Steve Jobs Had no Interest in Building an Apple TV set, New Book Says

[RaduTyrsina]

​

At the beginning of this month, we shared with you some details about a new book which was offering a look into Tim Cook’s management style. But “Haunted Empire, Apple After Steve Jobsâ€, the book written by former WSJ reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane, has some more interesting details. Business Insider has published details of the alleged 2010 meeting between Jobs and staff at the company's annual "Top 100" from the book.

Yukari reports on the last day of the meeting, Jobs sat in front of the room with everyone and said,

"You've got Steve Jobs sitting right here. You're my guys, you can ask me anything you want. I don't care how dumb it is or how insulting it is. I want to make you all feel comfortable about whatever questions you have about the company."

One person asked if Apple was going to release a television next. There were already rumors all over the place that it was Apple's next conquest.

Yukari says "Jobs didn't hesitate." He said, "No." "TV is a terrible business. They don't turn over and the margins suck," said Jobs. (Unlike iPhones which are wildly profitable and replaced every two years, a TV gets replaced every 8 years, and isn't all that profitable.)

The late CEO was right about the struggling HDTV market, which has low margins and declining sales. It’s interesting to observe that these new details are in contrast to what Jobs himself told biographer Walter Isaacson, in the authorized biography entitled "Steve Jobs". In the book, Jobs says Apple could release an advanced connected television that would sync with all of a user's devices via iCloud.

But could it be that he was referring to an advanced video streaming box? However, Jobs was famous for saying one thing and then doing another, but who was he telling the truth to: his autobiographer or to Apple's top 100 employees?

Source: Business Insider