I completely agree, I think the 'apology'(or lack there of) was just a convenient excuse.
@
dysamoria In my earlier post, I was referring to the fact that Steve Jobs would never pander to or apologize to haters the way Cook was so quick to do (Of course this is just my opinion).
Steve Jobs would've found his own way to do things, no doubt. He was very egotistical and very controlling, which was bad on a social front and great on a technological front. It's just unknown exactly how he would've dealt with this specific situation. He surely did beat down the MobileMe teams...
How much involvement do you think Jony Ive has on software right now? He's handed off his duties to two VPs who now report to Tim Cook. You never hear him talk about software. My guess is his oversight of software has been exaggerated.
I do find the revisionist history of Forstall quite amusing. People complained about the look of iOS making fun of faux leather and green felt, The Verge even ran a story called It's Always 73 and Sunny in Cupertino basically complaining about how stale iOS had become. Now it's Scott should never have been fired and iOS 1-6 was amazing and everything after sucks blah blah blah.
I think the media, and the facts-devoid Apple fans (those who want change for the sake of change), got the notion that "Forstall = skeumorphism", and that "skeumorphism = bad", and ran an entirely irrational fad-based media crusade to destroy an historically solid design motif and replace it with an historically invalid design motif that happened to sit on top of the structure of the old one.
Now, after years of iOS going down hill in terms of bugs and ease of use, and seeing the old designs in a new context (the new context being that everything is ugly today), people are now doing what people do: instead of considering the more likely middle ground, they're completely taking the opposite position and clamoring for Forstall to be the new god emperor of Apple.
Moderation is a hard thing for people.
Do you REALLY think this was about Apple Maps? No way. They all didn't like working with him.
That seems to be the case. The question is why did they not like working with him? If he was a jerk, fair enough. It seems Jobs kept people in check. It's a loss of many skilled people when such a manager is lost.
That's what the rumors suggested. John Gruber said even Phil Schiller had problems working with Forstall in part because Forstall would wait until the last minute to give marketing any information on new iOS releases. There were also stories at the time that he would bad mouth other teams to his own teams via email. And that Bob Mansfield wouldn't be in a meeting with him unless Tim Cook was present.
I remember it as Joni Ive being the one who wouldn't even talk to him. I may remember incorrectly.
So pack bullying is condoned?
Wrong. Forstall was bullied out of the company. His coworkers had the issue.
Without Forstall, we wouldn't have had the insane leap in user interfaces from old style phones to new style iPhones. They created the breakthroughs. Just follow the timeline of events. Maps launch was rushed. Apple should have waited until it was properly ready.
Forstall and team were the reason for the success of iPhone. Forstall's absence is also the reason why iOS is not progressing, and why iPhone is not progressing in meaningful ways.
Very interesting comments. Sources?
I've worked in hostile places. It happens. Good and sensitive people get driven out. The clever sociopaths stay. The culture degrades to where it's downright toxic and then libertarians and republicans defend toxic and violent workplaces with nonsense about "tough leadership is necessary"...
The skeuomorphism would have died in iOS no matter who was at the helm. Forstall had a larger concern with the underpinnings of the software than anything in the user interface. For its time, the real texture of iOS apps hearkened back to just about every other app metaphor for everyday items since the dawn of graphical computing.
Forstall was long rumored to be on the short list as a successor to Steve, and at least couple of people in the inner circle said Steve was actually grooming him. That would explain his forceful personality, as Steve knew what it takes to drive such a massive operation. Given his amazing perception he would also recognize that just as he wasn't ready to lead Apple when he was booted out in the 80s - something he publicly admitted - neither was Forstall ready. He had the raw talent but not the wisdom. Don't be surprised if it was in Forstall's best interest - and possible even planned by Jobs - to be given the boot. The guy needed whiskers. Life experience. Heartbreak. So feed his ego, let him self-destruct and get forced out. Lessons follow. Step 4 - profit, as the saying goes.
Its been my pet theory for quite some time now that he will do just that. Most people don't recall that Forstall is an excellent chess player, and that influences his thought patterns. He is setting up his pieces based on what's available to him. Don't be surprised if he comes back five or ten years from now, or maybe even next year. If he's making this public appearance and speaking directly about his work, supported indirectly by other people from the iOS team, it may mean he's getting himself back into consideration. There will still be a substantial number of people on staff in the MacOS shop that will back him, given his prior successful leadership there. Craig Federighi worked for him before, and would stay right where he's at. Fadell - his biggest detractor - is long out of the picture and largely discredited; he will never be back. Mansfield is far removed from Apple operations now, running a skunkworks project.
Cook is the real issue now. While a lot of number-watchers like him, and the SJW's think he's the greatest thing since kale chips, he's dependent on others for the company vision. Forstall is a self-contained unit, and he's still very much on top of everything electronic in our daily lives. I would like to see Cook return to his CFO duties, with Forstall - providing he has his act together - on top of everything else.
BTW: I'm hoping that in his time away from the company, he's learned to not say ridiculous things during product demos like "this is blow-away".
I would've liked your comment for everything it had going for it, but then you seemed to use "SJW" as a pejorative, and you lost me.
Right now the ONLY thing I like about Tim Cook are his social politics. He's leading Apple down the same path of shareholder worship that almost killed it and its products once before. The fact that he promotes progressive and humane political ideologies is the only thing I find good about him, because society doesn't improve without big players leading the way, and Apple is a huge player.
Why should it matter to any of us if he was a douchebag behind the scenes? So was Steve but his legacy speaks for itself. You can't be a nice guy in the tech industry all the time, just look at the mess of iOS now with the supposed "harmonious" work environment. Funnily enough it's the "massive douchebags" like Scott and Steve that seem to bring out the best in Apple and the whole tech industry in general. That ruthlessness is clearly missing in today's Apple. No more Steve to say: "This is ****, make it better", like he would to half of the crap that Apple's been churning out these past few years. If he suddenly came back from the dead and saw the mess of the music app, the lag and random stutters scattered around iOS, the inconsistent and ugly UI, stuff like the camera bump and antenna lines on the iPhones... he'd probably fire 90% of the people there. And given that ruthlessness I was talking about, he'd be so livid he'd probably fire Jony too before telling him to **** off for ****ing his company, replace him with some other designer and then rehire Forstall.
Ah, the defender of the "tough manager". Please read these:
Steve Jobs - cautionary tale?
https://www.wired.com/2012/07/ff_stevejobs/all/
Response to a sociopathic managerial opinion article at:
http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/26/what-do-you-do-with-the-brilliant-jerk/
While you're at it, maybe this one is also a good bit of advise too:
"Alpha Male" is a BS Myth:
http://www.bodyforwife.com/the-myth-of-the-alpha-male-2/
Skeumorphism was necessary in those nascent years of the iPhone. It helped us make a leap forward in performing operations, by pressing and swiping on glass.
Today, skeumorphism looks ugly and feels dated. I am happy that Apple moved away from it.
But that's not to say that iOS 11 is without fault. There are many to list. That busy control centre. Those unnecessarily big and thick heading fonts throughout the OS. The candy bubbles.
My favourite version was iOS 9. When the music app was beautiful. When the control centre was nice. When notifications looked good.
I like the functionality that has been added since iOS 9, like the software implementation of 3D Touch (e.g peek and pop). However, on a purely aesthetic basis, I feel that the OS peaked at version 9.
This is a common misrepresentation of the entirety of all human beings using technology. Just because Apple dragged YOU along for the ride does not mean everyone else is right there with the same personal history of experience. The current iOS (every iOS since and including 7) is much harder on new users. It's harder on experienced users too, but they're generally not engaging in efficiency or effectiveness studies while they consciously choose to accept "newer" as "good".
Apple made its fortune by creating computing devices that EVERYONE could easily get on with, regardless of their experience level. They've abandoned this mission, which is strange seeing how the average end user consumer is the only type of market they seem to really care about any more. Basically this is down to following Wall Street, rather than any one mission.
Me too. Every time I see it on my iPhone 4, I feel angry about iOS 7. Then I feel angry about iOS 7 and all versions that followed when I run into all the bugs and GUI conventions that serve to make my iOS user experience slightly miserable. The only thing iOS has going for it today is its legacy and core system, which is eroding at every update. It's still better than the alternatives but that's a horrible logical model by which to make choices.
