Here are some quick thoughts about Steve Jobs’ resignation…
Steve’s stepping down has been some time coming, but it’s still a shock. We all knew he would be standing down eventually, but that was at some point in the future. Maybe next year, or the year after. It was a shock to hear he’s stepping down. And obviously, it doesn’t bode well for his health.
The way he announced his resignation was pretty brutal. Perhaps he should have called a press conference, or announced it at one of his special product events. Instead, he sent out a short, cryptic press release. It explains little, and leaves a lot to the imagination. Of course he’s too sick to continue working. That’s all he does — work. If he’s stepping down, his fragile health must be declining. It’s a sad day. The press release is totally in character, of course, but still a bit brutal and impersonal. Especially for his fans.
Apple’s stock is going to take a big hit following his resignation. It will eventually recover. Smart investors will remain long. But us fans don’t care about that. It’s Steve’s vision and creativity we care about.
He’s had a huge, direct influence on so many of the gadgets we use on a daily basis — our computers, our phones, our music players. And the people under him, like Jony Ive, have doubtless been propelled to greater heights through his leadership.
Apart from the stock hit, Steve’s resignation will have no effect on Apple in the short term. There’re a couple of years of products already in the pipe. On the one hand, he’s obviously irreplaceable. But he’s also molded Apple in his image. His DNA is so firmly embedded in the company, it will run like clockwork without him. I could be wrong. We’ll see.
It’s a nasty shock and a sad day. He’s had a huge influence on our culture. His products are almost as universal as the phone or automobile, and have had as big an impact.
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
You can find out more about Leander on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can follow him on X at @lkahney or Instagram.
