Jim Dalrymple on the Apple retail cuts:
>This has the stench of a man looking to make a name for himself, not someone that’s doing what’s best for Apple or more importantly, its customers. To take one of the most heralded retail experiences in the world and gut it, stripping it of everything that makes an Apple store what it is, just doesn’t make sense.
I’m not to shocked that Browett tried to make a power play at Apple — there are no doubt holes that need to be filled and greedy bastards that want to fill them at all costs. The two things that I find most intriguing about this, are also most concerning in a more general sense.
1. First, how did Cook let this happen. Cook, as CEO, should have been in on any such decision — further Cook should have just as much awareness that this was a bad idea, given that he was trained by Jobs and saw first hand how powerful the retail stores are and how they gained such power.
2. It’s one thing to read that Browett ignored his entire staff, and another thing to think that (if Cook knew about this) Cook ignored the entire retail staff suggestions.
In my mind Tim Cook needs to be taken to task over this. He’s damned if he knew and damned if he didn’t. Cook shouldn’t be fired (far from it), Browett should be ((He should be fired not because of one bad decision, but for showing a fundamental lack of understanding of what makes Apple retail so great. Also for completely ignoring a team of people that built the best retail operation on the planet.)) , but Cook needs to insert himself in every facet of the business. This is something that Jobs did and I worry that this is something that Cook isn’t used to doing. There’s people to be trusted, like Ive, but even with Ive, Cook should be reviewing designs with him — after all Cook is CEO.