Greg,
I haven't read the book, but I have followed the response that it has gotten in the press and I've listened to Amelio in interviews. I think that in the long run, the book will do more damage to Amelio than it will to Apple or Jobs. Basically, Amelio paints Jobs as a conniving, duplicitous egomaniac that, after having won his confidence and trust, stabbed him in the back. Maybe it's true, but there's no way to prove any of it. It's basically his word against Steve's. No one knows the exact nature of their relationship except them. There are plenty of other tenable scenarios that would result in Jobs replacing Amelio. And since it's clear from Amelio's comments that he's unwilling to accept the BODs decision and quietly move along, it casts doubt on his motivation and objectivity. Instead he has opted to attack Jobs and others at Apple, as well as the press. He goes on about how no one gives him credit and basically tries to take credit for all of Apple current success. Nobody likes a sore loser and I wouldn't be surprised if future corporations might not think twice before bringing him on board.
From my point of view, ol' Gil just got in over his head and got smoked. I believe that Steve worked the situation to his advantage (and Apple's) and I'm glad he did. Would anybody really want boring ol' Gil to still be running this company? Did you ever hear him give a speech? He served his purpose and I think he did relatively well, but the time had come for him to go and he would not accept it gracefully.
Though Amelio tries to take credit for Apple's current success, I think that most knowledgeable investors know that this is not the case. Amelio is responsible for a lot of cost cutting, layoffs and organizational efficiencies. He also can take credit reducing the the number of products in Apple's line. But Amelio decided to go with the 8600/9600 and PowerExpress, instead getting behind the G3s as Jobs has done.
Without Jobs, there would be no Rhapsody (NextStep), no timely release of OS 8 (Tevanian), no 3400 (Rubenstein), no Apple Store (Jobs' vision and WebObjects), no CompUSA SWAS, no Chiat/Day ads and G3 excitement, no MicroSoft deal, no AIO, no interesting product design (WallStreet and AIO), no exciting keynotes and no new Board of Directors. We'd still be stuck with Mike Markula and the other shmoes that ran Apple into the ground. We basically would have taken away all the qualities that have turned Apple around and made people take notice again.
I hope Gil's book sells well. It may be the last solid paycheck he sees for awhile.
Scott |
