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The news of Steve Jobs taking a medical leave of absence has rocked the blogosphere and the stock market. First, this shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone who knows anything about cancer, especially the kind he has. Second, it highlights the risk of hiring or developing a rock star CEO. While any executive of Steve Jobs' stature temporarily or permanently leaving a company is traumatic, I think it could have been different in this case and less "newsworthy".

Tough economic times and startups have at least one thing in common - you need character and determination to survive. Character is what it takes to win, to believe and to persuade others. It's a mix of passion, determination, sleepless hours, hard work. Character is about crossing the finish line, about achieving dreams and goals.

While there are inborn traits that help to develop character, often character comes from inspiration. Ask any enterprenuer about who set the bar for them and you will hear the name of another enterprenuer, a historical figure, a writer, even a fictional character. So in this post, we look at five very different books that share a common theme - remarkable people.

Inside Steve's Brain, a book about Steve Jobs written by Leander Kahney, is a fascinating look at the thought processes and inspiration behind Apple's products and branding. It has a particular and much welcome focus on the current era - iPod/iTunes, the latest iMacs, the Apple Store and more. The central theme of the book is that much of Apple's success can be attributed to the personality traits of co-founder and current CEO Steve Jobs.

Microsoft and Adobe today announced that Adobe Flash Player Lite and Reader LE software would be shipping on Windows Mobile (neither company has indicated when). This is somewhat surprising given Microsoft's desire to see their Flash competitor Silverlight succeed, but it is also a good move for both companies.

Probably the most anticipated announcement that Apple CEO Steve Jobs made at the annual Macworld expo this morning was that of the MacBook Air: a 13.3", LED backlit notebook computer that pushes the concept of "thin" to its boundaries. But the one that Jobs spent the most time on, and seemed the most excited about, was the announcement of the iTunes Movie Rentals store in conjunction with the revamp of his maybe-no-longer-a-hobby-project Apple TV.