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I don't know what you're expecting. When Steve Jobs became CEO of Apple in 1997, it also took more than a year for any products he influenced to launch. And p

I don't know what you're expecting. When Steve Jobs became CEO of Apple in 1997, it also took more than a year for any products he influenced to launch. And presumably his predecessor hadn't gutted research and development of hardware...

sami36 14y ago
Not only did Jobs bring with him the trunk of what effectively would become OSX. Within months of his return , Jobs had slimmed down Apple's product portfolio to a handful of products then immediately started executing on that vision. As flawed as he was as a human being, Jobs was decisive. She took forever to make a decision about the fate of the PSG (personal systems groups,) Agonized months over what to do with (granted, a fatally wounded) WebOs. I'm not saying she wasn't dealt a tough hand. I couldn't agree more. Her predecessors strategic blunders were atrocious, but she could have acted with more urgency.
- ScottBurson 14y ago
  I disagree (HP employee here). I was actually pleased to see these decisions being made with due deliberation. Quite an encouraging change from Apotheker's loose-cannon style. Seriously -- killing the TouchPad after six weeks?
- sliverstorm 14y ago
  It's actually kind of funny to hear you talk about this. Meg Whitman "enshrined WebOS's abandonment", "After a long tortured process", "Agonized for months". Steve Jobs on the other hand "Within months [...] slimmed down Apple's product portfolio to a handful of products". Is it just me, or are you describing fundamentally the exact same actions? I sense a spin doctor in the house.
  - sami36 14y ago
    No, I just remember listening to the investor calls over a couple quarters & she was unable to give a straight answer on either issue ( WebOS, PSG)
    - 001sky 14y ago
      The issues are totally different. Meg is an ex board-member doing triage after a series of clusterfucks. She has to sort-out the politics and vision thing that has been left over from the previously aborted pet projects of more than one "administration". In that sense, its similar to the Yahoo situation with Marissa Mayer. What you want to see is think-fast+move slow...not more haphazard whiplash. That being said, she still may not be all that great. Time will tell. The automony thing is a complete embarassment, and she was on the board that approved it.
alberthartman 14y ago
Jobs also demanded and got the full resignation of all but 2 of the prior BODs after he came back. Dump the past troublemakers. That won't work here since Meg is one of those previous bad HP BODs members.
- shardling 14y ago
  For what it's worth, she joined the BoD a few months before she became CEO. I really don't have an opinion on her, but it seems like the OP of this thread was using a not very sound argument to attempt to pillory the woman.
alberthartman 14y ago
Jobs also demanded and got the full resignation of all but 2 of the prior BODs after he came back. Dump the past troublemakers. That won't work here since Meg is one of those previous bad HP BODs members.

sami36 14y ago

Not only did Jobs bring with him the trunk of what effectively would become OSX. Within months of his return , Jobs had slimmed down Apple's product portfolio to a handful of products then immediately started executing on that vision. As flawed as he was as a human being, Jobs was decisive. She took forever to make a decision about the fate of the PSG (personal systems groups,) Agonized months over what to do with (granted, a fatally wounded) WebOs. I'm not saying she wasn't dealt a tough hand. I couldn't agree more. Her predecessors strategic blunders were atrocious, but she could have acted with more urgency.

ScottBurson 14y ago
I disagree (HP employee here). I was actually pleased to see these decisions being made with due deliberation. Quite an encouraging change from Apotheker's loose-cannon style. Seriously -- killing the TouchPad after six weeks?
sliverstorm 14y ago
It's actually kind of funny to hear you talk about this. Meg Whitman "enshrined WebOS's abandonment", "After a long tortured process", "Agonized for months". Steve Jobs on the other hand "Within months [...] slimmed down Apple's product portfolio to a handful of products". Is it just me, or are you describing fundamentally the exact same actions? I sense a spin doctor in the house.
- sami36 14y ago
  No, I just remember listening to the investor calls over a couple quarters & she was unable to give a straight answer on either issue ( WebOS, PSG)
  - 001sky 14y ago
    The issues are totally different. Meg is an ex board-member doing triage after a series of clusterfucks. She has to sort-out the politics and vision thing that has been left over from the previously aborted pet projects of more than one "administration". In that sense, its similar to the Yahoo situation with Marissa Mayer. What you want to see is think-fast+move slow...not more haphazard whiplash. That being said, she still may not be all that great. Time will tell. The automony thing is a complete embarassment, and she was on the board that approved it.

alberthartman 14y ago

Jobs also demanded and got the full resignation of all but 2 of the prior BODs after he came back. Dump the past troublemakers. That won't work here since Meg is one of those previous bad HP BODs members.

shardling 14y ago
For what it's worth, she joined the BoD a few months before she became CEO. I really don't have an opinion on her, but it seems like the OP of this thread was using a not very sound argument to attempt to pillory the woman.

alberthartman 14y ago