On Thursday last week, Apple took their website down for a few hours. That is normally the sign that a new range of products is to be launched but in this specific case it was Apple adding a tribute to their late leader. Apple under Tim Cook is a very different company than the company under Jobs.
If one looks back over the last 12 months it is clear that Apple has moved forward. Tim Cook has been working hard on changing the public face of Apple. One thing he did early on after taking over was to reveal a list of Apple’s suppliers. Can you imagine Steve Jobs doing that? I can’t. The mere fact that Cook has been available for analysts and traveling across the globe to see working conditions is both a public relations move but also to start changing the perception of Apple.
Steve Jobs built a company that in financial terms will never be seen again. It is clear that they will have a billion dollar valuation soon. It is becoming clear that Jobs left a plan for the leadership at Apple. They still have no clear vision of cloud computing and iCloud which replaced MobileMe is something that needs to be further developed.
It seems that Jobs was trying to loosen the grip that Google had over being a Apple partner. Eric Schmidt losing his directorship was a much bigger issue than what the world was told. The current Maps disaster that Apple has had to resolve is due to Jobs agreeing to use Google Maps for the first iPhone. The mere fact that Tim Cook has written a public letter of apology over the maps issue shows that Apple know that they let their users down.
One thing that needs to be said is that Apple has moved forward without Jobs at the helm. To ask “what would Steve Jobs have done” is a sign of disrespect to all Apple staff worldwide. Jobs created Apple in such a way that the company have a clear plan moving forward without him leading the company. That is the lesson for the last 12 months of Apple’s history.
Steve Jobs will be missed as he was a muse to many people across the globe.
SP Jobs 1955 – 2011
