Yesterday saw the sudden announcement of Scott Forstall leaving Apple, and it’s looking like he didn’t jump, but was pushed. What was the reason for the ousting? Rumor has it because he refused to sign the Maps apology letter that went out a month ago.
It’s a remarkably specific incident to trace a firing to, but all the signs seem to point to that singular event as the straw that broke the camel’s back. Here’s what we’re hearing.
Gruber believes he was ousted. And you read for a litany of reports that it can be traced to Forstall not signing the Maps apology? NYT, Fortune and WSJ — you can hardly look for a more distinguished trio of sources.
It also sounds like there were other problems, too. Apparently Forstall and Ive didn’t get along very well, and apparently wouldn’t even sit in the same room together. Allegedly he was a source of friction, and his removal was met with “quiet jubilation” from employees.
Tim Cook did send out an intermal email about the reshuffle, which 9to5 got hold of.
All things taken into consideration, it seems as though Forstall wasn’t widely liked, and often butted heads with Ive over the skeuomorphism debate. But it was refusing to cop to the Maps problem that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Written By 