Apple CEO Steve Jobs kicked off the usual media frenzy yesterday, but not by announcing a new product. Instead, Jobs announced his resignation from the position of CEO. Though Jobs will continue to serve as chairman of the board for Apple, the move represents the end of an era. Jobs became known in particular for his ferocious commitment to design. Over the years at Technology Review, we're featured a number of hacks inside key Apple products. What we always found when we opened Apple devices up is that the minimalist, ordered look the company favors goes far more than skin deep. The inside of an iPad, for example, is every bit as exacting and perfectly ordered as its exterior—and hard to coax into unintended uses. The following shows three classic hacks:

The Apple I (See Interactive)

The iPhone (See Interactive)

The iPad 3G (See Interactive)

"Two turkeys do not make an Eagle"

So tweeted Google VP Vic Gundotra earlier this week, casting judgment on what was then just a widespread rumor but was today confirmed: Finnish phone maker Nokia will be teaming up with Microsoft to take on the smart phone market. Nokia's storied mobile operating system, Symbian, will be scrapped and Nokia handsets will be built around Windows Phone 7 instead.

Despite generally good reviews, Microsoft's new assault on the phone market hasn't taken off as they or handset makers had hoped. And Nokia, which remains the world's largest phone maker, has failed to come up with a smart phone capable of competing with Android handsets or the iPhone.

It's too early to know what kind of devices the new pairing will come up with. But Engadget reports Nokia saying they will be aimed at the very top of the market: they're trying to create gadgets that steal the thunder of the iPhone and the most powerful Android handsets.

The end result, said Nokia chief executive, Stephen Elop, is that the smart phone market would now be a "three horse race."

In fact, choosing a new smart phone may be about to get even more complex: Intel and HP are in this race too.

Nokia may have now picked Windows, but in the last two years it had been working with Intel on the MeeGo mobile OS, designed to run on everything from phones to tablets to TVs. Intel now says it will go it alone and that MeeGo devices are still coming. And just two days ago HP refreshed its WebOS software for mobile devices, showing off a tablet and two phones that use the platform.

However, if the iPhone has taught us anything it is that success requires more than phones with good hardware and software, points out ubiqui-blogger Robert Scoble:

"Nothing matters in this world more than apps...HP execs know this. Google's execs know this. Everyone in Silicon Valley knows this. Apps are the ONLY thing that matters now."

Scoble thinks that the combination of Nokia's established ability to make good hardware with Microsoft's operating system might tempt app makers enough to see the new partnership succeed.

Today's announcements from the two main actors have been largely directed at the tech industry, investors and the business press. Expect the focus to shift to app developers and consumers - arguably the two groups most able to make or break this new effort - as Nokia and Microsoft try to make their strategy stick.

The Library of Congress made several rulings today that reinforce the rights of people who experiment with software and hardware.

The rulings define exceptions the the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which includes prohibitions against circumventing software designed to lock particular content or software so they can't be copied or modified by users. These particular exceptions were requested by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for digital civil liberties.

Perhaps most significantly, the Library of Congress ruled that users can "jailbreak" their iPhones--allowing the phone to run software that hasn't been approved by Apple. Another ruling protects consumers' right to unlock their phones so that they can operate on a network other than that of the carrier who originally sold the device. The third ruling protected the rights of artists who circumvent anti-pirating software in order to extract samples from DVDs for use in remixes. All three of these cases were deemed examples of fair use.

The rulings illustrate just how strange copyright law has become in the digital age. Of all the reasons Apple could give to prohibit jailbreaking iPhones, copyright law is far from the most obvious. Nevertheless, the company argued that jailbreaking iPhones violates its copyright on its operating system, since the modified phones use a modified version of that operating system.

It's increasingly common for companies and users to battle over how devices, software, and content can be used. That technical battle will continue regardless of the ruling, but it's good to see that some of the legal prohibitions have been eased.