Bob Iger: If Steve Jobs Were Alive, We Would Likely Have Combined Apple and Disney

[macduke]

That’s really sad. I always thought it would be a good combination. They have a lot of similarities in caring about user experience, are more family focused brands, had visionary leaders, etc. Would have been interesting to see how they could have changed entertainment.

 

[MacFan23]

I'm talking out of my butt but I feel like if Steve was still around Disney+ would be Apple's streaming service (as a partnership)

Shoutout to my butt.

 

[Stoke]

On this picture Mr. Iger looks like an evil magician.

With secret aces up his sleeve. Licenses, contracts, IP, merchandise...

 

[goldiehawned]

Steve Jobs was far superior to what we have now at Apple, but these "if Steve Jobs were alive" articles/statements/ponderings are laughable at best. Might as well say if Jesus were alive, if dinosaurs were alive.

 

[BvizioN]

If Steve Jobs we’re alive the iPhone would be a lot more than it is right now. Not stupid little incremental updates

James

Yeah. Like it took them several iPhone models/iOS versions to support something as simple as custom wallpaper (to not go into deeper features like multitasking/copy and paste and other stuff) Correct me if I am wrong, but it was Apple under Steve Jobs then, wasn't it?

 

[Classie]

I think the most realistic ”merger” would be a joint streaming service... damn! that would’ve been awesome!

 

[ph001bi]

first, this dark mode is dank. good job MR's.

second, a merger like this would absolutely never survive an anti-trust review. disney and apple are stupidly large. put them together? yeah no. also, a company that big and fragmented in purpose would collapse on its own size, and be an absolutely miserable place to work for. SVP of HR for the apple x disney company? hah, no amount of money makes that a feasible or desirable position.

third, MR is dainty about its rules so I can only call this guy pretentious, but what a jerk to a) take a dump on tim cook with this time honored "if steve were alive" nonsense and b) pretend like he has any idea what a dead guy would want to do almost 10 years after he passed.

unsurprisingly, he leaves the board and gets real mouthy.

You should probably read the article on Vanity Fair, instead of just the extracts on this post. It’s very respectful and the remark about discussing merger is just one point in a very long list. He certainly doesn’t take a dump on Tim Cook.

 

[newyorksole]

James, in all honesty, I don’t think you understand how smart phones evolve . What’s incremental to you might be a major upgrade to someone else who is upgrading from an iPhone 6 or 7.

Ugh thank you. People don’t realize that the average person does NOT upgrade every year. There are millions of people still using iPhone 5, 5S, 6, 6S & 7.

 

[Grade]

If Jobs was alive and was part of the board of Disney, we probably wouldn't allow half the stuff that happen in Disney in recent years, specially with many stuff that happen in Lucasfilms and the parks, regarding to Galaxy's Edge.

 

[Kal-037]

Disney CEO and former Apple board member Bob Iger has a new book coming out later this month, and ahead of its release, Vanity Fair has shared some key excerpts about Steve Jobs, who was Iger's close friend.

When Iger first took over as CEO of Disney, the relationship between the two companies was strained due to Jobs' disagreements with Michael Eisner and the end of a deal that had seen Disney releasing Pixar films.

Steve Jobs and Bob Iger. Image credit: Paul Sakuma/A.P. Photo​

Iger broke the ice with Jobs and rekindled a relationship by praising the iPod and discussing iTunes as a television platform.Jobs went on to tell Iger about the video iPod, and asked Iger to put Disney TV shows on it, which Iger agreed to, leading to a solid friendship between the two and ultimately, a new Disney/Pixar deal.

According to Iger, in 2006 just ahead of when Disney was set to announce its acquisition of Pixar, Jobs told Iger that his cancer had returned and spread to his liver, giving Iger time to back out of the deal.After the acquisition, Jobs underwent cancer treatment and served on Disney's board as Disney's largest shareholder. He weighed in on important Disney decisions like the acquisition of Marvel, and even vacationed with Iger on occasion. "Our connection was much more than a business relationship," wrote Iger.

Iger says that with each Disney success, there's always a moment where he wishes Jobs was there, and further, he believes that if Jobs were still alive, the two companies may have merged."The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company" is set to be released on September 23, 2019. It can be pre-ordered from Amazon for $19.60.

The full excerpt, which has a lot more on the history of the deal between Disney and Pixar, can be read over at Vanity Fair.

Article Link: Bob Iger: If Steve Jobs Were Alive, We Would Likely Have Combined Apple and Disney

No, I mean I see a lose partnership, but Jobs being who he was, he would’ve probably rather owned Disney completely.
***So while the majority of Apple and the main campus are more liberal... I feel they be less controversial when making films. I mean that in sense of them not flipping off fans or ignoring them, or throwing as many agendas of SJW and political crap. Sure they’d push inclusivity and diversity (but with how they successfully do that in their ads and promotions for their devices already,) I really believe they’d be a little more subtle. I think they’d be a little better at letting the director do what they hired him to without the insane micromanaging, political agenda, and overall junk Disney pulls.
**again just my opinion. ?✌️

 

[Kal-037]

If Jobs was alive and was part of the board of Disney, we probably wouldn't allow half the stuff that happen in Disney in recent years, specially with many stuff that happen in Lucasfilms and the parks, regarding to Galaxy's Edge.

^^^This^^^ Jobs had a big ego and was pretty darn aggressive, but he seemed like he had good respect for many directors, creators, and talented folks. And I bet he was a fan of Star Wars and would not have let Johnson do what he did... maybe even Abrams to an extent too. *I personally like Abrams: “Force Awakens” and think while it had issues, he clearly loved the OG Star Wars and was trying to pay homage while getting new viewers... and that’s a tough thing to balance. **Rian Johnson obviously came in with his giant ego first and a conscious decision of changing a 40 year old established film franchise with already great plots, characters, action, drama, and fun, into. HIS vision of Stars Wars, (instead of knowing the material) and making a film that didn’t crap on the past films and Lucas’ legacy... him being okay and not accepting that he maybe went too far with the big changes and angering fans by flipping them off essentially... is another reason he’s so sucky.

 

[Steve121178]

I couldn't think of anything worse. I don't understand the whole Disney thing anyway. Their general movie output is a tragic mess and you can see their greedy business culture has already ruined the Star Wars franchise with some woefully inept movies. They just want to sell as much tacky crap & toys with each movie as possible.

Disney ruin almost everything they buy. They are the equivalent of EA in the gaming world.

 

[Marshall73]

If Steve Jobs we’re alive the iPhone would be a lot more than it is right now. Not stupid little incremental updates

James

You clearly haven’t been around Apple stuff long then have you. The iPhone and iPad all follow the previous hardware from Apple. Launch device, incremental updates for years. Hardware refresh/redesign incremental updates for years.

 

[Onelifenofear]

If Steve Jobs we’re alive the iPhone would be a lot more than it is right now. Not stupid little incremental updates

James

I don't think you know how technology works bud.

 

[Onelifenofear]

first, this dark mode is dank. good job MR's.

unpleasantly damp and cold or wet?

 

[Stevez67]

And if pigs had wings ...

 

[dotnet]

If Steve Jobs were alive Bob Iger would be dead. That's how alternate realities work.

 

[robertcoogan]

My phone is far from feature complete. Its a visionless brick. I have an iPhone 7.
The software is outdated and it could do way more.
Why didn't apple buy a network carrier and esteblishes a tight net of coverage worldwide?
Why scratches the thing still, more drop resistance.
Why not foldable, 1 week battery life

Its focus was on things that could easily be achieved - just bigger and more cameras - 8 years of ripp off - the 4s is still my favorite, just too slow, unfortunately

Ok...what "more" do you want the software to do? I don't think you understand what feature-complete means. For example - a camera is a feature. When the software on the phone is updated, that's not a feature.

 

[kemal]

If Steven Jobs were alive, we would still be complaining about the iPhone, MacBook *, Cube Pro and ProRAM.

 

[jerrycardsusa]

Apple would be a much better company if Steve Jobs were alive.

 

[Whathappened]

If Steve Jobs we’re alive the iPhone would be a lot more than it is right now. Not stupid little incremental updates

James

No, rather he’d explain why so many morons are wrong because they don’t understand that there is no new breaking technology.
The iPhone is like perfect.
Btw Jobs was alive when they did incremental updates every year.

 

[Pangalactic]

James, in all honesty, I don’t think you understand how smartphones evolve. What’s incremental to you might be a major upgrade to someone else who is upgrading from an iPhone 6 or 7.

Thank is a ridiculous argument. I could easily say "I'm upgrading from Nokia 3300, therefore <insert and phone model here> is a phenomenal upgrade!"

Iphone X to iPhone X Max to iPhone X Pro Max is a minor incremental update, no matter how you spin it.

 

[Tapiture]

Definitely going to buy Iger’s book. Very smart guy who’s done a lot for disney.

 

[BornAgainMac]

We should have a weekly thread with "If Steve Jobs was alive Topic ".
An alternative timeline series. Heck, this would be a great TV show for Apple TV +.

 

[lunarworks]

An Apple-Disney merger would have been an absolute disaster. If some of you think Apple TV+ is taking away too much of Apple's attention from their other products, imagine if half the company was literally Disney.