It’s fair to say that MobileMe is a perfect example that Apple is a company run by human beings, which just like you and I, are prone to failure or making a mistake or two. Upon its launch alongside the iPhone 3G in 2008, MobileMe was rocky at best and suffered several issues, including losing customers’ emails entirely. The $99 per year service looked fantastic when demoed at the Keynote, but just didn’t work as advertised.
Adam Lashinsky of Fortune seems to have gotten the low down on Steve Jobs’ reaction to the service and its failings, and it would seem that the Apple CEO was livid with his staff, and has quite the tongue on him.
Lashinsky, in the latest issue of Fortune magazine — which is available at Newsstands or via the iPad app — reveals what Jobs said to Apple employees in the wake of MobileMe’s sketchy launch. Steve asked:
“Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?”
An employee responded, to which Jobs replied:
“So why the fuck doesn’t it do that?”
Jobs went on to give the MobileMe team a stern talking to, particularly annoyed that tech gurus such as Walt Mossberg of the WSJ were writing bad things about MobileMe:
“You’ve tarnished Apple’s reputation … You should hate each other for having let each other down … Mossberg, our friend, is no longer writing good things about us,”
As soon as Jobs had finished giving the employees a ticking off, he named a new executive to head up development of MobileMe and many members of the original team were disbanded.
Pretty brutal, huh? Jobs is portrayed as a pretty ruthless person in Lashinsky’s article, a personality trait that if accurate, is sure to scare the hell out of even the most senior Apple employee. I think a ruthless approach to failure is probably part of what makes Apple so successful.
Would you be scared about getting a telling off from Mr Jobs? I know I would. I can’t imagine he’s too easily impressed.
Article Via Business Insider
Note: MobileMe was soon sorted out, and the service performs far better than it did previously.
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Really? Have you ever worked for him? If you're thinking he's an a--hole, then the answer is probably not. Only the morons who've not worked with or for him think such things. Get over it and find a life. No he's not dead. Proved another group of morons wrong about that.
On the other subject - the people crying about getting a butt chewing let down Apple's Customer base and limited sales based on not stepping up and asking for more resources.
Steve never denies you that which you need to accomplish a job. With him it's "you know you can do this, and if there's anything you're missing, ASK for it". That's how Steve operates.
He's not an a--hole. He's a driven individual who set out to deliver the best products possible to users. That's not a crime. It's a gift.
Michael Murdock (and I have worked with and for him at PIXAR)
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LikeIt's simple... If Apple wants to be successful they need to beat the maximum of every product they will introduce... Would you be satisfied with anything working on 50%? I wouldn't...
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LikeYea, you don't want to piss of Steve Jobs by making an inferior product or design! He expects things to be perfect or as close to it as it's possible, specially if it's something that has been promised since some time. Considering that he did found the company, I can understand where his high standards come from.
The methods might be harsh and brutal, but so far it has made Apple a very successful company and made the company deliver many great products. Guess the old saying "all's fair in love and war" can be applied to business as well.
More great reading on Steve Jobs and how he runs things, all from the early days of the Macintosh project, can be found at http://www.folklore.org, which I highly recommend. After reading the things and antics there I can't say I'm surprised at this article.
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