dr emulator (madmax)
08-26-2011, 09:21 AM
Can Apple survive without Steve Jobs?
Steve Jobs has resigned as Apple CEO and been replaced by the company's chief operating officer Tim Cook. In a resignation letter, Jobs, who has been on a medical leave of absence since January this year, said he could no longer carry out his duties.
The 56-year-old founded Apple in 1976 and is widely seen as the company's creative dynamo. He will remain at Cupertino as non-executive chairman.
In his resignation letter, Jobs said: "I believe Apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role."
The last time Jobs left Apple - under acrimonious circumstances in 1985 - the company went to the brink of bankruptcy. Jobs's return in 1997 heralded the era of iPod, iPhone and iPad products that have helped Apple to become the biggest company in the US. Commentators wonder whether Apple can continue its huge success without Jobs.
"Forceful bosses whose personalities shape everything about their businesses are going out of fashion these days, for good reason many would say," writes the BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones.
"But Steve Jobs is a rare example of a chief executive who is synonymous with his company, a perfectionist who obsesses over every detail and has been the public face of just about every major product launch in the past decade."
As an example of Jobs's style, Steve Lohr, in the New York Times, remembers when a journalist asked the Apple boss what market research went in to the iPad. Jobs replied: "None. It's not the consumers' job to know what they want."
So what does the future hold for an Apple without such a forceful personality at the helm? "The good news for Apple is that the product road map in this industry is pretty much in place two and three years out," David B. Yoffie, a professor at the Harvard Business School, tells Lohr. "So 80 to 90 per cent of what would happen in that time would be the same, even without Steve."
The real question, he says, is what happens after that road map runs out. Chris O'Brien in the San Jose Mercury outlines two possible futures: "One view holds that Jobs has built a deep bench of executive talent that will keep a steady hand on the rudder.
"The counter view is that following its decade-long reinvention, Apple is so optimised to serve Jobs that it is doomed to falter under anyone else's leadership."
source (http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/can-apple-survive-without-steve-jobs-1)
Steve Jobs has resigned as Apple CEO and been replaced by the company's chief operating officer Tim Cook. In a resignation letter, Jobs, who has been on a medical leave of absence since January this year, said he could no longer carry out his duties.
The 56-year-old founded Apple in 1976 and is widely seen as the company's creative dynamo. He will remain at Cupertino as non-executive chairman.
In his resignation letter, Jobs said: "I believe Apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role."
The last time Jobs left Apple - under acrimonious circumstances in 1985 - the company went to the brink of bankruptcy. Jobs's return in 1997 heralded the era of iPod, iPhone and iPad products that have helped Apple to become the biggest company in the US. Commentators wonder whether Apple can continue its huge success without Jobs.
"Forceful bosses whose personalities shape everything about their businesses are going out of fashion these days, for good reason many would say," writes the BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones.
"But Steve Jobs is a rare example of a chief executive who is synonymous with his company, a perfectionist who obsesses over every detail and has been the public face of just about every major product launch in the past decade."
As an example of Jobs's style, Steve Lohr, in the New York Times, remembers when a journalist asked the Apple boss what market research went in to the iPad. Jobs replied: "None. It's not the consumers' job to know what they want."
So what does the future hold for an Apple without such a forceful personality at the helm? "The good news for Apple is that the product road map in this industry is pretty much in place two and three years out," David B. Yoffie, a professor at the Harvard Business School, tells Lohr. "So 80 to 90 per cent of what would happen in that time would be the same, even without Steve."
The real question, he says, is what happens after that road map runs out. Chris O'Brien in the San Jose Mercury outlines two possible futures: "One view holds that Jobs has built a deep bench of executive talent that will keep a steady hand on the rudder.
"The counter view is that following its decade-long reinvention, Apple is so optimised to serve Jobs that it is doomed to falter under anyone else's leadership."
source (http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/can-apple-survive-without-steve-jobs-1)