Comments on: No One Questioned Microsoft's Viability When Gates Left…

By: Apple’s Q1 Blowout | John Paczkowski | Digital Daily | AllThingsD

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:51:10 +0000

[...] and business media can speculate all they like about Apple CEO Steve Jobs’s health and Apple’s future with or without him, but in fact, the company has never been healthier. Apple (AAPL) just reported a blowout quarter, [...]

By: (Long) Weekend Update, 1.19.09 | Beth Callaghan | Digital Daily | AllThingsD

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:59:31 +0000

[...] with the reactions of both Wall Street and the company’s investors. Then there’s the general response, which has been variously diagnosing Jobs’s health issues and predicting the demise of Apple [...]

By: Ken Okel

Ken Okel — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:39:30 +0000

I’m not sure if Microsoft has been hurt more by Gates leaving or the fact that it created Vista, which hasn’t worked out too well.

By: Levander Thomas

Levander Thomas — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 10:03:25 +0000

I guess you could also say that Obama, W Bush, Reagan, et. al, don’t matter. They’re just one person out of 300,000,000.

But, who the president is is probably only of concern to people who have nothing better to do.

By: Joe Allen

Joe Allen — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 22:15:58 +0000

This is a non-issue except to technology bloggers and others who have nothing better to do.

Do you really thing that 1 of 25,000 people leaving Apple will create a problem for Apple?

No. And investors or stock brokers who believe it will should not be listened to.

Apple has plenty of talent and plenty of vision beyond just Steve. Get real people.

By: Levander Thomas

Levander Thomas — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 04:14:07 +0000

No, I covered that point in the last sentence of my last comment.

How can you possibly know how instrumental Steve was in making these decisions? Even if it’s just a question of whether or not Apple will enter a market or not? Apple is only selling a few different types of hardware devices while the temptation to delve into more has got to be there. Jobs has made comments publicly about having intentionally decided not to enter markets. We have no idea if without Jobs, Apple will start entering markets they don’t belong in hurting their performance. I’ve seen several stories come out of Apple over the last five years about how it was Jobs that kept telling a group they had to go back and make their product better.

We just don’t know how much of an influence Jobs is over this stuff.

The comparison to Microsoft has no bearing whatsoever. Microsoft has a much easier task to keep being successful than Apple does.

By: Andrew Clarke

Andrew Clarke — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 01:54:52 +0000

Your missing the point. Perception in marketing equals reality. Sure Steve is not the person behind every Apple product but people believe he is. In his absence the perceived value of the product will flounder hence losing real value.

By: Levander Thomas

Levander Thomas — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 20:33:05 +0000

No one had those questions when Gates left because Microsoft is now just all about leveraging an existing technology and customer base to make money. Microsoft’s business model has an infrastructure that as long as you take care of, the money will keep coming out.

Apple on the other hand is competing in brand new hotly contest markets like the iPhone. Their business is based on having the vision to create better products and keep innovating. A much tougher task and tasks we know Jobs is good at wringing out of his company. We don’t know how good his successors will be at this without him.

By: Eric Goodman

Eric Goodman — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:48:07 +0000

ErixClix got a jump on this very topic with a great article called “Contrast In Corporate Leadership.” http://www.erixclix.com/2008/0.....eadership/