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How important is Steve Jobs to the iPhone's future success?

Vitruviux said:
.....Thanks for agreeing with me, that's exactly what I said.

Jobs was the one that brought in the right people and made everything work, once he is gone, it will all fall apart.
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they won't fall a part but what will happen is the new product offerings won't "push the limits" so to speak, the perfect example is the iPhone

no steve and this is probably what the iphone would have looked like

iphone-conecpt.jpg


with steve and the rest is history

iPhone2G-vs-iPhone3G.jpg


granted there is nothing wrong with the first design, but it certainly isn't anything revolutionary
 
QuarterSwede said:
The only person who can pick a sucessor will be Jobs. No one else at Apple completely understands what is needed for a visionary. Steve Jobs is one in a billion.

[EDIT] Exactly, tritonj.
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Although I do not know him personally, the people I know who are in powerful positions, are mostly cocky. I don't think they would step down fully till the plot is dug. They surely wouldn't bring someone around who could possibly replace them while they are still alive.

I'd guess that he has some people he keeps his eye on, but not setting them up to take the seat.

I hope whoever is is his successor keeps making these awesome gadgets...
 
Vitruviux said:
.....Thanks for agreeing with me, that's exactly what I said.

Jobs was the one that brought in the right people and made everything work, once he is gone, it will all fall apart.
Click to expand...




When you have other great minds working together and they go from were Apple was back in 1997 to were it's at now I'm sure they'll follow the path Steve Jobs would approve of.
 
I think in this market originality and creativity is critical. A cell phone with a touchscreen and 3rd party applications? Who would of even considered that 5 years ago?
 
Apple will continue to have great products, but when the day comes for Jobs, and he is no longer with Apple I believe a descent is inevitable. Apple is Jobs' baby, CEO and founder of the greatest technology company in the world. No one can ever put the amount of time and passion into it like Jobs has spent the majority of his life doing.
 
Let's just hope that SJ recovers (any considerations about Apple aside) and that when the time comes a successor will be chosen who is better than the soulless losers in the 90's that nearly ran the company into the ground.

Above all else I hope Apple will continue to be run by people who take pride in creativity and innovation rather than having the attitude they should design and sell consumer products with all the panache of Pepsi.

EDIT:
Padraig said:
John Sculley says hello.
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That name triggers some very bad flashbacks....
 
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iphone-conecpt.jpg


This will be for all the people who keep yelling "It's just a phone people! We don't need a larger screen".

It'll sell millions.
 
lsvtecjohn3 said:
When you have other great minds working together and they go from were Apple was back in 1997 to were it's at now I'm sure they'll follow the path Steve Jobs would approve of.
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There are lot of brilliant people working at Apple now, no doubt, but if they don't have a brilliant leader, they'll scatter.
 
Essentially, what steve jobs does is give the OK on designs and ideas. He does other stuff too, but that's a major role he fills. Other people come up with the ideas, sure, but how likely is it there will be someone like steve who seems to nearly every time choose the idea that makes millions? There are only a few products that Apple has made that hasn't made them a giant pile of cash. I don't think replacing him will be that easy. Will Apple continue? Sure. But if Jobs' replacement gives the OK on bad ideas... Well, I'm sure you can figure out where that will lead.
 
Not important at all. The iPhone is designed by a large group of people including engineers, programers, marketing, QA, and ergonomics. It is not designed by Steve Jobs as fanboys believe. Also decisions in a company are made by a comitee that includes business analysts and managemet staff, it is not the C.E.O. alone that decides.

If Jobs leaves Apple it won't change anythig, it is like Bill Gates and MS. People made the same coments Gates=MS; Gates left MS and everything stayed the same.
 
RebeccaL said:
Not important at all. The iPhone is designed by a large group of people including engineers, programers, marketing, QA, and ergonomics. It is not designed by Steve Jobs as fanboys believe.

If Jobs leaves Apple it won't change anythig, it is like Bill Gates and MS. People made the same coments Gates=MS; Gates left MS and everything stayed the same.
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It wasn't DESIGNED by steve jobs, but how many CEOs would give the OK on a product that pretty much had no products like it with which to offer some glimmer of how successful the new product would be? Steve was pretty sure that it would sell simply due to the fact that it was far better than any phone before it, i'm sure, but there was no data to back that up. It had never been done before. That's what makes Apple what it is. Steve is the one who says yes and no, and everyone else gives him what to say yes and no to. Nobody can guarantee his replacement will be as good as he has been.

EDIT: His replacement will most likely be Tim Cook. Make of that what you will.
 
ARF900 said:
I think in this market originality and creativity is critical. A cell phone with a touchscreen and 3rd party applications? Who would of even considered that 5 years ago?
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Handspring released the first Treo in 2002. It was an inovative [at the time] phone that had a touchscreen and ran third party applications.
 
I think Steve has a major part to play in Apple's success, He's built up a cult following and operation within the various elements of Apple and R&D. But the business is more than one man. So I'm sure it'll continue on the same course. So long as they keep their eyes on the core business ideals and visions.
 
ARF900 said:
I think in this market originality and creativity is critical. A cell phone with a touchscreen and 3rd party applications? Who would of even considered that 5 years ago?
Click to expand...

actually there were plenty of touch screen devices and 3rd party apps, that was never the problem. the technology had been around, but the problem was the technology wasn't pushed to a new level, which is why there were only Treo devices. Steve is the guy at Apple who pushes it to that next level, question will be is there someone else who can do that once he leaves. if not then you will get more products like Treos coming from Apple. good products but nothing that is outside the box and redefines a market.

RebeccaL said:
Not important at all. The iPhone is designed by a large group of people including engineers, programers, marketing, QA, and ergonomics. It is not designed by Steve Jobs as fanboys believe. Also decisions in a company are made by a comitee that includes business analysts and managemet staff, it is not the C.E.O. alone that decides.

If Jobs leaves Apple it won't change anythig, it is like Bill Gates and MS. People made the same coments Gates=MS; Gates left MS and everything stayed the same.
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no one says he designed it, but he sure as hell is the one who had a vision and challenged those under him to meet that vision. like i said before there are plenty of executives out there to choose from, and if it were that easy to find a guy like Steve every other company would have one, i think ti is a pretty good indication based on the crap that other companies have put out in an effort to compete with an iphone that it isn't that easy to find another Steve Jobs

and don't give me the whole they have smart engineers, every company has equally smart engineers

just look at MS Surface, that tech is amazing and MS does nothing with it

Apple OC said:
Apple will continue with much success ...
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you gotta be kidding me, if Apple release that clam shell as the iphone back in the day it would not have even come close to the success of what we know of as the iphone. the success of the iphone comes from the user experience
 
JSK1121 said:
Agreed. I wouldn't worry about the product quality dipping due to his absence. What worries me is the stock price dipping. I didn't invest in Apple just because of Jobs but, like that poster above you, many investors do think he IS Apple.
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Oh come now...any investor worth his or her salt should be happy that the sheep are leaving and lowering the price of the stock. It's a fantastic opportunity to buy more shares 'on sale'!

Apple is solid company and the shares will continue to climb based on solid products that people want to buy. This selloff is a great opportunity to boost your investment in Apple in my opinion. :cool:

Unless you are in the game for the 'short haul', then...yes, please panic.
 
It will be a great loss, but Apple will continue to flourish I believe, to think that a company like Apple will crumble with the loss of one man seems a tad fanboyish imo :p

p.s I hope steve jobs gets better, as much as I don't like him for his personality he puts out there, I never wished harm or death on him.
 
jav6454 said:
Microsoft is not fine without Gates, sure they are making money but as of late everything they do is a me-too deal. With Gates it was a "Bam-here-is-this" deal. That X worked was a whole 'nother deal.
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+ 1.

Say what you will about Bill Gates but he is to Microsoft as Steve Jobs is to Apple.

Ballmer ruined Microsoft.
 
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