Focus Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44264089/ns/business-us_business/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44264089/ns ... _business/</a> There aren't many CEOs I'd consider more vital to a company than Jobs. Apple IS Jobs. Apple's brand is so unique, I really find it hard for anyone able to inspire technically and creatively as Steve Jobs has. EDIT:
Re: Time to find another Jobs Maybe now you'll be able to buy an apple product with a fucking button or two.
Re: Time to find another Jobs Everything I've read about him indicates he was a micromanaging, egotistical dick. Will be interesting to see what direction the company moves in now that he's gone.
Re: Time to find another Jobs I don't know how accurate Pirates of Silicon Valley was, but he definitely seems like a massive prick. Hell, getting fired used to be called getting "Steved" in the early Apple days. That being said, during his original absence, Apple made shit products and his return turned the company around to what it is today. You can also credit him with the spearheading the direction of consumer tech. So, though he may be a dick, there will be a void without him.
Re: Time to find another Jobs I think people are generally exaggerating how disastrous his departure will be, as his actual design role isn't huge on a day-to-day basis. Sure, maybe he has a more hands-on role than your average CEO, but it's not Jobs actually designed the iPod or iPhone. The people taking up the helm have been at Apple for a long time, and have been working under Jobs for pretty much his entire second tenure. Tim Cook knows what he's doing. The ship's still very much afloat. Then again, I also think the impact of CEOs is massively overestimated. We like to pinpoint company's success on a single person, when they're typically more like a larger-than-average cog in a very large machine. It makes a nicer narrative to imagine superstar CEOs ruling over business the way Michael Jordan does a basketball court.
Re: Time to find another Jobs A good CEO steers the direction of the company. Jobs is without a doubt responsible for getting Apple headed in the right direction before the right direction was obvious. I think little changes with his departure so long as the division heads don't go crazy trying to change things just to get their own "stamp" on whatever widget, gadget, service they're in charge of. It seems very unlikely that the next big push will be for an iPod blender or other silly contraption.
Re: Time to find another Jobs Early on, when Jobs and Woz founded Apple, Steve was a freak. He'd show up to meetings with potential customers barefoot, not shower for a week, and on and on. But he had a just as crazy obsession for what his product was going to look like; form over function and cost. Even the first Apple computer that was released had a colour Apple logo on it, rather than a single colour, easier/cheaper one... and the argument that made that happen almost killed the company. To this day, the design team at Apple is one of the most powerful, and have almost blanket veto power over decisions that are made. I tend to think that he had some great insight into what consumers would like, but he's also had some serious fuck ups. It's no secret that he's been quite sick for a while now, and has had less and less to do with the daily operations of the show than most people realize. They've been grooming his replacement for years, and I don't think he'll have any problem stepping into Jobs shoes. I think Apple will do just fine.
Re: Time to find another Jobs Apple will be fine, especially with him as Chairman, though I can't help but be reminded of Jack Layton and his leave of the NDP.
Re: Time to find another Jobs I dunno. If you compare the Sculley-Apple to the Jobs-Apple, I'd say his impact was pretty phenomenal. And CEO impact isn't always a positive measure. Plenty have led their companies down the road of ruin (Eckhard Pfeiffer of Compaq, William Seawell of Pan Am, Ken Lay of Enron, to name a few). As for him being a massive prick, it's his company and his vision. I'm sure Oprah's donned the "bitch hat" with her company, too. Not too many nice guys hang around the C-suite.
Re: Time to find another Jobs Apple was going down the shitter before Jobs came back. Now, they're one of the biggest companies in the world again. I'm not sure about how crazy or mean the guy is, but he knows his business. Hopefully the next CEO knows his, because he's got some big shoes to fill.
Re: Time to find another Jobs I think that Jobs has done enough for the company, and this is actually a decent time for him to step out of his role. In terms of innovation, as devices and the software are concerned, where are they going next? iPod 5, iPad 3, Liger--they're all future generations of the groundwork that he laid. His role as the builder of Apple as we know it is pretty complete, so I can totally understand why he would see this as a good time for a transition and begin letting someone else take the company into the future using the very sound foundation he constructed. As far as the future of the company is concerned, the people who are there are there for a reason. They've been kept around because they know what they're doing and, moreover, I think they know how to position the company to secure its future.
Re: Time to find another Jobs The person that will be taking over is a man named Tim Cook. Tim Cook was fill-in CEO for Steve around the time the iPhone 4 came out. During that period of time, when most companies were losing profits - Apple gained a profit. Tim Cook has the same passion, drive, and ideas that Steve has. People who believe that Steve Jobs is the ONLY person involved in the company is simply a fool. Yes, while the company made a turn around when Steve came back, do you not think that he made sure that whoever had a say in the company would be hand picked by him? He has built a team and company that will last long after he is gone. If there's anything I've learned, is that Steve had a way to inspire his employees. And just a sidenote: He's not a dick; I've met him. VERY nice person. He's all about business and keeps to himself when on the Apple campus, but in person, he's very delightful.
Re: Time to find another Jobs What Jobs did wasn't a revolution of technology or product, but brand. Many companies put out products way better than Apple for cheaper (and much, much, much less infuriating to use), but the blind loyalty Jobs created drove their company to unthought of heights. I still haven't decided if that's a compliment for Jobs, or an insult to people, or both.
Re: Time to find another Jobs I'm sorry, this is just wrong. -CEO's aren't paid in stock options because they're a cog in a machine. They operate the machine. Leadership reverts back to an individual and the board is not handling day-to-day operations, the very core of a business. -Michael Jordan didn't blow up until he learned to utilize the team, much a like a CEO. CEO's don't run around, involved in every aspect of the business. They are the single, most vital component so Jobs departure can be seen as a threat to the company.
Re: Time to find another Jobs Apple is fast approaching to becoming the first ever trillion dollar corporation. They'll be fine. Jobs, eccentric as he was from time to time was the Businessman Par Excellence in a generation that demanded vanity. Numbers don't lie, the man is a marketing god. I don't get why people hate him. Yeah, I hate his douchey theatre-grade stagehand black turtlenecks, but I've never really seen they guy act like a prick even once. You have that much money, fame, and Yes Men tailing you around and not have a little ego at least. He's earned it.
Re: Time to find another Jobs This saddens me. They don't produce anything NECESSARY to life. For fucks sake, Exxon Mobil produces the fuel that drives every bit of the world economy, Apple produces nifty toys.
Re: Time to find another Jobs So, does this make the rumors of him having AIDS more or less credible?
Re: Time to find another Jobs I actually find it hopeful. Hopefully, the companies that produce things necessary to life aren't charging the obscene prices demanded by Apple. When companies that produce essentials start earning serious profits and power, you end up with Monsanto.
Re: Time to find another Jobs That's the problem with Apple hardware, you can't just replace the pancreas; you have to buy a whole new CEO.