Fired iOS Chief "Got What He Deserved", Says Ex-Apple Exec

By Zak Islam
published

Tony Fadell said to have clashed with Forstall in 2008.

Former Apple executive Tony Fadell believes ex-iOS chief Scott Forstall "got what he deserved" following his sacking.

Fadell worked on creating the iPod, but left Apple in 2008 due to purported clashes between him and Forstall over the hardware of the original iPhone.

Forstall is said to have been fired from Apple alongside the departure of retail head John Browett. The former was rumored to have been sacked for refusing to sign an apology letter for the firm's abysmal maps app.

"I think what happened just a few weeks back was deserved and justified and it happened," Fadell said. "If you read some of the reports, people were cheering in Cupertino when that event happened," he added, referring to Apple's California headquarters.

"So, I think Apple is in a great space, it has great products and there are amazing people at the company, and those people actually have a chance to have a firm footing now and continue the legacy Steve [Jobs] left."

Fadell is currently the CEO of Nest, a firm that creates thermostats controlling the temperature of one's house by using a tablet or smartphone.

Elsewhere, Apple reportedly fired another executive recently, Richard Williamson, a former employee who was involved in the preparation and launch of the company's mapping software.

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Zak Islam
9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dark_wizzie
    Tom hardy, just shut up man.
    Reply
  • bllue
    Fire Tim Cook for rushing these guys. Apple should learn that big projects take time. A project of this size isn't one that takes one week like resizing of the iPad did.
    Reply
  • unksol
    9432409 said:
    Fire Tim Cook for rushing these guys. Apple should learn that big projects take time. A project of this size isn't one that takes one week like resizing of the iPad did.

    Fire Scott Forstall for not saying it wasn't ready, then refusing to take responsibly. Oh wait. They did.

    How is someone who worked at apple saying he's glad a guy who tried to copy jobs asshatery, down to his clothes, news? That's like standing in a blizzard and saying "it's cold"
    Reply
  • walter87
    unksolFire Scott Forstall for not saying it wasn't ready, then refusing to take responsibly. Oh wait. They did.How is someone who worked at apple saying he's glad a guy who tried to copy jobs asshatery, down to his clothes, news? That's like standing in a blizzard and saying "it's cold"Ultimately you could say Forstall was responsible and should have apologized to the customers...
    However people don't know all the facts.

    As the primary lead for the iOS platform, you would have to assume that part of Forstall's regular duties were to report all progress to the CEO. If he told Tim Cook the Maps app wasn't ready but was pressured to have it included in the next iteration of iOS, its not his fault and its the CEO's fault.

    If Forstall knew the Maps app had issues and didn't inform his superiors, that is completely different that knowing and reporting the issues and being responsible to publicly apologizing later on.

    From the reports I've read, I could argue there was in fact internal disagreements between upper management...likely Forstall confronted others to say it wasn't ready and everyone thought otherwise (thus causing the internal tension) and firing for not publicly apologizing. In my opinion, he does seem like the scapegoat so Apple can continue to deflect criticism.

    Apple has a knack for brushing off this to improve their public image (Maps, attenagate etc).
    Reply
  • zybch
    unksolHow is someone who worked at apple saying he's glad a guy who tried to copy jobs asshatery, down to his clothes, news? That's like standing in a blizzard and saying "it's cold"Its by Zak, so of course its not a newsworthy story.
    Reply
  • garrick
    Apple is very unforgiving, make one mistake and you're fired!
    Reply
  • bunz_of_steel
    Apple sucks I really don't like their business practices as they are just like M$. Not saying their tech suks I havent bought an Apple product for a number of reasons other than personal choice. I feel thier products & business practices are too restirictive and don't allow me the freedom from Hardware to Software. Apple makes you do it their way ONLY if they can make a few $$ of ya. Just my .02.
    Reply
  • jim james
    Jobs' boys all knew what they were doing from way back, firing them will lead to Timmy's demise. Unfortunately the only thing Timmy shared with Jobs was his narcissism. Jobs either left Timmy in charge to show the world that only he(Jobs) could handle aapl, or simply poor judgement falling for Timmy's act.
    Reply
  • cats_Paw
    Apple gets a lot of attention by spam like this...
    Reply