*Another reason Steve Jobs is such a big deal

apple3.jpg

There's the vision, of course, but there's also the money. In 1996, Apple's market cap was $3 billion. Today it's $347 billion.

*Good summing up by Nicholas Thompson on the New Yorker website:

The big question now is whether Tim Cook, Jobs's successor, can succeed. I'm sure he's good, and the people around him are good too. But he won't do as well, for at least one reason. Steve Jobs built a cult of personality that gave him power. Many of Apple's future fights will be about content. Which tech companies will get the rights to show what things, in what ways, on their devices? Jobs had a power that Cook could not possibly have here, just because he was Jobs. He could summon anyone he wanted to meet with him; he could get journalists to write whatever he wanted them to write; and, if he and Apple threatened to screw you over, you had to believe them.

More by Mark Lacter:
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Amazon keeps pushing for faster L.A. delivery
Another rugged quarter for Tribune Co. papers
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Those awful infographics that promise to explain and only distort
Best to low-ball today's employment report
Further fallout from airport shootings
Crazy opening for Twitter*
Should Twitter be valued at $18 billion?
Recent Tech stories:
Crazy opening for Twitter*
Should Twitter be valued at $18 billion?
New York Times writers can now say 'email' and 'website'
Walt Mossberg, Kara Swisher split with WSJ
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Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
The multi-talented Mark Lacter
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