Been a long long time since I last wrote here, and before I restart having more frequent appearances here I thought I will post some very short thoughts about everything happening at Apple for the past few months.

On Tim Cook:

There are men who are “leaders”, and there are men who are just “bosses”. Unfortunately our dear man Tim seems to reside in the latter camp. I’m not doubting his abilities as a CEO/manager for it has been proven that he’s one of, if not the best, operations man in the world. But a leader attracts and keeps talent through sheer charm, a manager can only do the same, much less successfully, through promises of wealth and power. While Tim is arguably one of those talents attracted to Apple, he is no Steve Jobs, and it’s apparent if you follow news of Apple’s management shifts.

Still, the guy is one hell of a CEO, having run the company’s operations during its crazy ascent in the last decade, and was the best choice that Steve had to succeed him.

On Scott Forstall:

Unlike many, I am quite a Scott Forstall supporter. I don’t hate the look of iOS skeuomorphism at all, and while many like to say shit about the guy, you cannot deny that the guy is smart, and good at what he does. Everything iOS is today can all at least partly be attributed to him, and the so-called maps screwup was not really much of a screwup at all, no matter which way you see it.

Problem though, is that many geniuses are also jackasses, and Forstall happens to be one of them. Steve was able to “control” and keep Scott working under him for all these years, something that Tim was unable to do. I see the loss of Scott as a loss for Apple, but neither Tim nor anyone else in Apple today will be able to control Forstall, and it is best for Apple’s internal stability that he was fired. Which is why Steve’s presence is missed so badly, not just because of what he can contribute to Apple’s ideas and lineup, but also because of his influence in other areas.

Whether iOS loses direction from now on without Scott at the helm all depends on his Hair Force One successor, and I am not very hopeful, looking at his work on OS X.

On John Sculley’s remarks:

The guy is the reason why Apple almost shut down in the nineties. When he gives advice on how Apple should act, the correct approach will be to do the exact opposite of what he proposes.