As promised, here’s the last of the links that were kicking around in my Instapaper queue regarding Apple’s executive team switch-up.
Don Lehman wrote one of the most insightful opinions about Apple’s new executive structure:
You get the sense that though each may recognize they are the best at what they do, they aren’t angling for more power inside Apple or elsewhere. Amazingly, they seem to know that they can do the best work of their careers and make the biggest historical impact by working together at Apple. Their individual talents and demeanor perfectly compliment each other and I think could be best summed up in this way: the Head, the Heart, and the Voice.
Matt Drance’s take was also very smart:
Apple’s insane growth has pushed the situation over the edge. Too much size and separation inevitably bring politics, chaos, dropped balls, and finger pointing. None of those things are good for Apple’s products or customers.
John Paczkowski of AllThingsD had a little more information on Bob Mansfield’s unretirement:
“It wasn’t a him-or-me situation,” one source said of Mansfield’s return and Forstall’s departure. “But, put it this way, I think Bob was much more willing to commit to two more years once he knew Scott was on his way out.”
Om Malik of Gigaom had more information about Scott Forstall’s departure, specifically calling it a “firing”:
Forstall’s firing was met with a sense of quiet jubilation, especially among people who worked in the engineering groups. Or as one of my sources quipped: there are a lot of people going for celebratory drinks, even if there is a little bit of doubt about their roles in the future.
Ryan Block of gdgt made a list of Scott Forstall’s failures at Apple:
[H]e was supposedly the guy who convinced Steve to let some iPhone 4 units run around in the wild during late testing. And we all know what happened there.
And finally, analyst Trip Chowdhry stated:
“Microsoft and Sony retail stores are much better looking than Apple Stores, which at many locations look dated and small. Further, the new Palo Alto Apple store has no restrooms for customers anymore.” […]
“Why is that Apple, the company that brought touch to phones and tablets, stopped just there and did not bring touch to notebooks and iMacs? Why is it that Apple brought high-resolution screens to some iMacs and some MacBooks and not to all devices? High-resolution screens are a commodity today.”
Unfortunately for Mr. Chowdhry, what I read was: “I’m the guy who claimed Steve Ballmer would join Steve Jobs onstage at WWDC 2010. Please ignore everything I say about Apple, because I am clearly a complete idiot.”