merely succeeding — it has proved it’s here to stay.

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said that Apple recently finished its “most profitable quarter ever,” selling more iPhones and Macs than in any previous quarter. Interestingly, while retail prices have been cut on many products, the average selling price for those products has risen. How is Apple doing it?

“Apple is one of the few companies that continues to see consumers buy up the food chain, as opposed to buy down,” says Brian Marshall, technology analyst at Broadpoint AmTech in San Francisco. “It happened in every single one of their product categories. Despite the fact that they’re bringing down prices for their computers, iPods and iPhones, their average selling price continues to go up.”

The company sold 3.05 million Macs in the third quarter, up 17 percent over last year, and 7.4 million iPhones, up seven percent, Oppenheimer said on a company conference call this week. Apple sold just 10.2 million iPods, down from 11 million a year ago — but half of those sales were first-time iPod buyers, he said.

Analysts say that customers may visit an Apple Store or Best Buy (BBY) intending to buy an iPod shuffle and walk out with a more expensive iPod Nano, or plan to buy a Nano and then spring for the pricier iPod Touch. Mac buyers may think they want a $999 MacBook but then decide to spend $200 more for the sleeker aluminum model. “When Apple cut prices on the 3G to $99, I thought that was going to be huge,” Marshall says. “In fact, what we saw in the average selling price for the quarter is that many customers wound up buying the high-end $299 iPhone.”

I liken it to car shopping. Shoppers often splurge for upgrades, such as a better stereo, after deciding on a particular make and model. The extras come after the initial sticker-shock and the eventual decision to buy.

As the U.S. recovers from this recession, Nomura economist Paul Sheard says, consumers will tend to withhold spending until they see more positive signals that the economy is recovering, or see other consumers spending more. Apple may be the only exception to this rule.

Marshall had forecast an average iPhone selling price of $530, less than Apple’s report of more than $600; he has a buy rating on Apple’s shares and a 12-month price target of $235.

The higher average selling price, Apple says, is due in part to a boost in iPhone 3G S sales. “Average selling prices were also up for the Mac portable [laptops] as more customers bought the MacBook Pros,” which are more expensive, Apple’s statement said. Both the iPhone 3G S and MacBook Pros are among the more expensive products in their categories. Sales of the iPod Touch, the most expensive iPod in the line, are up 100 percent versus the same quarter a year ago, CFO Oppenheimer said on this week’s call.

So be careful when you walk into an Apple store. If you’re like the rest of us, you may find that you’re powerless to resist the charms of its more expensive products — and that you spend more than you meant to.