“What if, instead of having to accept the board presence of Steve Jobs as a cost of getting Pixar’s animation talent and film library, Disney actually views the transaction as buying Pixar TO GET Steve Jobs and then gaining the animation bits as a bonus? If Disney CEO Robert Iger is really an exceptional leader, he’ll see it exactly that way,” Robert X. Cringely writes for PBS. “I am not a big Steve Jobs fan. No fawning here. I once called him a sociopath in a book that was translated into 18 languages, and I don’t take it back now. But even a sociopath has his moments, and I am beginning to see that this moment belongs to Jobs.”
“If Robert Iger creates a miracle at Disney, which I think he will, that miracle is Steve Jobs. We’re in a new century with new realities, but we haven’t yet found a new archetype for enlightened corporate power. Bill Gates? Give me a break! What we have are people in power who have no muse and wouldn’t recognize one if they could even hear her. Steve Jobs knows his muse,” Cringely writes. “For the entertainment industries, the next 10 years will be the most revolutionary in a century. Broadcast TV as we knew it is going away, replaced by a Chinese entertainment menu of such complexity that even knowing what’s “on” tonight will be beyond the abilities of most viewers. At some point, too, movies will be subsumed into television and recorded music will find its own new place with new rules. This will be Steve Jobs’s world and we’ll all just be visitors. It’s obvious to me and, evidently, to Iger, too.”
Cringely writes, “I still don’t like Steve Jobs. I’ve known too many people he has hurt. But this is clearly his time, maybe even his century. And what of Bill Gates? Bill Gates is a very successful philanthropist, but he’s no Steve Jobs… Bill once told me that there was no way that Steve could win, so he wondered why Jobs was even still in the game? Bill now knows why.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews reader “Rainy Day” for the link.]
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Yeh-heh-hehesssss . . . when it comes to predicting de technological future, Bill Gates couldn’t find his asshole with a funnel.
Who in their right mind would translate Cringely into 18 languages? Isn’t one painful enough?
Oh, wait…it’s PBS. They just charged the cost of the translation to the taxpayers.
This is a moronic article. Let’s see…Disney spent several billion dollars to get SJ as a majority shareholder and board member.
Pixar, the world’s best, most creative, and most profitable animation studio in the world, with a 100% success rate, however, is just a “bonus”.
Cringe away from idiots like Cringely.
that war was for the desktop , the old days of computing , the test bed if you will
the next is for the home , the ultimate progression of technology and eventual convergence
apple WILL win that one
bill , you had your chance and you blew it..
Whoever says a bad thing about someone else is a SOCIOPATH. That is Mr. Cringely. I must remember that this is AMERICA where everyone can say anything . . .
Mr Cringely isn’t alone in his opinion of Steve Jobs; I really don’t know why so many posters on this site are so sensitive about any criticism of Jobs.
Any person of average intelligence and powers of observation should know that you can’t achieve as much as Jobs has without being a bit of a bastard.
Dear reader, just think about your own workplace if you doubt this.
I found the article very interesting and I share his analysis of the future of entertainment electronics as I’m sure Steve Jobs does.
Being a “bit of a bastard” is a little different than being a sociopath, don’t you think? Not in defense of JS, but I think the writer of this article shows his cards when he spouts off in such a self-aggrandizing way, that his book “was translated into 18 languages”. BFD (starts with Big, ends with Deal).
Cringely would have called Jesus Christ a sociopath for trying to upset the apple-cart (no pun intended).
Unfortunately we sometimes need bastards to move the game forwards. The human tendency is towards idleness. The bastards stop us from falling back into being nothing more than upright apes.
LOL. No, I’m not calling Jesus a bastard. Quite the opposite.
(Sound of Dave H being struck by lightning)
Since_IIci took the words out of my mouth. What sort of person actually defends his position by saying I hate the guy and I have said it in 18 languages just so as many people as possible know it. Whether SJ is a sociopath I don’t know but one thing is clear from that sentence is that Cringely is a scarily close to being a psychopath.
Steve Jobs doesn’t seem like a sociopath just a person who is extremely ambitious. Like all self made people he has a certain conviction in himself & doesn’t appear to suffer fools gladly. Whether he is a nice person or not most of us will never know.
Dave: I think I smell charcoal!!!!!!!!
I think this writer needs a better dictionary or thesaurus. Steve Jobs may be overbearing but I hardly think he fits the definition of a sociopath.
sociopath |ˈsōsēōˌpaθ| noun a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience.
Could be that Cringly is a sociopath just pointing the finger at someone else in order to draw attention away from himself.
No, SJ is definitely NOT a sociopath. He’s simply a “My Way or the Highway” kind of guy. Which is great when he’s right. But if he’s ever wrong…
Iger is smart enough to have wanted both the talent & library from Pixar AND SJ to help guide Disney through the next so many years. It was not an either or.
We will see an amazing techological change in the next 10 years largely as envisioned by SJ via Apple & Disney. Stock up on kool-aid, it is going to be a fun ride.
what a crap story!
And MDN that pc ad pop up just really, really really sucks.
To show my protest I will not visit your website for a few days.
Others feel free to join.
Others, please flame away. I won´t be here to read it!
———
Have you ever seen a website with so many ads junked on it???
Disney actually views the transaction as buying Pixar TO GET Steve Jobs…
I suspected as much, but you know what?
The truth is John Lassetar is Pixar, Steve Jobs is the eccentric billionaire moneybags.
The real situation is more like the opposite, Steve Jobs is cashing out of Pixar like the good investment it was.
Another thing is this, Steve Jobs is’t getting any younger, the switch to Intel processors and the phasing out of firewire (none on iPods and only one 400 port on the new Mac Book Pros) goes to show probably Vista will become our new masters if Apple allows Mactels to run it.
Steve Jobs is the only one able to turn Apple around and he won’t be around forever.
MacDude
Winter is obviously getting to you. You’re dooming and glooming worse that Dvorak
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Steve Jobs was the only one able to turn Apple round, and he’s done that. But he won’t always be needed to take the company forward. Once the company is on a big upward trend, Steve can take more of a backseat, perhaps step back to being chairman whilst someone else runs the show.
One thing Jobs has likely learned from Pixar is that you can do that if you find the right person to hand over to. Not everyone is a Sculley.
MW “Soviet”. WTF?!?
I don’t know about the sociopath or bastard part, but I know for sure that Steve is crazy…
Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.
–”Think Different”, Apple Computers Advertisement
~M
I agree in part with Cringely that Disney needs Jobs as much as it needs Pixar, but I forsee something entirely different…
Disney’s current Chairman of the Board (Iger’s “boss”) is former Senator George Mitchell, who came to the board in 2004 during the Eisner controversy. Now that Disney seems to have capable management with Iger and the Pixar executives, Mitchell may want to retire as Chairman. The most logical person to replace Mitchell as Chairman would be Steve Jobs.
Historically, Disney’s board of directors have played a very limited role, leaving most of the company’s decisions to executives such as Eisner and Iger. Jobs’ role as Chair would be mostly to hire executives and approve major projects. Iger needs to get rid of executives and board members from the Eisner era if he wishes to achieve his visions for Disney. It already seems that Jobs is his ally. Consider also that Jobs left most of the decisions at Pixar to his executives, so one would expect he would do the same thing at Disney. Jobs as Chairman would also give Disney leverage in negotiating with other companies.
Iger would then retain his status as Disney President and CEO. He has not yet proven himself to the board, so having Jobs as Chairman would give Iger leeway to do things that the board might not otherwise approve. He would also gain credibility by having Jobs as his “mentor.” Iger would run all of the day-to-day operations of the company, something that Jobs probably does not want to do; after all, Steve will still want to run Apple.
I think it would be good for everyone. Jobs would earn considerable influence with a nominal role. Iger would get support and job security. Disney would have capable leadership with a vision for the future.
It would be interesting to understand more clearly about the hard-working, tallented, decent folks who were run down along the way.
Sure, there are casualties of war. And SJ is clearly a tallented businessman. But I’ve always found his penchant for parking in HP spaces rather telling of the man’s inner personality.
Be careful of your adoration of temple of Steve.
‘This is America where anyone can say anyhting’-
Give the world a break mate, what a load of old cobblers. Why was the SuperBowl broadcast sent on a five second delay so they could bleep out common words used in the proper English language from you puritan Americans, so not to offend some Bible belt boobie from ringing in about obscene language.
The Rolling Stones were ‘blanked out’
Freedom of speech my pink arse.
Leo
The “sociopath” part is over the top, sure, to the point of stupidity. But Cringely sure got the “muse” part right. That little ditty (“Steve Jobs knows his muse”) might be the most perfect short statement I’ve heard yet to explain the rise of Apple… and the fall of Microsoft. Steve has a vision, a picture he carries around in his head. And only those ideas (and products, etc.) that fit his vision are allowed to remain on the center of the table for even a minute.
MW = “short.” Perfect.
What an utter load of codswallop.
Steve Jobs is not a sociopath, he’s a narcissist. The two have some aspects in common, specifically in how they deal with other individuals. But there’s a huge difference.
A sociopath is utterly selfish, not caring for anything beyond his own personal desires. By contrast, a narcissist’s drive is to change the world according his own personal vision, which he sees as for the best. Both will walk over anybody and anything to achieve their goals.
A sociopath, in the long run, is only destructive to society. However, a narcissist can contribute much to society, provided his obsessive vision really is “for the best”. In Steve Jobs’ case, it’s hard to argue that it isn’t.
I like reading Cringely’s prognostications. He’s more perceptive than most. However, I think he’s going way out on a limb with the idea that the Pixar acquisition was as much about Steve as it was about acquiring the studio. It’s possible that Disney could have offered Steve a board position and even the chairman’s position without buying Pixar. Iger and Roy Disney could have asked Steve, real nice.
Buying Pixar stands on its own financial merits. Anything Steve brings to the table for Disney is a bonus.