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Two earth-shaking events hit the tech world, as Steve Jobs stepped down from his top spot at Apple and a 5.9 magnitude earthquake in Virginia rattled the East Coast, shutting down cell phone networks as shaken-up people jammed lines.
The Score is a weekly column scoring controversial events in the mobile industry. Want to get to the point? We'll break it down and give you the score.
Steve Jobs Resigns
The Setup: Apple CEO Steve Jobs announces he is stepping down from Apple because of ongoing health issues, leaving his leadership role at one of the world's most valuable companies.
Jobs tells the Cupertino, Calif.-based company he "strongly recommends" the board names Chief operating officer Tim Cook as his successor. Jobs will stay on as chairman. Steve Jobs: +500 points, Apple: 0 points
Although Jobs has ongoing health issues, he's nonetheless leaving Apple this time around under his own terms, not because he was fired. After Apple nearly crashed and burned in the 1990s, it fired Jobs from the company he started. Not Apple's finest moment -- because in one of the most successful comeback stories in tech history, Jobs and his signature black turtleneck sweater returned. Less than a decade later, Apple is back on top, thanks to the MacBook, iPhone and iPad. Steve Jobs: +1,000 points, Apple: +1,000 points
Apple insists its corporate life will still go on. The iPhone 5 should still come out this year and the iPad 3 next year, and the company will continue to follow the product map already in place. And while Jobs isn't the CEO, he's the chairman of the board and he'll still be able to weigh in on new Apple creations. So, except that the name plate is changing on the best office in the Apple building, people will still listen to what he has to say. Steve Jobs: +500 points, Apple: +500 points
But, the competition may be starting to circle around Apple. Analysts say Jobs' exit, along with instability of other rival companies, may give Samsung a chance to steal some Apple customers, particularly with the Galaxy S2 release coming this fall to challenge the iPhone 5. Steve Jobs: 0 points, Apple: 0 points
The Score: Steve Jobs: +2,000 points, Apple: +1,500 points.
What it means: Jobs' decision to leave Apple could have been an earth-shaking blow for Apple. But Jobs is staying on as chairman and he isn't going to just let the company make decisions that will hurt it. While Apple and Jobs will lose some points -- and possibly some money -- when the Samsung Galaxy S2 comes out this fall, Jobs is leaving a company that not only should stay strong, but that will likely to continue to grow. Jobs, even with his health problems, is leaving as a winner, and Apple is a winner for having had him.
Cell Phone Lines Jam as East Coast Residents Ask "Did You Feel That?"
The Setup: People on the East Coast were just settling down after lunch when they felt the earth move under their feet. After just a few seconds and a couple of jolts that some felt and others didn't, people didn't know just what had happened -- a rare 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook the ground in northern Virginia and was felt as far north as Boston and as far west as Ohio.
The ground shook and then shook again, and faster than people could type #earthquake, Twitter filled up with people demanding to know "what was that?" Earthquake: +1,000 points, Panicked People: 0 points
Once they started finding out on Twitter and Facebook what was going on, people picked up their smartphones -- if they weren't dropped and broken when the ground rumbled -- and started calling everyone they knew. The phone lines quickly jammed, leading some of those same people to run back to Twitter, demanding to know why the phones weren't working. Earthquake: +1,000 points, Panicked People: 0 points
A few minutes later, safety committees in offices throughout the East Coast decided that perhaps it's not safe to stay inside old courthouses and skyscrapers when there's an earthquake, and made everybody go outside, including this running iPhone-carrying bride, who was trying to elope without her parents' knowledge. Darn earthquake! Earthquake: +1,000 points, Panicked People: 0 points
While Verizon, AT&T and Sprint all came out with messages asking people to text each other rather than call, BlackBerry owners found that as usual, their messages went through while other people cursed out their own fancy-schmantzy touch screen phones. Earthquake: +1,000 points, Panicked People Without BlackBerrys: 0 points, RIM: +500 points
The Score: Earthquake: +4,000 points, Panicked People: 0 points, RIM: +500 points
What it means: No matter how much smartphone communications advances, you still can't fool around with Mother Nature. It also means cell phone companies need to beef up their systems to be sure lines always stay open during emergencies, and not just when people really don't need their phones. Meanwhile, BlackBerry, while not so popular anymore, may still have a place with people who value the security of encrypted messages sent over a dedicated server to the fun and value of apps. |
