As the media frenzy surrounding Steve Jobs’ death focuses on his numerous patents and technological contributions, some are questioning how Apple Inc. will fare without its leader.
Teresa Franklin, a professor of instructional technology at Ohio University who used to work with Jobs, said it is unlikely the Apple co-founder left the company without plans for the future.
“I think that there is a plan in place, but I do think that Apple will continue on, and I think they’ll be just as strong,” she said. “I can’t see this organization not having a plan. That’s just not Apple.”
Franklin worked at Apple as an education consultant from 1982 to 1987. Jobs and co-founder Steve Wozniak, visited her office in Houston for a week every summer to brainstorm with the educators there.
During his visits, Jobs had daily lunches with the staff at the Houston office.
“We kind of used (the lunches) as brainstorming,” Franklin said. “We talked about different ways you might help people … learn to use this technology because there was kind of a resistance from the schools at first to bring this into the school settings.”
Although the lunches were primarily used as a constructive exchange of ideas, Jobs also used the opportunity to socialize with the employees.
“We always had these interesting discussions about why we chose the lunches we chose,” Franklin said. “We knew he was the boss, but we didn’t think about him that way. It was different than it is now.”
Franklin said Jobs’ vision contributed to the success of the products he brought to market.
“There was always a really solid plan of how things were going to be rolled out into the market, a very thoughtful market plan,” she said.
The Apple products Jobs helped design have led to innovations in education, although that was not his original intent, Franklin said.
“I think this was a man who understood possibilities, and that, if you built devices that had these possibilities, other very clever people would think of ways to use them,” she said.
Some think it might be difficult for Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook to be as successful as his predecessor.
“Who are they going to replace him with that can talk in front of a crowd like he did and earn the public’s trust like he did?” asked Jason Walls, a sophomore who has yet to declare an area of study.
Walls, who works in OU’s Tech Depot, predicted Apple’s stocks would fall until the company’s new CEO proves himself to the public.
Brice Bible, OU’s chief information officer, emphasized the effects Jobs’ products have had on students.
“From a student perspective looking at the devices they all use every day, I don’t think anyone had a bigger impact than (Jobs) did,” he said. “His impact probably ranked as high as any visionary in technology, certainly from the consumer side.”
Bible added that between iPods, laptops and smartphones, there are few students at OU who don’t use technology that Jobs shaped.
“I doubt there’s a single student at OU who doesn’t hit the web multiple times on their computers or phones,” he said. “(Jobs) really was the man who pushed services to the web.”
bv111010@ohiou.edu
