I’m not Steve Jobs

Full disclosure on the last post...or at least more disclosure. I’m not sure it’s all the disclosure possible. But anyway, what got me thinking about that line, “I’m not Tony Stark,” was the passing of Steve Jobs, and Tim Cook taking the helm.

Near the beginning of Iron Man, Tony Stark was given an award for his accomplishments, however he was not present to accept the award. Accepting on his behalf was Obadiah Stane, a man who’d worked for Stark Industries for most of his life. His first line, as he accepts the award, was, “I’m not Tony Stark.”

Now, in our scenario here, for “Apple Industries”, we could change the cast a bit. Steve Jobs could be Tony Stark or Tony Stark’s father. And maybe...Scott Forstall could be (or could have been) Tony Stark. And Tim Cook could be Obadiah Stane.

If you’ve seen Iron Man, you can probably see where I’m going with this, so perhaps there’s not much need to spell it out for you. But...well, I’ll just point out a few parallels.

Tony Stark’s father had created a great empire, but passed away when Tony was still a child. Obadiah Stane, a man who’d worked for Stark Industries most of his life, inherited the company. As this history is being revealed to us in the movie, we see a magazine cover with a picture of the world at the feet of an apprehensive Obadiah. The heading on the magazine read, “What’s Next?”

Indeed, even after Tony grew old enough to work for the company, Stark Industries had gone a long time with no new innovations after the passing of Stark’s father. Until one day, after a hit (on Tony) that was ordered by Obadiah, Tony came up with something new.

So, already you might be able to see the parallels with Apple. They’re not a perfect fit, but let’s try this.

Steve Jobs created a great empire, but passed away, before Scott Forstall was ready to step in. Tim Cook, a man who’s worked for Apple, not most of his life, but a good amount of time, inherited the company.  And everyone is wondering, “What’s Next?”

Indeed, Cook, a man who is nothing like Jobs or Forstall might lead us to wonder what new innovations the future has in store for us after the rest of Jobs’ products come out the pipeline.

Here is where the similarities diverge a bit. In Apple’s story, the “hit on Tony” succeeds, only it’s Forstall who gets hit. With Forstall gone, what chances does Apple have to carry the torch of Jobs...even if there is a team working on ideas?

Tim Cook, similar to Obadiah Stane, is muscling for rank...or a bigger share of the market using products that other people created. Further into the movie, Obadiah tells Tony that he was afraid after he’d ordered the hit on Tony, that he’d killed the goose that laid the golden eggs. Cook effectively has killed the goose in order to accomplish nothing but ensure his own power and establish policy through hierarchy instead of letting good ideas dictate, as Jobs did.

*Disclaimer - this post is only my opinion and is mostly speculative based on loose connections with a fictional movie based on a likewise fictional comic book.*