Ross Perot, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, and even to some extent Howard Schultz and Fred Smith all understand – Service, accept change even encourage or lead that change, and know that creativity is key, and sometimes that creativity is not yours but emanates from your staff.

News Flash…if you are the most powerful company in the world ….the game plan you are using seems to be working….stick with it….

You don’t mess with something that is working brilliantly!!!

Managers who use criteria like that, instead of trying to understand the core business issues, customers, and the real business issues in Apple stores have no business being an Apple employee. That’s the hard work management is suppose to do. Apple has never played the numbers game.

Take him out Tim, cause I bet he needs to work more than 32 hours per week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obviously in this case it was a stupid thing to do, not because it was bad for the company (it always is), but because it would be noticed and called out.

The only two things I don’t understand are why he got hired and why he still has the job. He’s like a cancer. He’s got to be cut out. If he’s allowed to stay that cancer will spread. It always does. The most amazing thing about Apple is not the iPhone or the iPad or any other product. It’s that they’ve been able to grow so much while until now avoiding that cancer. It is (was) unprecedented.

No, we’re not diverting attention from our major fsck up by releasing irrelevant numbers. We really really like numbers.

Your comment should be at the top.

Astroturfing is a form of advocacy in support of a political, organizational, or corporate agenda, designed to give the appearance of a “grassroots” movement. The goal of such campaigns is to disguise the efforts of a political or commercial entity as an independent public reaction to another political entity—a politician, political group, product, service or event. The term is a derivation of AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to look like natural grass.

Like other advocates, astroturfers attempt to manipulate public opinion by both overt (outreach awareness, etc.) and covert (disinformation) means. Astroturfing may be undertaken by an individual promoting a personal agenda, by organized professional groups for pay, or by activist organizations. Services may be provided by political consultants who also provide opposition research and other services. Beneficiaries are not the campaigners but the organizations that orchestrate the campaigns.

That describes WhitIV’s discussion fully… nothing to see here… move along

I would doubt Browety would forgo his benefits, even being paid $50 million, yet he expects to keep good employees that are only making $11 per hour on average. I would bet that the benefits are the main reason a lot of these people are willin to work retail in an apple store to begin with

China image overhaul, Jobs probably started this in 2010

Cook visited Cap Hill, Jobs gave up on Washington when he tried to pass legislation to get a Mac, FREE, in every School

Top Brass leaving (Johnson, Mansfield, Serlet) – These guys were pretty instrumental

Browlett hire – Why bring in a Discount Electronics Guy to one of the most respected brands on the planet? If he was the best they could do, can you imagine the rejects?

Cheaper-looking packaging (MBA at least) – Very cheap looking, plastic freaking trays that just look and feel cheap.

Stripping Colors from Mac OS – I think it’s a effort to undermine the usefulness of the Finder, I do not care for it.

Data Centers, lots of Data Centers – Apple is getting ready for something really big here.

Market Cap Explosion – 28x Dell is Fun, iPhone more profitable than all of MS, nice, most valued company in history, wow. But it’s just Steve’s tremendous wake.

Dividends – I think Apple kinda had to.

Raises for Apple Employees – It does not small like Browlett endorsed this, maybe I am wrong. But it was not enough for what they do (second-hand info). The $500 off Mac on top of discount was nice however.

Browlett – We made a mistake screwing our retail employees. Really, Apple, Really Tim. WWSD – would have fired his butt or severely limited his autonomy. We will never know.

Incredible Quarter and a Lackluster Quarter – A little worrisome but EU woes don’t help, nor did the Proview Crooks.

Overdue updates to Macmini, iMac and Pro – Disrespectful Pro Uprgrade, again, another mistep, yeah, it has a new flag on the store, ummm, no, now it doesn’t. Where is the iMac update, it’s been almost a year. The mini hasn’t seen an update in 13 months.

Evolutionary upgrades to iPad and iPhone – these were Steve’s though.

Fairly significant Update to MBP – Again, under the guidence of Steve.

Misteps and disclosure of mistakes like EPEAT, NEW MacPro, Browlett (We Messed Up – Burns me up – Steve would have made him change it to I Messed Up)

I am leaning towards MDN’s POV. Cook may never get a break, no matter what, it might just be next guy who gets to have all the glory — that would be Forstall. I wonder if he deliberately was not chosen b/c Steve, who ever followed him would be in a no win situation – If we do well, it’s Steve’s momentum, if we do poorly, it’s all on me (as in Cook).

These may be the dull years for Apple.

1,000 shares of AAPL show me that my portfolio is VERY happy!! But the techno lover in me is desperately waiting for a major Mac Pro announcement, an iMac worth upgrading to, and a killer iPhone to blow away the competition. I’m fearful that my Long position on AAPL may be nearing and end if these announcements aren’t made on the next 3 months.

What’s the weather like on your planet? Are there faeries?

Anyone with a bit of Apple DNA should have seen the train wreck that a hire like browett is. Jobs warned about people like him.

Apple for ever. 1976 – ∞.

Now they have Beer and Apples.

“Somewhere between the janitor and the CEO, reasons stop mattering,” says Jobs, adding, that Rubicon is “crossed when you become a VP.”