For the actor, see John Rubinstein.
Jonathan J Rubinstein (born 1956) is an American computer scientist and electrical engineer who was instrumental in the creation of the iPod, the portable music and video device first sold by Apple Computer Inc. in 2001. He was also responsible for the development of Apple's iMac line. He has been elected to serve as a member of the National Academy of Engineering and is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
In October 2005, Rubinstein announced plans to retire from his position as senior vice president of the Apple's iPod division. He left the company on April 14, 2006 and is now set to become executive chairman of the board at Palm, Inc. after private-equity firm Elevation Partners completes a significant investment in the handheld manufacturer, announced June 11th, 2007.

Early years and education
After graduate school, Rubinstein took a job with Hewlett-Packard in Colorado. He spent about two years in the company's manufacturing engineering division, developing quality-control techniques and refining manufacturing processes. Later, Rubinstein worked on HP workstations.
Rubinstein left HP in 1986 to join a startup, Ardent Computer Corp., in Silicon Valley. While at Ardent, later renamed Stardent, he played an integral role in launching a pair of machines, the Titan Graphics Supercomputer and the Stardent 3000 Graphics Supercomputer.

Early career
In 1990, iconic Apple co-founder Steve Jobs approached Rubinstein to run hardware engineering at his latest venture, NeXT Inc. Rubinstein headed work on NeXT's PowerPC workstation – a graphics powerhouse that was never released because the company abandoned the unforgiving margins of the hardware business in favor of a software-only approach.
After helping to dismantle NeXT's manufacturing operations, Rubinstein went on to start another company, Power House Systems Inc. That company, later renamed Firepower Systems Inc., was backed by Canon Inc. and used technology developed at NeXT. It developed and built high-end systems using the PowerPC chip. Motorola bought the business in 1996.

Developing the iPod
Member, National Academy of Engineering
Senior Member, IEEE
Director, Immersion Corp.
Member, Cornell Alumni Council
Member, Cornell Silicon Valley Advisors
Fellow, World Technology Network
Member, Consumer Electronics Association Board of Industry Leaders