No Jobs, No Apple?
Thursday, January 15th, 2009 | Computer
It’s official: Steve Jobs is stepping down–temporarily–from his post at Apple Computer, taking a medical leave of absence to deal with a health problem that has turned out to be “more complex” than the celebrity CEO had originally disclosed prior to the Macworld Expo event earlier this month. On a personal level, I can’t help but have a great deal of sympathy for Jobs and his family at this undoubtedly difficult time. But as a longtime Apple observer, Mac user, and general technology wonk, I can’t help wondering what might come of Apple if and, inevitably one day, when Jobs eventually retires permanently from his role as the company’s spiritual and temporal leader.
What would Apple become in a post-Steve Jobs world? It’s hard to say. Undoubtedly there is enough talent in the company’s engineering and design teams to keep making innovative products that consumers will covet. But is there anyone who can lead that team as effectively as Jobs? Can anyone make the tough and risky calls that have defined Jobs’ resurrection of that company? I have a hard time imagining any of the Apple’s current execs–including the company’s low-key COO Tim Cook, who will now be filling in for Jobs–stepping into that role with the same fire and intensity that have become synonymous with the name of Steve Jobs. And without that caliber of obsessively driven leadership, it’s difficult to imagine how Apple, the underdog brand in the PC platform war, can continue driving its market share upward against Microsoft’s pervasive presence.
1 Comment to No Jobs, No Apple?
I think the work will be executed the same way it is being done till now.
January 22, 2009