Scott Forstall's Personality, Origins of iOS, and Lost iPhone 4 Prototype

[Michael Scrip]

Uh, no. Cause of iPhone being lost - dumb/drunk engineer who left it in a bar.

Exactly.

Plus it's good to take the new product out of the lab and into the field to test it.

But let's not make it 3 years in a row, Apple....

 

[Caliber26]

It's always interesting to read these articles and get a tiny glimpse at their true personality. Regardless, as a consumer, I'm only worried about what he does with Apple and iOS. Hopefully, future generations of iPhone and iOS will show us what Scott's all about and whether he can shine on his own.

 

[FlameofAnor]

There is a big part of me that is relieved to hear that someone over there is still a cut throat jerk.

Just because you know you're right, doesn't make you a jerk.

 

[zeromeus]

What if Forstall wears black mock turtleneck and blue jeans?

"Forstall is described as almost as a "mini-Steve" being a detail oriented manager but also one that is difficult to work with. "

If Forstall takes Jobs' entire stock of unused black mock turtlenecks and get himself some blue jeans... and take over as the next Apple CEO, will we see history repeat itself??? You know... with the greatest products under super tight secret labs and all that good stuff under Jobs.

 

[Cagle]

Interesting. Forstall appears to be a very nice guy. I'm glad Mac OS X won.

I feel the opposite, he seems like a prick to me, but as Larry David said, "the guys a total prick and he'll do a good job, pricks are good, you want a prick!"

 

[swingerofbirch]

Working at Apple sounds scary. Every time I read about accounts of the inner workings of Apple it reminds of accounts of the inner workings of Scientology. Apple is materially successful, but some of the accountings don't sound mentally healthy.

 

[macbook pro i5]

i find it very entertaining listening to scot give the iOS presentations and his marketing is good to he could have been the successor to steve jobs?????

 

[David G.]

Scott Forstall reminds me of Richard Hammond. In looks and personality. Anyone else feel the same?

 

[joegleur]

Newsflash- this is what it takes to get **** done and strive for excellence. I love how people naively think that Apple could have become what it is today, and can stay that way, with chilled-out push-overs and mellow dudes leading it. You can criticize what you see as personality flaws from the comforts of your position on a messageboards, as everyone did with SJ, but at least have the common sense to realize this is what is required to make it, especially in an industry as cut throat as this one. SJ got Apple to where it is precisely by having insanely high standards, exacting requirements, and contro-freak (I hate that term) who micro-manages even the tiniest details. And yes, that naturally produces someone who is difficult to work with. But it's a sacrifice that produces results. I know, as I've worked in high pressure environments. I truly hope Forstall IS like Jobs, as are others in the company, cause that's what Apple needs. People who fight tooth and nail for their vision if they believe it's the right one. That's what Steve did- he did it everyday.

Forstall made absolutely the right call. And out of all the public figures at Apple, I like him the best. Seems to be the most Steve-like in his charisma, energy, passion, and onstage presence. Not Steve by a long shot, obviously. I just hope there is a single person at Apple with a vision to lead everyone else by, because decisions by committee will never work. Someone able to play hardball with content providers, as SJ did with iTunes, iPhone, etc. Damn, now I'm getting depressed again.

you deserve an applause my friend! words out of my mouth. i'm feeling a bit less worried now because honestly (could be totally wrong), tim cook still feels more like an operations manager.. whilst people like scott, he looks like he has a vision for the technology rather than sales figures (both are equally important of course)

steve had to go and we're still stuck with bieber *kicks sand* jk

 

[goMac]

Interesting. Forstall appears to be a very nice guy. I'm glad Mac OS X won.

OS X. Not Mac OS X. From the sound of things, Forstall is taking resources from other parts of the company.

I.E. Mac OS X.

 

[gugy]

I actually feel the opposite. Im not sure why, but whenever I see him on stage I just see snobbiness and jocky-ness. Obviously I don't know the guy and I could be wrong, but I sense that he's in his own world, and he's a douche to everyone. Of course, I could be wrong.

Yep, I feel the same way. Not sure about the guy but once again it's hard to judge someone when you don't know the person.

 

[WilliamG]

Scott Forstall reminds me of Richard Hammond. In looks and personality. Anyone else feel the same?

Not even close! Not even close to being close.

 

[SDAVE]

This guy creeps me out.

Seems like a douche.

 

[mKizzo]

Never met him personally, but can imagine he's a bit of a jerk to work with. Feels like he's trying to emulate Steve too much, always wearing similar clothes and putting a bit too much effort in his delivery during keynotes. Comes across false. Steve was always genuine. At least he appeared that way.

Having said all that, he's obviously got skill and vision. So fair play.

 

[Benguitar]

I like and respect Scott, Yes the article says he might be difficult to work with, But that doesn't surprise me or offend me.

That usually means he takes what he does seriously, and upholds Apple's 'morals' that Steve created.

I personally would like to see Forstall run Apple someday, I have been very impressed with the way he speaks, and presents himself as well as new products.

 

[wikus]

now if only they would stop with the ipadification of OS X and put more focus on it being used with COMPUTERS.

 

[iMikeT]

I think Forstall has decent stage presence and should be presenting/headlining Apple's future keynotes.

 

[Giuly]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/9A334)

This was Steves modus operandi, wasn't it? Macintosh vs. Lisa fighting to death, iOS vs. iPodOS fighting to death.

Remember, Scott Forstall, Phil Schiller and Tim Cook are what they are - nerds. Nerds trying to communicate with average Joe. I've yet to see a nerd that does not seem crappy to regular people. Well, they're doing an insanely great job. Have a look at Steve Ballmer, and they seem immediately less strange.

 

[anonApple]

Uh, no. Cause of iPhone being lost - dumb/drunk engineer who left it in a bar.

That's why it says "indirect cause".

 

[mattdo93]

I like it as well when Forstall takes the stage. He seems very charismatic and has an eloquent way of speaking. He seems to have to call his wife after work alot though

 

[haruhiko]

now if only they would stop with the ipadification of OS X and put more focus on it being used with COMPUTERS.

Lion is very fine so far. The only thing I don't like in Lion is the Launchpad i.e. the most obvious "iPadification" part. Anyway I seldom use it and it doesn't stand in my way to affect my usage of the OS.

 

[gnagy]

This Dilbert comic from a few days ago applies here. ******s get promoted, and there's a good reason for it. There are too many idiots, and it's dangerous to be nice to everyone.

http://dilbert.com/2011-10-10/

 

[Therbo]

Even if they did choose Linux, I doubt the end product would feel any different.

The user land would most likely be the same, and since Linux is Unix-like, and so is OS X, they could just pretty easily compile CoreAnimation, Cocoa, WindowServer etc.

But to the end user, I doubt it matters.

 

[Fairchild]

now if only they would stop with the ipadification of OS X and put more focus on it being used with COMPUTERS.

The iPadification of OSX is an essential step in preparing the Mac user base for a transition to an all encompassing new operating system that will span the breadth of practically the full apple product line with OS II. We've reached a point where all a company's devices should share a common operating system for ease of use in terms of compatibilty, and familiarity and they should share a GUI aesthetic that really solidifies the customer experience. The iPad interface may appear to some as not being a "professional" interface, but we must remember that not every Apple user is a professional. The playground has to be evened and smoothed to accommodate all users ranging from kids to elderly people, the latter being a vital part in the market expansion of Apple products. The new interface would obviously be customizable, but we should all start at the main entrance.

 

[Fairchild]

Although Tim Cook is the new CEO of Apple, Scott Forstall is the new "face" of Apple. He has the charisma and drive to keep making the dream into a reality. Apple's PR frontend is integral to sparking the excitement in potentially new and existing users. Tim Cook has greatly evolved Apple's operations, but based on his first keynote i would hope his participation is limited in future keynotes. With all due respect, the whole team performed admirably considering the circumstances.