“Ex-Apple CEO John Sculley takes a similar look at his stint at the top of Apple, and says the company made a big mistake when it hired him as CEO,” Kahney reports. “It’s the most surprisingly frank admission I’ve ever heard anyone make about their career.”
Interview extract – recommended – here.
Full interview – recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: Mr. Obvious. Frank or not, that sonuvabitchin’ unprepared sugared water salesbozo signed away Apple’s crown jewels via a poorly-written contract with Microsoft and very nearly killed the company. As least he seems to know it and is willing to admit it.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Arline M.” for the heads up.]
G4Dualie sez: “perhaps after twenty-five years have passed, and if he lives that long, we may hear W admit he screwed up.”
John Sculley figured out his errors because he has a reasonable level of intelligence.
And W? “Nuculer”. Enough said.
G4Dualie sez: “perhaps after twenty-five years have passed, and if he lives that long, we may hear W admit he screwed up.”
John Sculley figured out his errors because he has a reasonable level of intelligence.
And W? “Nuculer”. Enough said.
Sculley would have been better off at Pepsi, but SJ seduced him and got him hired. The earlier SJ made a lot of mistakes.
But honestly, it couldn’t have gone any better.
Steve Jobs learned a lot AND created a completely next gen OS that we all use and love today. The NextOS could never have been successfully developed in the Apple when SJ was still there — it would have suffered the fate of the Pink project (which was far more advanced.)
Sculley’s Apple did a fantastic job of building the brand and made the company a LOT of money. He’s not SJ (as we know him today) but who is. The Newton took balls… the kind of failure one can be proud of.
Apple’s near death is what empowered SJ to make radical changes. It’s why MS can’t make these kind of changes–the old way is making them too much money.
Honestly as one who was around at the time, of all the bozos that have run Apple, Sculley was far from the worst.
Sculley would have been better off at Pepsi, but SJ seduced him and got him hired. The earlier SJ made a lot of mistakes.
But honestly, it couldn’t have gone any better.
Steve Jobs learned a lot AND created a completely next gen OS that we all use and love today. The NextOS could never have been successfully developed in the Apple when SJ was still there — it would have suffered the fate of the Pink project (which was far more advanced.)
Sculley’s Apple did a fantastic job of building the brand and made the company a LOT of money. He’s not SJ (as we know him today) but who is. The Newton took balls… the kind of failure one can be proud of.
Apple’s near death is what empowered SJ to make radical changes. It’s why MS can’t make these kind of changes–the old way is making them too much money.
Honestly as one who was around at the time, of all the bozos that have run Apple, Sculley was far from the worst.
Were missing the point here people
The discussion is not about some zen like
response to whether steve was well served by his exile
But rather
That
Sculley dropped the lawsuit between Microsoft and Apple over the
UI , this gave us windows 95 and the rest is history
Sculley took a pay off to drop that suit but first he needed to get rid of Jobs
Were missing the point here people
The discussion is not about some zen like
response to whether steve was well served by his exile
But rather
That
Sculley dropped the lawsuit between Microsoft and Apple over the
UI , this gave us windows 95 and the rest is history
Sculley took a pay off to drop that suit but first he needed to get rid of Jobs
If you will bother to read the interview (and actually add to what you already know) you would find out that it was Apple’s board of directors that decided that Steve was too young to be CEO. It was the board that made the decision to recruit from outside the tech sector. It was the board that settled on Sculley as the best candidate. It was the board that demanded and created an unsustainable division of duties and responsibilities, which ultimately led to Steve leaving the company.
Jobs may have sealed Sculley’s recruitment with his sugar water speech, but he was acting on the recommendation of a board that had decided that he should not be CEO.
If you will bother to read the interview (and actually add to what you already know) you would find out that it was Apple’s board of directors that decided that Steve was too young to be CEO. It was the board that made the decision to recruit from outside the tech sector. It was the board that settled on Sculley as the best candidate. It was the board that demanded and created an unsustainable division of duties and responsibilities, which ultimately led to Steve leaving the company.
Jobs may have sealed Sculley’s recruitment with his sugar water speech, but he was acting on the recommendation of a board that had decided that he should not be CEO.
You only have to look at what Jobs was doing with Next to understand what would have happened at Apple had he stayed and been given creative freedom. In other words, Apple would have been light years ahead of any rival and had the near-equivalent of OS X way back in the early 90s.
You only have to look at what Jobs was doing with Next to understand what would have happened at Apple had he stayed and been given creative freedom. In other words, Apple would have been light years ahead of any rival and had the near-equivalent of OS X way back in the early 90s.
@20 benson
Wrong, as usual.
Steve Jobs was practically the only one left at NeXT, when Apple came to his rescue. All of his closest friends resigned, including everyone who helped him co-founded NeXT.
Jobs laid off 280 employees and Ross Perot withdrew his financial support, saying it was the biggest mistake of his life.
Steve was desperate when he received a call from Markula who whispered into his ear that Apple was shopping around for a new OS.
That’s what Steve was doing with his time; alienating everyone around him and wasting gobs of money.
So how do you figure lightyears ahead?
Jobs ran out of money and could no longer afford to build the hardware and was concentrating exclusively on NeXTStep 3.0.
@20 benson
Wrong, as usual.
Steve Jobs was practically the only one left at NeXT, when Apple came to his rescue. All of his closest friends resigned, including everyone who helped him co-founded NeXT.
Jobs laid off 280 employees and Ross Perot withdrew his financial support, saying it was the biggest mistake of his life.
Steve was desperate when he received a call from Markula who whispered into his ear that Apple was shopping around for a new OS.
That’s what Steve was doing with his time; alienating everyone around him and wasting gobs of money.
So how do you figure lightyears ahead?
Jobs ran out of money and could no longer afford to build the hardware and was concentrating exclusively on NeXTStep 3.0.
Former Apple CEO John Sculley, famous for helping force Steve Jobs from the company he co-founded in 1985, admitted in an interview that his hiring as CEO was a “big mistake” and that Jobs should have been given the job instead.
stimelex
Former Apple CEO John Sculley, famous for helping force Steve Jobs from the company he co-founded in 1985, admitted in an interview that his hiring as CEO was a “big mistake” and that Jobs should have been given the job instead.
stimelex
Biggest blunder the Apple board ever made. Second biggest blunder was replacing Sculley with Michael Spindler.
stimelex
Biggest blunder the Apple board ever made. Second biggest blunder was replacing Sculley with Michael Spindler.
stimelex
Steve Jobs hired Sculley so isn’t that the big mistake if indeed Sculley is as bad as MDN reports? How much credibility does MDN really have? In my opinion, none, they’re a joke. I use them because of the handy widget.
Didn’t Bill Gates warn Apple that their contracts were weak and only then took advantage of them? Not that I like MSFT but come on people. Face facts. For that period of time, the true pirate was Bill Gates. He won the battle / war of being the better business man. The people at Apple made that possible. Lesson learned.
But just look what came of it. In large part, people use MSFT today because they have to. They use Apple products and software because they want to.
Steve Jobs hired Sculley so isn’t that the big mistake if indeed Sculley is as bad as MDN reports? How much credibility does MDN really have? In my opinion, none, they’re a joke. I use them because of the handy widget.
Didn’t Bill Gates warn Apple that their contracts were weak and only then took advantage of them? Not that I like MSFT but come on people. Face facts. For that period of time, the true pirate was Bill Gates. He won the battle / war of being the better business man. The people at Apple made that possible. Lesson learned.
But just look what came of it. In large part, people use MSFT today because they have to. They use Apple products and software because they want to.