Sachin’s Posterous

This is a great question. I think it's almost comparable to the Yankees without Steinbrenner.

Steinbrenner and Jobs are actually very similar. They are both all about the product, their success has come because of the quality of their products.

It will be interesting to see if quality gets pushed aside for profits in either case.

I don't think anyone knows enough about who will take over to predict this accurately. If you really read about Steve Jobs, he's unlike anyone else you'll ever hear about, for better or worse. Looking at Jonny Ive and his past, I think he'll do fine if he is giving full reign.

It's not rocket science what it takes to create the next "big thing" - it just takes someone that will force his crew to see the same vision and follow the path to get there. I'd imagine in the last 10 or so years Jonny has learned a lot from Steve regarding this.

totally agree... @ apple, the designers are king. at X other tech company, the engineers are king. engineers are great but they shouldn't run the show, because engineers aren't the only type of people in the world.

Steve, agreed, but I wouldn't be that harsh on engineers. Two points:

1. I see some companies where product managers are king and engineers are just "code monkeys". this is incredibly wrong

2. While designers are incredibly important, the top goal should be to find engineers *who are also designers*. This doesn't mean they need to be able to work in Photoshop and develop new designs... but they should have a sense of design, know what's good and bad, and be unwilling to engineer something that doesn't work well.

I am happy to say that every single person i worked with at apple had a GREAT sense of design, and I would gladly let them have free reign on any products, knowing their output will be thought out and beautiful.

Well, except the low level OS guys. They are just engineers and don't care about UI at all :)

"engineers *who are also designers*" -- aka @garrytan? :)
I see a very strong sense of Apple influence in Posterous' working and I know that you guys don't try to hide it. That just makes me really happy.

Hm. I've had a Mac for a little over two years. It's been one of the best products I've ever bought. It's been a real pleasure to use! My only complaint was that it gets too dang hot to actually use as a "lap"top most of the time, but the thing is beautiful to look at, and I still can't believe how thin it is.

Shame to say that with the way the economy is, I'm more hellbent on saving money now. My Mac's hardware is failing and it's out of warranty. I just hope she'll hold out at least 3 more months so I don't fall into the merciless jaws of Vista.

Aviraj, yes and no

Yes, Garry is a phenomenal engineer and a phenomenal designer

but i mean, engineers with design sense. For example, i'm an engineer. I can't do visual design. You aren't going to see me in Photoshop mocking up web pages.

But i'm a designer at heart. I know good design. I care about good design. I'm great at interaction design. I know how to build good, simple products.

And that's what Apple has an abundance of. It's not that every engineer can do design work, but every engineer *does care about the quality of the products they produce*

if an engineer can also design, that's a plus of course. But not really my point here

Also on the same point, if you go to the Apple parking lot... you will see a much higher than normal percentage of Audis in the lot (even more than BMWs and other luxury brands). Because they have *the best* interior design

And you will see a much lower percentage of american cars because they have terrible interior design

And most apple employees, no matter how dorky, care about design. Otherwise they're working at the wrong company

I agree w/ Apple's dedication (perhaps even fanaticism) to product quality, and always insisting on it even at the expense of other things.

However I don't think the above example is a great example; it's much more like an example of really terrible management. I think Steve Job's "1 in laptop" example is much better. If the manager had said something like, "I know I'm giving you an impossible mission, but here are the resources you'll have, and here's how I'll try to help. The rest is your job to make the impossible possible," then I think it's truly inspiring. But it sounds like the manager said, "I know I'm giving you an impossible mission. But I'm not going to help you at all; In fact I don't give a shit about you. Just get it done." That's just counter-productive. The fact your friend got it done tells me more about how Apple is great in spite, not because, of their terrible management culture.

@closetmusician I agree. I don't know exactly what that manager said, how harsh he was, what the details were around his decision. I'm hoping he had good reason to tell his engineer to go back to work. I'm hoping it was actually constructive criticism and the engineer left the office with new ideas and a new direction to solve the problem.

but when this engineer is tell me the story in a bar. and when i'm telling you this story on my blog, it's much more entertaining to leave it as "I don't care. Get it done." :)

I couldn't help going to the Audi site after your comments about the Apple parking lot. It is beautiful and elegantly designed. When it comes to adding a background color to the Posterous you can do a lot worse than giving us the option of using the Audi grey. That color is perfect for photographs.

Design rules. Every management consultant (and bankers) with an inkling of sense understands this. Whatever the profession - really, you need to have a design sense. (And yes, you don't need to be a designer!)

Check out Tom Peters on design... http://www.amazon.com/Design-Tom-Peters-Essentials/dp/0756610540/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247833373&sr=8-1

or his book Re-imagine - u'll get a sense of the importance of design in any area of business.

Hopefully So! What a depressing thought! I don't even want to think like that. Hopefully there are enough Apple Hardliners in the Right places within the co. hierarchy not to let that happen. Let's Hope. It's nice to be able to count on them for going the 'extra mile' on several different levels.

I think Steve Jobs' unique contributions to Apple has been acknowledged enough and permeated enough into the corporate culture there that Apple should be ok for a few years after he's gone. That's not to say that things couldn't happen that start to tear down what Steve has built. The Board could put a new CEO in place that can wreck things pretty badly pretty quickly - like a CEO who wants to put his/her own mark on the company - (e.g. John Sculley). But I think there is almost universal agreement that what Steve has been doing as only he can - is the right thing for Apple. No one who succeeds him will want to be known for even being associated with a decline of Apple by any measure.
Still - we can see that at another company, when another Steve (Ballmer) was promoted to CEO, that company has suffered from product disasters (Vista - but wait, maybe thats not different) and marketing disasters, and lots of chest thumping but little strategy. Ballmer is the wrong guy for Microsoft - he lacks any vision, saavy or business finesse (witness the whole public debacle with Yahoo that's still dragging on). That Steve is just a tenacious, tenacious, tenacious bulldog with no real sense of what's going on or what to do.
Fortunately, it doesn't seem like at Apple, there is a Ballmer in the wings.

@Sachin - I think your recounting of the story does a disservice to Apple. I'm sure at one time, stories of Steve Jobs' infamous rants and tantrums were based on some truths. But even today, people relish in talking about how demeaning and awful it is to work for Steve Jobs. I don't have personal experience from working with Steve, but I don't think that that myth is good for Apple's image - at least not some exaggerated third-hand account. It makes it sound like all any manager has to do is coldly say "I don't care about your problems, just get the job done." I don't think that's really the approach at a company that produces such incredible products. I've worked with Apple and while sometimes there is a little arrogance, I've never had a demeaning experience in all the meetings I've had with Apple staff. I think Steve does demand the impossible - and pushes people to think beyond their own mental barriers. Most people are easily thwarted by unfounded premises - I can't do this because of that. Pushing people to really examine why they can't do something is what is required for real innovation. But that doesn't have to happen in some cold, demeaning way. Necessity is the mother of invention. If your boss says I won't accept 1.1", I really need 1.0" - then you find a way. You go back and re-examine every assumption you've made, for the tenth time. You keep looking for a solution, you need to be tenacious, tenacious, tenacious. (At least Ballmer got that right)

@john, i worked at Apple for six years. I love that company more than any other on this planet. Believe, i'm never one to bash steve jobs or how apple runs things. Quite the opposite.

This was a "story". i'm sure it was exaggerated for entertainment purposes. No need to take it literally :)