Forstall and Browett

At first glance I think that this is a great move. One that reinforces my belief that Apple is still on the way up, and that Tim Cook is just where he belongs.

Ousting Forstall, who was by most reports close to Steve Jobs, sends a few important messages:

• Cook is not Jobs, and isn’t afraid to be not Jobs.
• Cook has a vision for the company, and that vision is collaboration: “across the company”, “all of our online services in one group”, “brings together the OS team”, “combines all of Apple’s wireless teams across the company in one organization”.
• What you’ve done is less important than what you’re doing. 

Forstall led iOS to amazing success, but I suspect his role in the iOS 6 Maps kerfuffle, Siri’s prolonged beta status, and the perception that the iOS UI has stalled with nowhere to go all factored into this. In iPod parlance Forstall is the iPod mini and Apple just released the iPod nano.

Also, although the move with Forstall is the bigger shakeup, I think Cook’s action with Browett is just as important. It shows that Cook is no less attatched to his own hires than he is to holdovers from Jobs. With both shown the door together Cook shows that he can recognize who needs to go, regardless of how they got there.

So I say bravo to Tim Cook, and I look forward to seeing what Jony Ive can do with software UI.