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Finding Jobs 2.0

Is it even possible? Forbes does a little bit of speculating on just who might take over when Jobs takes his leave from Apple, and candidates aren't exactly jumping out of the woodwork. Jobs is about as visionary as they come -- only a guy like Steve could lead Apple from the iMac to the iPod to the iPhone, breaking records and status quo the whole time. Phil Schiller and Scott Forstall are tossed out as two names currently within Apple's ranks, but Jobs is almost as much of a company mascot as he is a CEO. As consultant Patrick Sweeney says in the article, anyone who steps into the turtleneck has to fit completely into the culture of the company, or it won't work.

And forget the day-to-day and design decisions -- who's going to stand on stage and say "boom" at WWDC and Macworld? Here at TUAW, we're pretty sure the rumors of Jobs' ill health are exaggerated; he's probably not going anywhere anytime fast. But at the same time, it's hard to imagine an Apple without him at all.

Is it even possible? Forbes does a little bit of speculating on just who might take over when Jobs takes his leave from Apple, and...
 

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Havuz

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July 09 2008 at 10:23 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ed T

Face it, there is no replacement for Jobs' leadership and vision. When that day comes and a new CEO takes charge, Apple will become a different company. Look around at the numerous companies that faltered and had to call their former CEOs out of retirement. Jobs brings far more than snappy presentations to the job, and I doubt there is another person on the planet with his combination of talent, desire, and cunning.

July 05 2008 at 5:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
JimGramze

I don't see why it is hard to imagine Apple Computer without Steve Jobs. It happened once. People refer to it as the dark ages. It took me a while, but with Windows 98 SP2 I switched back to the PC after using Macs since 1984 because at that point in time PCs were better. I've been back with the rest of us for several years now.

Job's vision has been fulfilled. He has always wanted to create a toaster, a computer that anyone smarter than John McCain can use. It is called the iPhone and is the computer/appliance that I believe he has been groping for his entire career.

You cannot replace Steve Jobs and should not want to. Another visionary who demands excellence while driving toward what is cool and innovative while not giving a damn about legacy software.

Let Microsoft worry about anchors, the rest of us want a boat that flies.

July 05 2008 at 2:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Caspian

As for the "Boom" effect Osama bin Ladin would make a great candidate! for Apple. Just image after every Apple WDC the effect would really be a Booooooom!

:D

Geoge Bush would be great as Apple visionary after his term ends! A vision of Mass Apple Descruction (MAD)


July 04 2008 at 11:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Danny

Funny discussion ;-)

What i noticed during both - roadmap event and the WWDC - is that Schiller certainly has his own style to present, even though he doesn't seem very comfortable up stage.
Scott on the other hand, you could see that, is trying to copy Steve's presentation style. The way he walks and talks looks very much like Steve. But, unfortunately for him, it seems a bit fake.

The idea of Ive also cama along my thoughts. Hard to imagine, but certainly a man with charisma who could fill the whole as a man in public. But as a CEO?

I think the real question is: what exactly is Jobs doing at Apple. How much of the direction and development is actually his decision. There could be some more people (like Scott, Ive or Schiller) who determine the roads that apple is following. In that case, the CEO could easily be someone, who is just an icon on stage and CNN ;-)

July 04 2008 at 3:35 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Danny's comment
Chris Bell

Jobs is much more than an icon. He is the motivator. People know they must do a very good job or they will face his wrath. He is not a nice person to his employees but in the end, it all results in good products.

July 04 2008 at 10:01 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rob

Can you say Jonathan Ive?....

July 03 2008 at 11:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
julian

ah! Steve aint leaving
I completely agree, the person that fills the turtleneck will have to be cooool
a really smart engineer/designer wont cut it

July 03 2008 at 8:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Artr

Ive is a great speaker, and he has a deffinite vision, I think he is the closest to what Jobs is, when it comes to the megalomaniac who is controlling of all the company, I dunno.

Schiller is okay, as a business man he's great, but as a marketer, he just seems too cheesy

Scott's a great developer, but he's definitely not cut out for a C-Level business position, let alone CEO.

July 03 2008 at 8:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jackster

I like Scott Forstall. Phil Shiller shouldn't be the next CEO, don't know why I just don't think he'd do a good job.

July 03 2008 at 7:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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