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On Succeeding Steve Jobs

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Re: On Succeeding Steve Jobs

#71

Post by michaelpinto »

I hate all of this talk because it's disrespectful to the man who has given his all and is very much present (and a man who certainly reads the Wall Street Journal). It's interesting to note that prior to this meme of "who an replace Jobs" the #1 meme was always "when is Apple going to die?" For my money on both accounts you'd be foolish to write off Steve Jobs until the fat lady sings.

The fact of the matter is that Steve Jobs on "medical leave" is doing a much better job of managing Apple than quite a few other tech companies where the CEO shows up each day and is in perfect health.

Re: On Succeeding Steve Jobs

#72

Post by econgeeker »

kenjackson wrote: post #67
Steko wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jobs can be replaced, he's not some magical being, he's a person making decisions and he isn't doing it all by himself. He probably won't be replaced (at least not completely by one person) but -- and this again ties back to the Apple University effort -- it will be even more impressive if the crux of what makes Jobs/Apple great is successfully imprinted on dozens or hundreds of Apple execs and engineers.

Jobs actually is sort of magical, at least at Apple. One thing Jobs has that will be hard to replicate is that fact that he's Steve Jobs. His decision is final and adored. Forstall or Cook won't try an end run to try to make something happen and hope that with enough corporate backing they can put Jobs's back against the wall. Won't happen. With any other CEO it could. It's not just the decisions that Jobs makes that…

You're correct, but I think this also is why it needs to be Cook.

Essentially, Apple is a one product company. That product is "the mac". The "mac" comes in the form of a combination of software and hardware. OS X on Macintoshes is the past, iOS on iDevices is the future. All of that is Forstall (if I'm understanding things right.) And even then, the hardware is merely the box for the software. They make a very great box.

But Forstall is the "new jobs" in that regard. Ive can demand that it have fewer buttons, and Schiller can demand that marketing be on message, and Forstall has to listen to them, and if he doesn't then Cook should have their backs. Cook is thus well placed to be the "vision guy" (and yes, I think that is a legitimate description and that he'd be just as good as jobs at it) whose got his finger on the daily operations but also is looking 5, 10 & 15 years into the future.

Apple University is the glue that holds these four guys together and keeps them on the same page. Plus, of course, The Writings of The Chairman from Jobs over the years.

In fact, I would bet good money that there literally is a book within Apple, that probably only has a dozen or fewer copies, written by Jobs about the Apple Way and presenting his vision for the Apple Way. In a way, his living will to the future.

I think this book is Apple's equivalent to Cokes "secret formula", only Apple doesn't trumpet that they have a secret formula, they keep even the existence of it secret.

Re: On Succeeding Steve Jobs

#73

Post by technoslut »

emehrkay wrote: post #65
statictype wrote: post #60

Beloved within Apple, but he’s been out of the game for decades, and, let’s face it, is a bit of a flake. What makes him a flake?

I would assume that he called him a flake because Woz openly praises "the competition."

Flake may be too strong of a word but Woz is a little odd. It's not that he praises the competition but that he doesn't seem to be aware of the potential media storm that follows it. He also mentions that he only carries hundreds and advertises his whereabouts on Twitter. Then there is the painful appearance on Dancing with the Stars. It just wouldn't be the way a potential CEO would act.

Re: On Succeeding Steve Jobs

#74

Post by jrscot »

megablast wrote: post #62
joebadmo wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems to me that the post doesn't fully address the most important fact: "He cannot be replaced..." Gruber takes the paragraph to points about what Jobs' absence will do to the stock, and then takes the rest of the post to talk about the sourcing of the story and who might eventually replace him, but those strike me as ancillary issues at best. Jobs can't really be replaced, can he? Certainly Apple will continue to m…

Jobs can't be replaced, what more needs to be said about it? Apple will continue, and we need to look at what happens when he does leave.

Jobs probably won't be replaced

Re: On Succeeding Steve Jobs

#75

Post by 6ren »

econgeeker wrote: post #72
kenjackson wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jobs actually is sort of magical, at least at Apple. One thing Jobs has that will be hard to replicate is that fact that he's Steve Jobs. His decision is final and adored. Forstall or Cook won't try an end run to try to make something happen and hope that with enough corporate backing they can put Jobs's back against the wall. Won't happen. With any other CEO it could. It's not just the decisions that Jobs makes that…

You're correct, but I think this also is why it needs to be Cook. Essentially, Apple is a one product company. That product is "the mac". The "mac" comes in the form of a combination of software and hardware. OS X on Macintoshes is the past, iOS on iDevices is the future. All of that is Forstall (if I'm understanding things right.) And even then, the hardware is merely the box for the software. They make a very great…

> Apple is a one product company

It depends on your definition of "product", but most would classify the iPhone as a different category of product from a mac, not just a different product. As different as a minicomputer is from a desktop. I think before long we'll see Apple launch yet another new category.

Even if we forget the special talents of Steve Jobs, most companies go downhill without their founder/s. Probably HP most famously. It's partly that others lack the unique clout of founder, as kenjackson says. In addition, founders tend to be insightful, energetic and bold (else they couldn't have succeeded as founders). Employees generally don't have that crazy extreme fire, or they'd be founders themselves.

But Jobs is unique beyond that, because it's rare for even founders to create more than one dominating industry. Jobs has done it with the Apple IIe, iPod, iPhone and iPad. It's that he can see what's important; and can make it happen.

I think his design talent/taste is in addition to this, and while yet another unique talent in its own right (and related), is not quite as important.

Re: On Succeeding Steve Jobs

#76

Post by protomyth »

joebadmo wrote: post #52
mortenjorck wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Jobs has really, truly done it right this time, he won't need to be replaced. Cook, Forstall, Ive, and Schiller are obviously people he trusts with his life's work. Time will tell how good his choice of stewards was, but given that he learned the hard way nearly three decades ago, I'd say the odds are in his favor.

I mean, yeah, I get that that's the hope, but I'm not sure I buy the idea that a collection of individuals even as talented and capable as those can really replace someone with as singular a vision and fierce a personality as Jobs. I'm sure they'll be able to run the company, but I just don't see Apple maintaining its place as market-inventing thought-leader, or at least not to the same degree.

Listen to Cook or Ive when they talk in public, they have the vision.

Re: On Succeeding Steve Jobs

#77

Post by podperson »

podperson wrote: post #49
igorgue wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMHO there is a big difference between Apple and Microsoft, Bill Gates was surrounded by suits, Steve Jobs is surrounded by Engineers and Designers... I like all the guys that surround Jobs, Philip Schiller, Scott Forstall, Jonathan Ivy even Bob Mansfield are a good candidates, there is no reason why Apple should look elsewhere for CEO candidates.

Minor quibble: Gates was surrounded by suits and lawyers. The Microsoft empire was built on having a better understanding of IP law and licensing than pretty much anyone else at the time. One of Jobs's much underrated talents was (and presumably still is) supply chain negotiation -- Apple's first billion came from a combination of brilliant negotiation (getting floppy drive mechanisms at an incredible price) and engi…

Correction to the previous post -- I should have said ENGINEERS and lawyers.

Re: On Succeeding Steve Jobs

#78

Post by podperson »

shaggyfrog wrote: post #68
podperson wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gruber's dismissal of Ive as a candidate is pretty solidly based. I don't think Ive has even appeared in a speaking role in a keynote. I just don't think it's his kind of gig (and why should it be?)

Ive has certainly made appearances during keynote speeches before. Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JLjldgjuKI&t=0m25s This idea that Steve can't possibly share the spotlight with Ive is absurd.

Not saying he can't possibly share the spotlight, but that Ive is not extroverted. (Tim Cook isn't a keynote kind of guy either for that matter.) Scott Forstall is pretty good in keynotes.

It reminds me a bit of "Tactics of Mistake" -- an old SF novel by Gordon Dickson. No ONE person can replace Steve, but maybe two or three can.

Re: On Succeeding Steve Jobs

#79

Post by podperson »

shaggyfrog wrote: post #68
podperson wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gruber's dismissal of Ive as a candidate is pretty solidly based. I don't think Ive has even appeared in a speaking role in a keynote. I just don't think it's his kind of gig (and why should it be?)

Ive has certainly made appearances during keynote speeches before. Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JLjldgjuKI&t=0m25s This idea that Steve can't possibly share the spotlight with Ive is absurd.

Not saying he can't possibly share the spotlight, but that Ive is not extroverted. (Tim Cook isn't a keynote kind of guy either for that matter.) Scott Forstall is pretty good in keynotes.

It reminds me a bit of "Tactics of Mistake" -- an old SF novel by Gordon Dickson. No ONE person can replace Steve, but maybe two or three can.

Re: On Succeeding Steve Jobs

#80

Post by palish »

jonnathanson wrote: post #24

Cook was palatable to both Wall Street and Apple employees while SJ was on medical leave. IMO, he's passed the test already. Everyone was willing to accept him then, back when there was serious doubt about whether Jobs would return after his leave. So there's no reason why they wouldn't be willing to accept him in a genuine succession event.

I'm amused. I'm going to call "death" a "succession event" from now on.
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