Ryan Block has been covering technology for about 7 years. Some of you may remember him as an Engadget reporter and later its editor-in-chief. I hope that those of you with a passion for gadgets and consumer technology are aware of (if not actively using!) gdgt.com - a site that Ryan and Peter Rojas (the founder of Engadget) started about a year and a half ago. While he may have missed covering the rise of the iPod, Ryan is in a far better position than most to appreciate both the importance of Steve Jobs to Apple's current success as well as the bigger picture when it comes to Apple.
Thus, I was pleased to see a very thoughtful piece by Ryan in the gdgt newsletter, and it is worth a read by anyone interested in the Steve Jobs and Apple saga. The following portion of his post is a take that seems to be missing from too many of the "Oh my god! Without Steve - Apple is doomed!" stories that I've seen over the last two days:
So when you think about it, it actually kind of makes sense why Apple -- now the second wealthiest company in the country -- has no formal succession plan for its CEO. Succession has become endemic. For the nearly fifteen years since his return, Steve's worked to prepare Apple to avoid the mistakes of the past, stock leadership and board members loyal to his way of thinking and doing business, show the bad apples the door, and demonstrating to everyone at the company how the company ought to operate with or without him.
I think at this point it's probably safe to say that the plan has worked, because if it hadn't there would be simply no way Apple could function at the speed, scale, and depth that it does today. And whether investors like it or not, there's an inevitability to the fact that sooner or later someone else will be the CEO of Apple, someone with their own ideas and vision for the company -- but they'll always be living in Steve's house.
I encourage anyone with two minutes to spare to read Ryan's article.