Tuesday, 13 November 2012

Reflecting on Scott Forstall's Dismissal


It is no longer news that Apple’s iOS chief, Scott Forstall has been fired. While no official reason has been given for the decision, there has been much talk that his sacking is not unconnected to the substandard iOS 6 Maps software. There has also been talk by former employees and insiders that he was difficult to get along with. While some of the rumours will most certainly be untrue, I am also mindful that there is no smoke without fire. My musings on all the reports and rumours raise some very cogent questions and point to a much bigger problem.

(i)            Who decided that Google Maps should be dropped in favour of a homegrown solution? Was it Forstall’s idea or was he simply tasked with the duty of developing Apple Maps?
(ii)          Regardless of whether it was Forstall’s idea or not, was he provided with every resource he might have requested for? Resources like adequate funds, procuring the required expertise and so on.
(iii)         Who decided that Apple Maps was good to go? Was it Forstall? Or was he working towards an unrealistic deadline?

Company insiders would certainly know the true answers to these questions. To the public though, the answers are anyone’s guess. And now that Sir Jonathan Ive, Head of Industrial Design has taken over interface design, we will have to wait to see the results. But before then, we can all speculate based on the facts of what we know.

The iPhone 5 is without a doubt the best looking iPhone till date. But it is a poor representation of the wonderful designs we have all come to expect from Apple. Fans have conjured up better looking designs. So the question is this: Is the design of the iPhone 5 the best Sir Jonathan and his team could do or was he restrained? If it is the best he could do, then I wouldn’t count on any true improvement on the interface design of iOS and OS X. And if he was restrained, then it is quite possible that whatever good interface design he comes up with will be muted in favour of something more conservative and parochial.

Lastly, while some people have placed the blame for the Maps disaster at Forstall’s feet, I respectfully disagree. The flaws and errors in Maps are too numerous to excuse. This leads to the conclusion that there is very poor quality control and quality assurance at Apple. The state in which it was released is not even fit for a beta. A mapping application that did everything but its primary function correctly. Something as critical as Maps ought to have been rigorously tested. It should have been used extensively by Tim Cook himself. Any true techie would have observed most of Maps inefficiencies and it is for this very reason that I find it hard to believe that no one in Apple observed many of these flaws. Perhaps they did but their request for more time to perfect the app fell on deaf ears. The real culprit, or the Directly Responsible Individual (DRI) as some call it, is Tim Cook. Tim Cook ultimately signed off on iOS6 as ready; not Scott Forstall. The next twelve months will indeed be the true test for Tim Cook as CEO and for Apple as market leader.


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