Without Steve Jobs, is Apple Sony?

[WriteDown]

Source: CNET

When it was first announced that Steve Jobs was taking a leave of absence I was interviewed for an ABC affiliate about the prospects of Apple without Jobs. What would happen? Would he be missed? Was Apple vulnerable?

Sadly, I can't say that I came up with any earth-shattering sound bites. I said Apple would be fine in the short run; it had a roster full of talented executives, including a rock-star head designer (Jonathan Ive), and that the company's product road map was planned out into the future--presumably with Jobs' stamp of approval.

That said, no one could replace Steve Jobs, pitcher extraordinaire, a Sandy Koufax on the marketing mound, if there ever was one.

The fact is, no one can create a reality distortion field like Jobs. And ultimately, I said, that's what Apple would miss most.

However, little did I know that Jobs' absence would be felt so acutely in the release of the company's latest products, though I probably wouldn't categorize the new Mac Mini, updated iMacs, and third-generation iPod Shuffle as premium releases for Apple....

Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-10197137-82.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

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Too true, especially the point about Jobs throwing an Apple logo on a Sony laptop.