Apple in the Media

It was inevitable that whenever Steve Jobs announced his departure from the top spot at Apple the journalistic world would be flooded, all vying for that unique angle that will push their story above the throng and chatter of the crowded media space.
So I was not surprised to find all my news feeds flooded this morning.
Visionary Company
Of course the departure of Jobs cannot be ignored by the IT industry but it not unexpected and although troubling and upsetting for his family should we all be worrying for the future of Apple?
Steve Jobs has been leading the resurgent Apple since 1997 a period that coincides with the companies mammoth rise that saw it overtake Microsoft as the pre-eminent IT firm. The drive and ideals of the company must now pass to Tim Cook, who has been working closely with Jobs recently. The staff of Apple must step up a show that they can still perform at the top of their game without their inspirational leader.
Microsoft have shown them the light. MS have singularly failed to continue to even hold on to their position at the top, falling faster as new media and technologies evolve.
This gives Apple one big advantage as they can study how Microsoft have failed (they also lost their inspirational leader) and draw up plans well in advance to push Apple further foward.
Apple rather than Jobs now need to be the visionary – pushing IT limits and inventing whole new markets. Few now argue against the vision that pushed the MP3 / digital music industry. Jobs/Apple didn’t start that revolution but there certainly ran with it.
This is a salient lesson: get the product right at the right time and the Market will pay top dollar. Apple products are never cheep but ooze quality.
Enough on that though
The Media
Now today we see all the preprepared texts that IT journalists have been itching to get in print for months – possibly years. The time people have had to prepare has led to everyone trying hard to get “The Angle” on the story.
Angles I have seen:

• Simple news story.
• Direct analysis.
• What else will change at Apple?
• Comment from other technology giants.
• Career review of Jobs.
• Chronology/timeline of Apple.
• Statement review.
• Effect on stock price.
• Effect on stock price of Apple suppliers.
• Effect on stock price of Apple competitors.
• Biography of Cook.
• Jobs and other cancer patients.
• Premature Obituaries.
• Malware/Spam/Phishing storms on subject.
• Who will be the next visionary/auteur/grandmaster of IT?
• What other industries has Jobs influenced?
• Steve Jobs “quote/unquote”.
• Opportunities for Apple competitors.

You get the idea.
All these stories were out within the hour, or just a few hours, of the initial statement.
References:
Just type “Steve Jobs” into Google News

—–