Bob On Steve

From Lefsetz:

Mr. Jobs is on the brink of a Q rating meltdown.

Oh,
he hasn’t changed. Not much. But suddenly, all his wisdom and all his
talent have resulted in Apple being top dog. And EVERYBODY shoots for
the top dog.

Stunningly, Jobs isn’t even aware of the coming
backlash. As evidenced by his failure to foresee the early adopter
reaction to the iPhone price drop.

There have to be fewer
special events. Steve’s got to do some press where he laughs at
himself. The record labels and movie studios and TV networks have done
SUCH a good job of depicting him as a tyrant that some of it is now
sticking. Steve’s RIGHT! But right isn’t everything.

Steve has
always walked a fine line between the industry and the fan. But now,
it’s getting him in trouble. He’s isolated, he’s alone, out in the
desert.

In order to win in the twenty first century, first and
foremost you have to be aligned with the public. The Tommy Mottola
decade is over. It’s not about your flashy life and power, if you
believe that, you’ve watched too much "Cribs". It’s about being honest
and delivering for the public at large, with your cash and power being
mere BYPRODUCTS!

Buying tunes from Starbucks via Wi-Fi on your
iPod Touch? That doesn’t get my hormones going. How about a
subscription that can verify via Wi-Fi, i.e. when you enter Starbucks?
How about more music for less money? How about further illustrating
you’re in OUR world, not THEIRS!

#VC & Technology

Comments (Archived):

  1. Don Jones

    Lefsetz should write a manifesto entitled “OUR world, not THEIRS!”

  2. Ross Hill

    I think it is shortsighted to make the claims about Starbucks. In the presentation Steve said it is going to take quite a while to get the systems installed in stores across America (let alone the rest of the world..) – they can announce song purchase now but I’m sure the hardware they are installing will include the capability to do much more when they are ready to switch it on.

  3. Vivek

    I find it interesting that almost everyone assumes Jobs had no idea about the backlash against the price drop. He knew. He had to know and he played it perfectly. Instead of increasing the bitterness by standing put or losing money by issuing a full rebate, he wrote a sincere sounding open letter (where he did not apologize) and gave fans a gift card (meaning that Apple doesn’t lose any money). The combination of the two (no apology and gift card) made Jobs out to be a nice guy, looking out for the fan and doing the early adopters a favor by giving them something. My guess is that he knew the backlash was coming and he was prepared for it.