In case you haven’t heard, there’s been an executive shakeup at Apple. Plus one other exec that doesn’t matter, Scott Forstall: the SVP in charge of iOS, is out. By all accounts, he was shown the door and pushed out. There were no sad goodbyes or glorious articles on the Apple home page. Tim Cook did not publicly acknowledge or thank Scott for his many years of faithful service to the company. This is extremely significant because Scott came from NEXT with Steve Jobs to Apple. Scott and Steve were close friends. It has been said that Forstall was going to be Steve’s successor. As we all know, it didn’t turn out that way. Still, he was the heir apparent to the throne of Steve Jobs. Now he is out the door. That’s a big problem.
OK, so it’s not out the door yet, at least not officially. He will stay for a few months as an adviser to Tim Cook. This is how executives get fired. That just means he’s on a beach somewhere deleting his resume. Someone needs a CEO, and Forstall is probably the most eligible unemployed executive in the world right now. There is a lot of drama and corporate intrigue leading up to this point, and it would make a good article. But that’s not what I want to write about. That’s what all the other blogs are talking about. If you want the dirt inside, read theirs. I’m more interested in what all this means for the future of iOS, and maybe for Mac.
The implications of this overthrow are far-reaching. First of all, Scott Forstall directly influenced many aspects of iOS. Some of those aspects were not highly appreciated by others in the company. I am referring to the gratuitous skeuomorphism that has become a hallmark of iOS. It has even infiltrated Mac OS. Skeuomorphism transfers a design feature from the original version of a product so that people feel comfortable with a new product. A good example of this is the page turn in iBooks. There is no good reason to turn a page in a digital book. It is necessary for physical books, but it is merely ornamental in the digital version. However, people love it. It makes us feel comfortable with the new format, wrapping us in the familiar while introducing us to the new.
This controversial element is not the only aspect of iOS that is likely to be renewed in the coming months. Springboard’s UI may be on the chopping block. This is mostly the familiar home screen of executable app icons. Arguably, the simplicity of the interface is what makes iDevices so useful and intuitive for the non-tech savvy. To spice things up, competitors have adopted battery-draining elements like widgets and live backgrounds. It’s hard to tell if Forstall was the one to hold the line for simplicity or push the envelope for more complex UI elements. Since the introduction of the iPhone, a lot of complexity has been added to the operating system. The very future of the operating system is at stake.
I, for one, think these are exciting times for both Apple and the people who enjoy the products they offer. But a new direction for iOS doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It also has dramatic implications for the Mac platform. The new boss of iOS will be the old boss of Mac OS. The development of both platforms is now under one roof. If you thought iOS and Mac OS were starting to share some elements, I have a feeling you haven’t seen anything yet. As operating systems merge, will we see touchscreen MacBooks and iMacs? I hope not. One thing is for sure, nothing will be the same in the future.
Scott Forstall was close to Steve Jobs. Many say that Jobs covered for Forstall, who was a polarizing figure within the company. Well, Steve Jobs is gone, and now so is Scott Forstall. In some ways, this is the biggest step yet in making this Tim Cook’s Apple. Both Steve Jobs and the apparent one of him are gone. So are some of his ideas that brought us iOS in the first place. Change and new blood are good for a company like Apple. A little bit of uncertainty will keep things fresh. For the first time, we won’t know what to expect from the next OS releases on either platform. Nor, I suspect, Apple. And that’s a very good thing as far as I’m concerned.
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