Is Apple Ready For The Post-Jobs Era?

August 2008- Bloomberg publishes a 2500 word obituary for Steve on it’s corporate news service. The mistake is quickly rectified, and Steve jokes about it.

December 2008- Apple announces that January 2009 will be it’s last Macworld appearance, and that Steve Jobs will not be presenting his annual keynote address.

December 2008- Digg founder Kevin Rose sells all his Apple shares.

December 2008- Rumor sites run rampant with speculation on Steve Jobs retiring soon.

Is all this the speculation of idle minds, or is Steve’s cancer finally done giving reprieves?

The King Is Dead, Long Live The King

Steve’s eventual demise will be feeding-frenzy material for the tech blog writers, but the state of his health is a private matter, and Connected Internet wishes Steve and his family all the best in dealing with this serious issue. Cancer isn’t a joke. Most people get it, live with it with varying degrees of success for a while, and eventually succumb to it. Steve is a human being, not a cartoon character, and as a father and husband he isn’t the only one facing his health issue. Anyone who has had a family member diagnosed with cancer can appreciate how it affects the whole family.

The real question for us is whether or not Apple Computer is going to be ok in a world with someone other than Steve at the helm. Steve’s health issues aside, sooner or later, this will be the case.

The fact of the matter is, that while Steve is the consummate Ship’s Captain, he really doesn’t create anything. He has a singular gift for coming up with ideas, making sure that the right people make those ideas reality, and selling the result.

Apple was in sad shape prior to his return, and yes, he made all the right moves in getting Apple back on course. PC advocates love pointing out Apple’s 5% market share of the desktop. While no one at Apple would mourn over better Mac sales, Apple doesn’t need the desktop anymore, because they figured out what their strengths are.

Why has Microsoft copied Apple for the last 20+ years? Because Apple has continued to show smart innovations in interface design. People saying that Windows 7 is too much like OS X is huge praise for Apple. It shows that Apple still sets the mark to be followed in interface design. I’ll wager that most people who are honest that have used OS X will acknowledge the superiority of the interface, whether they use a Mac or a PC. Windows has gotten better in some areas, but it’s not a close race yet by any means. Maybe another 25 years, if Microsoft lasts that long.

It’s not just their operating system that shows smart design. I’m not a big fan of software just on the strength of it being Apple code, but sometimes they just nail it, and I will give them credit where credit is due. iTunes. I was used to managing my music library via command line on FreeBSD. Hey, at least the software I was using worked, unlike the Windows solutions of the time. When I bought my first Power Mac, I was stunned when I saw what they had done to simplify importing, managing and burning discs, all via iTunes. So easy.. why would you want to do it any other way? Yes there are a hundred clones now. Again, why use a clone when you can use the thing that others are so quick to copy?

Macbook sales account for a larger percentage of overall notebook sales than Macs do on the desktop. Apple needs to continue to provide sleek laptops that offer attractive performance and design for the price and people will continue to buy them.

iPod and iPhone. Yes, there are a million clones of both now, but anyone who has used the real thing will tell you that there is no comparison. Couldn’t live without either. Very smart devices with great design. No one else is creating cool gadgets like this, just copying Apple. These two devices alone could probably keep Apple afloat if nothing else they made sold.

Not everything Apple puts out becomes an indispensable piece of modern living. I don’t like stuff simply because it originated from Cupertino… but, I challenge anyone to name a technology company that has a track record of creating such successful and copied software and hardware. The most vocal of the anti-Apple are most likely the most envious. You’ll see them queueing up in the comment section about how off-base I am and how I am an Apple fanboy.

Apple has everything it needs in it’s current lineup of product to ensure future viability. The question is, what happens to Apple when Steve is no longer at the helm?

The answer should be obvious. You can call Steve Jobs a lot of things, just don’t leave out shrewd. Steve has always had the gift of recognizing the right people for a task, and if Steve’s days at Apple are numbered, I’m sure Steve will be the first to know. Apple is a little piece of immortality for Steve Jobs, and I doubt very much that he would check out before knowing that the future of his legacy was in the right hands. The only possible argument against that would be that Steve doesn’t like to relinquish power, but that was the Steve Jobs of 20 years ago. I think today’s Steve Jobs has the wisdom to recognize the mistakes he’s made along the way. I think you can count on Apple Computer being ok with or without Steve.

Whether the rumors about Steve’s health are true or not, I wish the best for Steve and his family in 2009, and want to say thanks for 30+ years of innovation. You are a true pioneer in the field, and between Apple and NeXT, have given the community more than I can put into words, both in software and hardware innovation. Thanks for showing us that the adjectives sophisticated and elegant could apply to technology.

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