Slashdot Mirror
Apple Grooming Next Gen of Executives
capt turnpike writes "The modern Apple as we know it -- the good one with open-source Darwin, with Unix-based OS X, and so on -- was mainly the creation of NeXT: Steve Jobs, Avie Tevanian and Jon Rubenstein. What's going to happen to Apple once this troika leaves? eWEEK.com looks at the orderly transition out of Jon and Avie and asks whether things could go as smoothly should Jobs need to retire." From the article: "At some companies, such a loss of leadership could leave the company with a power vacuum or a lack of direction. However, Apple seems to be conscious that no single person--except, perhaps, CEO Steve Jobs himself--is irreplaceable, and that new talent can always be groomed for the future."
What is this, a time warp? These days companies don't "groom" new talent, they buy it. They prefer to buy other companies' overhyped leaders, just like they buy other companies' overhyped projects instead of doing their own R&D.
Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.
FTFA:This move created two new components of the company; the existing hardware division, which had been under Rubinstein's eye, split into iPod and Macintosh divisions.
Apple is a much different company than it was then. Apple is focusing on innovative consumer devices. I can't see Apple focusing entirely on PCs - it's a commodity business that's becoming more difficult every year to keep margins up - we'll see with the move to Intel chips :-). They have to keep expanding their business outside of the PC business and possibly have the PC business actually become secondary to Apple's primary businesses.
Your argument that "non-IT managers outsource to India, IT managers don't" clearly shows your lack of understanding (and respect) for management as a profession. Management does NOT mean keeping you people happy all the time; its impossible. Good management though does mean being consistent, supportive of your staff and their career growth, providing a positive work environment, and making hard decisions. It is HARDER to manage and individual's performance problem, or to selectively reduce headcount, than it is to give everyone 2 hour lunches and install a pool table in the cafeteria.
As for outsourcing...if I have a stable operations environment, solid architecture, dependable project management, reliable Q/A, and a clear product lifecycle infront of me, why WOULDN'T I outsource development if the quality was the same, I retain the source code, and I can get it for pennies on the dollar?
John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
ok, Coward.
Who's the better person?
The one who incorrectly (however very commonly) missused the work ironic, or the person who hides as a coward and yells out from the crowd an insult?
Self proclaimed wannabe geek. You know how it is. Most of us who read this stuff probably fit in that category.