“Every story has its heroes and villains, and the history of Apple Computer is no exception,” Wired News writes. “The world’s most lickable computer company has seen its share of good guys and bad guys during its 30-year history, and sometimes, the goodie is also the baddie.”
Pete Mortensen makes his case for “who should worshipped and who should be whipped.”
Mortensen’s list of Apple Heroes and Villains:
• False Idol: Jef Raskin
• Villain: Dave Nagel
• Hero: Bill Atkinson
• Scapegoat: John Sculley
• Villain: Gil Amelio
• Hero: Burrell Smith
• Hero: Steve Jobs From 1976 to 1985
• Villain: Steve Jobs From 1985 to 1997
• Hero: Steve Jobs From 1997 to Present
• Villain: Michael Spindler
• Hero: Andy Hertzfeld
• Hero: Steve Wozniak
• Hero: Tony Fadell
• False Idol: Bruce Tognazzini
• Hero: Guy Kawasaki
Full article here.
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Related articles:
CNET celebrates three decades of Apple Computer – March 29, 2006
For three decades Apple has sizzled while Microsoft has nearly always come up short – March 29, 2006
Wired posts ‘Apple Operating System Gallery’ to mark Apple’s 30th birthday – March 28, 2006
Apple Computer consistent innovator again and again over 30 years – March 26, 2006
Apple continues to shine as company nears 30th year – March 24, 2006
‘Thirty Apple Years – A Celebration… Through Their Advertisements’ happens April 1st in Melbourne – March 24, 2006
I think Apple is the most lickable computer company too. They taste just like an Granny Smith. Mmmmm…
I started reading Billy Bob’s comment and my brain pre completed the sentence to read; They taste just like a woman. Mmmmmm….
Surely: • Hero: Jonathan Ive
M.X.N.T.4.1.
I wasn’t talking about your Granny Smith. I was talking about a kind of apple.
Yeah, just as I thought. Ive is included in the original article that I never bothered to look at. Buttocks.
I agree with Dirty Pierre le Punk. How come Mr. Ive isn’t on the list?
You forgot “Hero: Fred Anderson” and “Hero: Jonathan Ives”.
Worlds most lickible? How many lick does it take to get to the center?
Jonathan Ive is on the main list.
This is an abbreviated list from MDN, I suppose.
Great reading, very interesting
For those whining about not seeing Ives on the list, read the original article and note that there’s a page 2. You lazy bums.
My bad. Didn’t read the whole thing through.
Someone Else: Burl is an Ives; Jonathan is an Ive.
Billy Bob,
You can’t say “They taste just like an Granny Smith. Mmmmm…”
You’ll get Paul McCartney and Apple Corps sueing for copyright infringement (again!)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4854408.stm
Like Apple Corps haven’t got enough money already?!?
Isn’t Apple Corps more like a corpse these days?
Yoko looks like the living dead.
I know I’m confused by the use of the Apple logo, I thought the Beatles were finished in 1970.
I think the Steve Jobs dates are a bit off…
He got demoted at Apple (and then subsequently quit) because he was a complete arsehole and a very poor manager.
Should probably be more like:
• Hero: Steve Jobs From 1976 to 1985
• Villain: Steve Jobs From 1983 to 1997
• Hero: Steve Jobs From 1997 to Present
Beautiful Hero and Mother of the Dogcow and other Mac Icons: Susan Kare
http://www.kare.com
I agree with most of them with these exceptions:
Steve Jobs from 1976 – 1985: He was both a hero and a villain in this period. It’s really a testament to those around him that he didn’t destroy the company in the early 80s.
Steve Jobs from 1985 – 1997: I’d consider him a hero in this period. He built NeXT which became OS X, and Pixar. Both were failures in some ways and they humbled him, which is something he really needed to become who he is today.
Jean-Louise Gassee: It’s arguable that he did as much damage in his tenure at Apple as he did to propel the technology forward.
Jef Raskin: I don’t know about this assessment of him. It’s true that the Mac wasn’t really the realization of his original idea, but without him starting it, would we have the Mac today? I don’t know, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and not call him a false idol.
It’s great to see the unsung heroes like Andy Hertzfeld, and Burrell Smith get their props.
When you read the Jon Rubinstein bio you find out that “lickable” was not a typo!
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Steve Jobs was not a villain at NeXT. Today’s Apple is more NeXT than Apple. Apple may have bought NeXT, but NeXT took over Apple. Steve Jobs brought his people in and put them in charge. The rest is recent history.
Disputed Viewpoint – Jobs was a villain at NeXT in the sense that he was persona non grata at Apple during those years.
And i agree with xan and ndelc that Jobs almost destroyed Apple in the early-mid-eighties. Yet without his drive and insight in the seventies, there would be no Apple Computer, Inc. (nor Macintosh) today.
I disagree that Jef Raskin and Bruce Tognazzini are false idols, and that Bill Atkinson is a hero.
To credit Atkinson for the Mac UI and diminish Tog’s role is nothing short of criminal. Atkinson was a talented programmer, yes, and lucky to have been hired by Apple in the early years, but the truth is if it wasn’t Atkinson, some other talented programmer could easily have done what he did. Tog was the compass by which the programmers steered their ship. (Boy, Atkinson sure has aged since i knew him; guess it’s pushing 20 years now.)
Disputed Viewpoint – Scapegoat – Scully
Should read…
Villain – John Scully – abandoned Mac OS for the Newton, acquiesced to BG3 to trade perpetual Mac ‘look n feel’ to get assurances of ‘Office’, traded future marketshare for short-term exorbitant profits.
Disputed View – Villain: Gil Amelio
Gil got Apple back into the black just before Jobs came back to the board. He already had a project for a low cost Mac which eventually became the iMac before Jobs came back.
When Gil was taken on board, Apple had enough money to only survive for a few months under the current conditions. In a year and a half Apple had 3 Billion in cash. FACT.
Gil was also responsible for purchasing NeXT
I agree on Gil Amilio.
He brought discipline back to Apple and made some tough decisions that needed to be made. He just wasn’t a tech visionary like Jobs but he was the right guy at that time.