Uploaded August 2011 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Thoughts on the resignation of Steve Jobs.
I tried to make this video this last night. And couldn't. I'm not sure I'll be able to do it today either.
I took the news that Steve Jobs has resigned as Apple CEO very hard. His resignation letter was simple and direct, brief and brave. He wrote:
"I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee."
I'm sad that his declining health has forced this. I'm hopeful that his continuing strength will keep him engaged in the company. I'm grateful for all he has accomplished. He's not an inventor. nor a designer. Nor an engineer. But he has attracted, inspired, intimidated, and guided teams of inventors, designers, and engineers to do more than they ever thought possible—and to create value that has literally changed our lives and reshaped our world.
I know Steve. I worked with him starting in the late seventies and early eighties as part of a production company in L.A. called Image StreamWe produced a series of events for Apple, including their sales meetings. As Apple grew, we grew. I remember in the early summer of 1984, in the first year of Macintosh, Steve wondering about what makes a company endure and shine. Polaroid and Xerox had produced technological wonders with huge impact, but and they were still cranking out instant cameras and copiers, but they had stopped being the star innovators of the business world. Apple was in the spotlight for Macintosh. And Steve was wondering how to sustain, follow up and keep Apple flourishing as a star innovator.
He almost didn't get the chance. What we tend to forget is that Macintosh, while a brilliant idea for a computer, was not—at the outset—a very useful computer. The U-I was stunning. MacPaint was a revelation. But there was no hard drive. Very little software. And not enough memory. I'll tell you a dirty little Apple secret. People at Apple Macs in their offices. But they also had Apple IIs and IIIs so they could get some practical work done. In the real world, IBM PC — and a bunch of IBM clones ruled. And they didn't run Windows. They ran something called MS-DOS. People think Windows beat Mac. Not so. It was Microsoft's earlier operating system, a command line opearing system called DOS that beat Mac.
By the second year of Macintosh, Apple had introduced the first plug and play networking, the first full-page post-script laser printer. And a promise that it would all interoperate with the DOS computers that dominated the office. It was a promise that Apple wouldn't fulfill for years.
So the Mac flopped. Sales tanked. The board and the CEO that Steve had brought in a couple years earlier, John Sculley, lost confidence in Steve's leadership and drove him out of the company.
In Steve's absence, Apple regained its footing, survived, and then lost its footing spectacularly and nearly went out of business. Those were the years that I worked at Apple. The years that Steve didn't. I was at a party in the summer of 1996. It was mainly Apple middle managers and executives. Well, I think the majority at that time were ex-Apple. And question came up, what would you do to save the company? Not one of us had a credible scenario. As far as we could tell, Apple was doomed.
A year later we learned the answer. Bring back Steve. It started with buying Steve's second company, NeXT, to form the basis of a new Apple operating system—that was late 96. Steve came on as an advisor. By the summer of 97, Steve had managed the coup that ousted CEO Gil Amelio and put him back in control.
I'm convinced there is no other person who could have saved Apple or revived the Mac. He cut a deal with Microsoft. He ruthlessly simplified the product line. Stopped chasing enterprise markets where Apple had no chance. Brought back the old agency. Hired and promoted a great team.
And began answering the question he had posed back in 1984: How do you sustain, follow up and keep Apple flourishing as a star innovator: Apple stores. iPod. iPhone. iPad. And very likely a few other hit products already in the pipeline.
Apple products touch all of us. Even if you're an Apple hater. You're using computers, smartphones, and tablets that are imitating the products that Apple brought to market.
Steve's view of the world is binary: things are either brilliant, the best, the best, the best, the best. Or they're crap. There's a purity to that.
I'm very grateful to Steve for building the company that gave me the best jobs I'll ever have. I'm grateful to him for saving that company and giving me—and the world the best products I'll ever use.
I'm grateful to him above all for setting an example of courage, persistence, and following your heart.
Thoughts on the resignation of Steve Jobs.
I tried to make this video this last night. And couldn't. I'm not sure I'll be able to do it today either.
I took the news that Steve Jobs has resigned as Apple CEO very hard. His resignation letter was simple and direct, brief and brave. He wrote:
"I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee."
I'm sad that his declining health has forced this. I'm hopeful that his continuing strength will keep him engaged in the company. I'm grateful for all he has accomplished. He's not an inventor. nor a designer. Nor an engineer. But he has attracted, inspired, intimidated, and guided teams of inventors, designers, and engineers to do more than they ever thought possible—and to create value that has literally changed our lives and reshaped our world.
I know Steve. I worked with him starting in the late seventies and early eighties as part of a production company in L.A. called Image StreamWe produced a series of events for Apple, including their sales meetings. As Apple grew, we grew. I remember in the early summer of 1984, in the first year of Macintosh, Steve wondering about what makes a company endure and shine. Polaroid and Xerox had produced technological wonders with huge impact, but and they were still cranking out instant cameras and copiers, but they had stopped being the star innovators of the business world. Apple was in the spotlight for Macintosh. And Steve was wondering how to sustain, follow up and keep Apple flourishing as a star innovator.
He almost didn't get the chance. What we tend to forget is that Macintosh, while a brilliant idea for a computer, was not—at the outset—a very useful computer. The U-I was stunning. MacPaint was a revelation. But there was no hard drive. Very little software. And not enough memory. I'll tell you a dirty little Apple secret. People at Apple Macs in their offices. But they also had Apple IIs and IIIs so they could get some practical work done. In the real world, IBM PC — and a bunch of IBM clones ruled. And they didn't run Windows. They ran something called MS-DOS. People think Windows beat Mac. Not so. It was Microsoft's earlier operating system, a command line opearing system called DOS that beat Mac.
By the second year of Macintosh, Apple had introduced the first plug and play networking, the first full-page post-script laser printer. And a promise that it would all interoperate with the DOS computers that dominated the office. It was a promise that Apple wouldn't fulfill for years.
So the Mac flopped. Sales tanked. The board and the CEO that Steve had brought in a couple years earlier, John Sculley, lost confidence in Steve's leadership and drove him out of the company.
In Steve's absence, Apple regained its footing, survived, and then lost its footing spectacularly and nearly went out of business. Those were the years that I worked at Apple. The years that Steve didn't. I was at a party in the summer of 1996. It was mainly Apple middle managers and executives. Well, I think the majority at that time were ex-Apple. And question came up, what would you do to save the company? Not one of us had a credible scenario. As far as we could tell, Apple was doomed.
A year later we learned the answer. Bring back Steve. It started with buying Steve's second company, NeXT, to form the basis of a new Apple operating system—that was late 96. Steve came on as an advisor. By the summer of 97, Steve had managed the coup that ousted CEO Gil Amelio and put him back in control.
I'm convinced there is no other person who could have saved Apple or revived the Mac. He cut a deal with Microsoft. He ruthlessly simplified the product line. Stopped chasing enterprise markets where Apple had no chance. Brought back the old agency. Hired and promoted a great team.
And began answering the question he had posed back in 1984: How do you sustain, follow up and keep Apple flourishing as a star innovator: Apple stores. iPod. iPhone. iPad. And very likely a few other hit products already in the pipeline.
Apple products touch all of us. Even if you're an Apple hater. You're using computers, smartphones, and tablets that are imitating the products that Apple brought to market.
Steve's view of the world is binary: things are either brilliant, the best, the best, the best, the best. Or they're crap. There's a purity to that.
I'm very grateful to Steve for building the company that gave me the best jobs I'll ever have. I'm grateful to him for saving that company and giving me—and the world the best products I'll ever use.
I'm grateful to him above all for setting an example of courage, persistence, and following your heart.
