According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Steve Jobs has returned to Apple with a bang, and is pouring all of energy and focusing all of his attention on the rumored Apple tablet. But not everyone is apparently thrilled with Jobs’ legendary attention to detail and insanely high standards.
Those working on the project are under intense scrutiny from Mr. Jobs, particularly with regard to the product’s advertising and marketing strategy, said one of these people. The people familiar with the matter declined to give details on the tablet or disclose when the device would come out.
Mr. Jobs’s focus on the tablet has been jarring for some Apple employees, who had grown accustomed to a level of freedom over strategy and products while the CEO was on leave, said a person familiar with the matter. “People have had to readjust” to Mr. Jobs being back, this person said.
Interestingly, the article seems to imply that the last time Jobs was this involved in a product occurred during the months preceding the original iPhone launch. If true, it suggests that Apple, and Jobs, are banking on the tablet being just as much of a game changer as the iPhone was.
August 25th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
An obvious thought: Am I really supposed to believe that Apple employees, who’ve been used to the Jobs gaze for the last 10+ years, are suddenly overwhelmed when he comes back after a 6 month leave? When they’re supposedly working on the newest of the new Apple products? Into a market that Apple hasn’t explored lately?
1. It suggests that Jobs hasn’t instilled his sense of perfectionism into the corporate culture after more than 10 years at the helm. Which is unlikely.
2. It suggests that the employees working on the next big thing don’t have the same sense of purpose and urgency which the people who worked on the iPhone & iPod had. Which is unlikely.
3. It suggests that a 6 month sabbatical, which was announced, and probably and presumably prepared for (in the sense of his return) would have somehow killed whatever corporate culture Jobs had instilled. Which is very unlikely.
4. It suggests that Jobs is the *only* thing Apple has going for it in terms of demanding the best from its employees. Which is pretty damn stupid.