“You all know that Steve Jobs has resigned as chief executive of Apple Inc. The San Francisco Bay Area news organizations, without exception, have made it sound as if Jobs is on his deathbed and that things are going to change at Apple overnight,” John C. Dvorak writes for MarketWatch.
“If Jobs divorced himself from the company and gave up his chairmanship, then I’d be more concerned. But he did not,” Dvorak writes. “He is still chairman. He still has oversight capability and can maintain that for some time to come.”
Dvorak writes, “The general scenario in the media is an exaggeration, and the decision for Jobs to step down may have a simpler, more logical explanation than just his being critically ill. The reason is Tim Cook.”
“Everyone in Silicon Valley would love to hire this guy, and from his perspective, his title as “acting” chief executive gets old fast when you are actually running the company,” Dvorak writes. “Jobs has been on extended leave for months, so what’s going to change with this announcement? Nothing, that’s what — except the title itself. And this is what is important.”
Read more in the full article here.
A stunningly perceptive analysis by Dvorak. Once in a blue moon.
Uh… wrong. This guy is an Apple news parasite, he screams and waves his arms with piss poor analysis and hysterical claims after every press release.
What’s the problem with taking the resignation letter at face value? Sounds a lot like Steve would remain CEO if he could. The idea that this is some strategy to keep Tim Cook happy or some super oblique business strategy is a fantasy. Steve has been on medical leave for almost 9 months, and this is a very good time in the lull between the summer Apple results and the fall product deluge for Steve to make ‘taking it easier’ official. Only idiots look for conspiracy under every stone.
I always thot that Dvorak simply wrote nonsense to rile up everyone, watch our little Macheads explode and get hits but that he actually knew which way was up. I never felt he actually believed half of what he wrote.
OTOH, Enderle, Thurott, et al, they are completely deluded.
Whatever the case, I’ll take Dvorak at his word too, rather than trying overlay some hidden meaning over his rantings.
Some people see the glass half full, others see it half empty, and morons see a glass that’s secretly been replaced with a magical fluid that is really part of an elaborate plot sitting on a specially crafted table, who’s secret purpose has yet to be revealed but likely involves Batman, Larry Ellison and George Bush.
Be wary of fan fiction. It’s becoming the substitute religion for those prone to ‘believe’ and peddled in place of fact because it sounds more dramatic. The truth is always much more dry and boring (ie. SJ is stepping down because he’s too busy or ill to continue as CEO).
Yeah i know… with everyone jumping overboard, Dvoraks strategy to be the ‘weird one’ is to say something sane and well-thought out. What’s next? Thurrott ditching his Zune?
Strange days indeed. Every dog has their day I guess.
No, Dvorak is wrong, as usual.
Jobs is sick, not at death’s door perhaps, but too sick to contemplate returning to the CEO chair. He said as much, and this man doesn’t mince words.
Tim Cook has made it clear, he found his home at Apple, and regards it as the mountaintop. He worships Steve Jobs and would follow him to the end. He does not want those other offers.
This board is not filled with idiots, and would never put Cook through Dvorak’s dark fantasy.
Yep.
Agree. Let’s make it two Blue Moons.
LOL. Maybe Dvorhack finally took a shower and feeling clean and invigorate, his mind in temporarily unclouded?
People love to give him crap. But the old curmudgeon is just that… Old and curmudgeonly… Still smart and not blind.
Ahhhhh No! He has said some pretty stupid (and I mean Stupid with a capital S) things in the past too….not this time….most other times. He fully deserves his crap when it is given to him. But as I said, not this time.
Agreed. He is well iCal’ed around here. In fact, there is a special wing in the iCal Archives just for him. I believe it’s next to the Laura Goldman wing…utterer of such amazing things as http://macdailynews.com/2008/02/06/laura_goldman_owning_apple_stock_is_a_spiritual_experience_devoid_of_logic/
I bet the strategy change at HP under Leo recently prompted Jobs to make this transition and to make sure Tim will be the CEO just in case.
I don’t know… Cook has said on a number of occasions that he eats, sleeps and breathes Apple. I think it would be surprising if he jumped ship.
Besides… where would he go? Who offers more creativity and innovation than Apple in the tech industry?
Wow, unbelievable.. for the first time I hope he is right.
Bullshit. It’s all speculation. Jobs is too sick to return, period. That’s why he’s not CEO anymore. Move on. Get a life. Accept it.
Too sick to return? What part of “worked a full day” was unclear to you?
Say, perhaps it could’ve been this?
“This person described Jobs’s condition as weak but added that his resignation was not indicative of a sudden downturn and that Jobs, while housebound in recent weeks, was up and about.”
Of course not. One full day of work after weeks of being housebound (not in the early stages, rather, in the 6th&7th month of your extended medical leave) means everything is roses and unicorns!
Sooo, does this mean that Steve is already dead?
We all know Dvorak’s track record don’t we?
There is another possibility – a kind of middle road.
Jobs has decided that there is more to life than just work al the time. His health is such that he has 6mos/2years/30years left, and his recent experiences leads him to realize that he wants to spend more time with other things.
Good luck to you Mr. Jobs, whatever the situation may be. Thank you for inspiring us.
Damn! Ignor-rak actually has something meaningful & respectful to say?! WTF?! Did hell freeze over?! Lol
From time to time, even ignoramuses see the light. 🙂
This notion did cross my mind that Steve may have speeded up the inevitable transition to make sure Tim didn’t leave, as I’m sure he has had plenty of offers. Of course, Tim’s pay packet has made staying #2 rather easy. Then again, Ron Johnson left, but there was nowhere to go for Ron higher in Apple’s hierarchy. Bertrand Serlet left this year, and I always had him as a dark horse for CEO. There were the rumors of Jonny Ive wanting to work from home in the UK, but I dismissed those, as Jonny wasn’t CEO material given his quiet nature.
Anyhow, while it’s possible that Steve stepped down to make sure Tim would be there to step up, I dismissed it as a secondary reason.
KenC…
Lots of things like that are played as rumors… Ive – like others – are worried about the future.
this is peculation like every other post on the site.
I’m taking Steve Jobs’ moves at face value. He said that Cook should be CEO, he said that he would like to become chairman. Good.
Competitors should be afraid, very afraid.
I agree with Dvorak. (Wow!)
Except for a minor detail… Steve Jobs was already on medical leave. That means he already felt he could not act as CEO on a day-to-day basis, even before the formal resignation letter that said he could no longer act as Apple’s CEO.
However, if he had resigned back then, instead of going on medical leave, the reaction in the tech and financial media would have been extreme. AAPL would have taken a big hit. Instead, he took a “medical leave,” promised to stay involved with product development, and handed day-to-day CEO duties to Tim Cook.
NOW, after Apple (and Tim Cook) demonstrated (for the second or third time) that Apple would continue to execute exceptionally well, even with Steve Jobs semi-absent, it is no longer a catastrophic shock to hear that Steve Jobs is formally resigning from his CEO position. Except for the fools who sold AAPL today when it was down 5%, it is down less than 1% today from yesterday’s close. It went down A LOT more than that recently, for “other” reasons…
In other words, maybe Steve Jobs already expected he would resign back when he went on medical leave (unless he started to feel MUCH better), but he delayed the announcement until now to make everyone become more accustomed to the idea of Apple without Steve Jobs as CEO, and show that Apple was operating just fine while he was on medical leave.
BEFORE yesterday – Tim Cook was acting as CEO with Steve Jobs “actively involved” while on medical leave.
AFTER yesterday – Tim Cook is CEO with Steve Jobs actively involved as an “Apple employee” and Board Chairman.
In other words, nothing has really changed (except for the title).
You nailed it… Exactly.
Dvorak is an idiot, regardless…
MoblieMe is down. Man, I hate that name.
“.Mac” was a pretty lame too. Let’s call it “iTools” again.
Everything seems to be working for me… 🙂
i was sure, SURE, that dvorak was going to say that steve resigned in a snit because he wanted to bring the mouse back and no one agreed with him.
Examine what is said, not him who speaks. — Arab Proverb
Well said my friend.
Dvorak is on holiday this week and his intern is writing for him. Nuf said
Interesting perspective. I’m wondering how Ron Johnson’s recent departure fits into all this.
Oh great. If Dvorak says Jobs stepped down for non-health reasons, Jobs probably doesn’t have much longer left to live.
The move has been in the works for months. It was timed to the stock market, when the worldwide economic crisis is taking attention away from individual stock prices. It was timed right down to the dollar!
Exactly. That’s the hidden talent that drives Apple. Knowing what the economy will be doing, and what the price of the stock will be to the very dollar, months in advance.
Anyone that is stupid enough to believe that Steve Jobs would cede the CEO position to anyone who wants “The Title” or they’ll walk – while Steve himself is battling ongoing health issues – clearly knows nothing at all about Steve or his fierce desire for loyalty.
He’d have sooner told Cook to go fuck himself under those circumstances.
Agreed.
So the world knows that Apple is going to lose huge chunks of it’s value when Steve Jobs leaves. He decides to leave in stages. First he takes a long medical leave, but continues to be involved in important projects. Apple makes a shitload of money. Second, he retires as CEO, but becomes Chairmen of the Board and will be hands on. Apple releases iOS 5 and new iPhone 5, maybe cheap iPhone 4, no contract phone, adding these to Lion, MacBook Air and upcoming revisions of MacBook Pros and makes a shitload of money. He retires from the board after he becomes less publically involved and Apple continues to make a shitload of money. This was a smart succession plan, well thought out and well executed. Tim Cook was in it for the long run and was never going to leave Apple. Dvorak still an idiot- world still safe
I think you have it right.
Even a broken watch shows the correct time twice a day. Maybe, this was Dvorak’s minute of accuracy?
The fool totally begs the question:
He says the reason for the change is that the title “acting ceo gets old fast.” So the change is just window dressing to keep Cook cooking.
Well…. why does Cook have the position of acting ceo anyway? Why does Jobs not just step back into that position?
Most likely due to his health. (Like DUHHH!)
Thank you for using the phrase “begs the question” correctly. Anyone in doubt, please look it up.