Can there be an Apple without Jobs?
Shareholders worry whether Apple can thrive without CEO Steve Jobs at the helm. Scott Jagow talks to Marketplace's Jeremy Hobson about why Jobs leaving is such a big deal and how the company might be able to cope.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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TEXT OF INTERVIEW
Scott Jagow: Shares of Apple are sliding this morning. CEO Steve Jobs announced he's taking a few months off to deal with health problems. But some people wonder if he'll ever come back to the company. And if he doesn't, those are some pretty big shoes to fill. By most accounts, he's a creative genius with great vision.
We're joined by our reporter in New York, Jeremy Hobson. Jeremy, CEO's get replaced all the time. What is so unique about this situation?
Jeremy Hobson: Well, the analyst I was speaking to this morning could not come up with a CEO that could be compared with Steve Jobs. They had to go back to people like Carnegie and Rockefeller, and even those people are not exactly the creative and marketing minds behind everything their company does. And one of the problems for Apple is that they have let the focus be so much on Steve Jobs that it's not on the company, and shareholders are unable to see the way forward without Jobs.
Jagow: So what might Apple do to first of all calm investors a little bit, and second of all prepare a strategy for life without Steve Jobs?
Hobson: Well, the first thing they can do is a serious PR job on Tim Cook. This is the COO who's gonna take over through June. Nobody knows much about him. What we do know about him is he makes the trains run on time, he's an operations guy. An analyst I talked to this morning says, you know, he doesn't have the same vision as Steve Jobs. But the bottom line for Apple is they have got to take the focus off of Steve jobs in the near term and put it back on the company and the products that they're putting out.
Jagow: All right, Jeremy Hobson in New York. Thanks.
Hobson: Thanks, Scott.
Comments
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From vineland, NJ, 01/16/2009
Hah, just noticed. Two replies, one sender, my bad.
From vineland, NJ, 01/16/2009
https://www.publicradio.org/public_insight_network/signup/contact_signup.php?id=apm&dom_name=marketplace
This is, it seems, sent to people who regularly comment on the stories, and offers a chance to contribute to pieces. In fact, when Jobs is uploaded to that iPod in the sky, perhaps you two will be contacted to discuss the vibrancy of Apple's future.
From OAKLAND, CA, 01/15/2009
PS...
An example of how these "analysts" really don't know much about this is the quote "...No one knows what Apple without Steve Jobs would be like. Would it keep on going, or does he embody and bring so much to the firm that without him, they would crash and burn?.."
Yeah, we had a couple of years without Jobs in the 90s. Yes, Apple wasn't as wonderful but Apple still made the Newton, did Hypercard, and a lot of other revolutionary stuff. The quote is a perfect example of the lack of real knowledge of this "analyst" crowd. Fine - ignorance is ok but BE WILLING TO DO THE RESEARCH AND LEARN before speaking with some sort of "authority".
From Oakland, CA, 01/15/2009
Ok - here is a PERFECT example of how/why "analysts" are not the right people to "analyze" such stories. I worked as a designer and engineer for Apple - in the group that worked to develop new ideas and products. People should know RIGHT OFF right now that it is not Jobs or the CEOs and executives that have the "vision" really that Apple is known for... it's the community of designers that work for Apple. The execs make decisions on what to bring to market but it is DEFINITELY not Jobs that is the creative driving force. NEVER did ANY executive show up at our meetings where we reviewed new product designs and prototypes. They saw this stuff way after the stuff was in the pipeline well into development. Yes, they give the green light on WHAT to bring to market but it's not Jobs or any of those people who come up with that innovative product design.
In the future, I really really really REALLY wish Marketplace and all of the media would set aside their selection of "analysts" to write about this stuff and go after people much more familiar with the industry. Instead of getting people with some sort of journalism and economics degree, think outside the box and go for good communicators with real in the trenches experience in the industry that is being addressed.
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