Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who was a close friend of Steve Jobs, hinted that Apple may have a bleak future without Jobs in an interview with CBS News' Charlie Rose (via AllThingsD) where he was asked how he thought the company would do without its co-founder.

"Well, we already know," Ellison told Rose. "We saw — we conducted the experiment. I mean, it's been done. We saw Apple with Steve Jobs. We saw Apple without Steve Jobs. We saw Apple with Steve Jobs. Now, we're gonna see Apple without Steve Jobs."

Ellison seems to be referring to when Jobs was ousted by the Apple board in 1985, causing the company to struggle. Jobs returned in 1997 and rebuilt the company, streamlining product lines and introducing successful new offerings like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

YouTube video via The Verge

In addition to being friends with Jobs, Larry Ellison was an Apple Director until he stepped down from the board in 2002, affording him a look at the inner workings of Apple. He also publicly hinted at buying the company when it was struggling in 1997.

The full interview is set to appear on "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday morning.

Top Rated Comments

haruhiko Avatar
haruhiko
139 months ago
Yup it's happening. Just look at the state of iOS 7 and the cheap plastic rumoured iPhones. Steve Jobs would have never allowed this.

Steve Jobs released cheap plastic iPods, cheap plastic MacBooks.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
griffd Avatar
griffd
139 months ago
Larry Ellison is a clueless arrogant prick. That is the number 1 reason i left Oracle - i was sick of making him rich while our bonuses were cut every year. Take his prediction with a grain of salt. He is clueless. I don't know what Steve saw in him. I think he just liked competing with him.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
collinmac Avatar
collinmac
139 months ago
Funny, Ellison steps down from the board in 2002, right around the time that Apple's second coming started in earnest.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Vanilla35 Avatar
Vanilla35
139 months ago
Unfortunately it's true. It's not just Steve's impact, but the entire concept of drive for the company. Everything they do is so interdependent on their overall theme of delivering a good product, while using the bare minimum hardware. That's such a delicate method, that if they fail to do that correctly, they will lose all hope. And of course Jony Ive taking over iOS and sh***ing all over the design doesn't help things. He got rid of what everyone loved about iOS, and now even though it looks more modern, it is a cluster fk of white, and the device is harder to use, and takes more time. It's not just getting used to things, it just isn't as intuitive. You can't even tell what half of the icons are while in apps anymore because they're just blank icons with white outlines.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
impulse462 Avatar
impulse462
139 months ago
Completely different situation. Back then the people who fired Jobs hated his guts.

This time, Jobs trusted most (if not all) the people on the exec team.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JAT Avatar
JAT
139 months ago
Cue the Apple fans in denial. :p

Thank you! I completely agree and it seems that nobody around here can this through their heads.

Completely agree, people around here are like "Tim's just as good!" And then there they're like "Why the hell is the stock value going down? Apple's doing just fine!" They can't accept the fact that Apple isn't the same.
You may not know this, but both membership and visitation to this site is 100% voluntary.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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