Apple was in crisis on Monday as it revealed that the architect of its iPhone software, Scott Forstall, once tipped as a future chief executive, is leaving the company next year. John Browett, the retail chief poached from British chain Dixons only six months ago, is also going. For those who have watched Forstall's ascent – pushed out, without doubt, by a ruthless Tim Cook as sure as if he were a misfiring supplier – it means one thing: no more "skeuomorphism".
Forstall had become infamous as the person within Apple who drove the use of computer interfaces that appeared like real-life objects, so that the iPad's calendar had a faux-leather appearance and deleting a ticket in the new Passbook app invoked a virtual shredder – which Forstall showed off with clear glee when launching the iPhone 5 in September. Now, it's his pass that's in the shredder.
Instead, Jonathan Ive (who has been at Apple longer even than Cook having joined in 1998) will be in charge of the "human interface" elements of the business – the first time that he has been put in charge of software as well as hardware. There had been rumours that Forstall was in bad favour after he did not appear on stage at the launch of the iPad mini in San Jose last week – although he was present at the location on the day and was seen outside a nearby hotel after the launch.
The departure of retail chief John Browett will come as a relief to many in Apple's stores: staff disliked the measures he tried to put in place (until reversed by Cook) of making them profit-driven – something that they disliked in a culture which for 10 years had thrived on simply offering good customer service.
Cook had to step in earlier this year as dissatisfaction among retail staff grew over Browett's initiatives – which went against the practices that had been instilled since the first store was opened in 2001. The stores will be managed directly by Cook while the search for a new retail chief goes on.
Source: The Guardian
