Sam Oliver
Though Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook stopped short of explicitly criticizing recently ousted executives Scott Forstall and John Browett, he did say that recent personnel changes were done to encourage "collaboration."
The comments from Cook from from his extensive interview with Bloomberg published on Thursday. Though Cook did not name Forstall specifically, his comments support earlier reports that claimed Forstall was let go from Apple in part because he was not a team player.
Cook told reporter Josh Tyrangiel that he has a strong belief that collaboration is "essential for innovation." It's also a core belief at Apple, and was something that company co-founder Steve Jobs also shared in.
"You have to be A-plus at collaboration," Cook said. "And so the changes that we made get us to a whole new level of collaboration. We've got services all in one place, and the guy that's running that has incredible skills in services, has an incredible track record, and I'm confident will do fantastic things."
The Apple CEO went on to praise lead designer Jony Ive, saying he has "the best taste of anyone in the world." In his new position, Ive will be responsible for the company's Human Interface division.
Cook said the "face" of the iPhone and iPad is its software, and so it only makes sense for Ive, who designs the hardware, to also have a hand in the software that runs on these devices.
"Jony has done a remarkable job leading our hardware design, so let's have Jony responsible for the software and the look and feel of the software," he said. "Not the underlying architecture and so forth, but the look and feel."
Cook also praised Bob Mansfield, Apple's senior vice president of Technologies, as the finest engineering manager in the world and "in a class by himself." And Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering was called "unbelievable."
"These moves take collaboration to a whole different level," Cook said. "We already were — to use an industry phrase I don't like — best of breed. But it takes us to a whole new level."
The ouster of Forstall and Browett, announced in October, represented a major change to Apple's top brass. While Browett's short-lived tenure as head of retail operations at Apple was filled with controversy, Forstall was a longtime member of Apple's team and was also close to the former CEO, Jobs.
Andrew Orr
Wesley Hilliard
Christine McKee
Appleinsider Staff
Malcolm Owen
62 Comments
So reading between the lines, Tim Cook did not like Forstall and Forstall was incredibly political, basically building his own fiefdom within Apple and that's no-go with Cook.
I think Tim's talking a little too much these days.
He obviously knows what he's doing. It's just that I'm not used to seeing Apple go out and explain their moves like that.
[quote name="Quadra 610" url="/t/154838/apples-recent-executive-shakeup-was-about-collaboration-tim-cook-says#post_2242242"]I think Tim's talking a little too much these days. He obviously knows what he's doing. It's just that I'm not used to seeing Apple go out and explain their moves like that. [/quote] Totally agree! Tim, don't go soft on us! And for god'a sake, DO NOT BRING MANUFACTURING TO THE US!!!!! You have a fiduciary duty to your stockholders that says DON'T DO IT!!!!!
[quote name="Rogifan" url="/t/154838/apples-recent-executive-shakeup-was-about-collaboration-tim-cook-says#post_2242234"]So reading between the lines, Tim Cook did not like Forstall and Forstall was incredibly political, basically building his own fiefdom within Apple and that's no-go with Cook.[/quote] More like the rumors that Forstall was an obnoxious asshat that wouldn't take comment, opinion or otherwise from anyone were true and Cook tossed a rotten piece of fruit before it ruined the barrel. Tim Cook had Steve's vote and showed several times he could handle the job even before Steve left. Ive, Mansfield and Schiller were also Steve's chosen. But apparently Forstall wouldn't work with any of them. His fiefdom was basically his team which was treated well because they followed his orders but were also, it seems, forced to play audience to his constant bad mouthing of Cook, over SVP, product teams etc. that's rather toxic. And then to royally botch iOS and cost the company in good will, consumer confidence and repairs on phones and iPads bricked by the update. Not a winning move by Forstall. Any support he had on the Board would likely turn on him over that foul up
[quote name="FreeRange" url="/t/154838/apples-recent-executive-shakeup-was-about-collaboration-tim-cook-says#post_2242252"] Totally agree! Tim, don't go soft on us! And for god'a sake, DO NOT BRING MANUFACTURING TO THE US!!!!! You have a fiduciary duty to your stockholders that says DON'T DO IT!!!!![/quote] Prove without a doubt that bringing anything to he US is bad for the stockholders. You can't. As for the talking, that was Steve's game but he's dead and so much plant food. So his opinion on the matter doesn't. According to story he even said as much to Tim. And just mayhem if there was more of this kind of think being putting out there folks would stop with the constant rumor mongering to get page hits off the company