Apple’s hardware is second to none, but it’s not known for its great social media skills. Remember Ping? (It was Apple’s attempt to share with everyone what you’re listening to on iTunes.)
But this lack of social aspect wasn’t necessarily down to incompetence. Steve Jobs’ biographer has said Jobs was so in awe of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, he didn’t try and compete. Coming from such a fierce businessman as Jobs, that’s quite an accolade.
Walter Isaacson – the author of the Steve Jobs biography – was speaking to Washington Post company chairman and CEO Donald Graham, who also serves on Facebook’s board.
“I once asked Jobs who [he] admired in the Valley,” Isaacson told Graham. “Mark’s was the first name on his lips.”
Jobs’ admiration for Zuckerberg has been noted before, but we didn’t know just how in awe he was.
So why weren’t Apple and Facebook in bed? Well Apple launched Ping with Facebook integration, but didn’t ask permission. Facebook denied Apple because of the lack of warning, and the fact it’d use a lot of bandwidth. But surely Apple could’ve tried to woo Facebook some other way.
Jobs reportedly told Isaacson why he didn’t want to stray into social. “Maybe because Mark did it so well,” he said. “There’s not a need for a whole lot of social networks and Facebook has got it licked.”
Was Jobs right? Or will Facebook be the next MySpace? Let us know what you reckon in the comments.
Source: CNET
