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I often read these critiques that Steve Jobs was the one keeping Jony Ive in check in a way that Tim Cook can’t, and even if it is true, is there no significant criticism coming from below Ive?

As-in, is there really a full design team that are saying yes to Jony’s demands of an aluminium phone that is painful to hold to the point of requiring only the CEO to step in? Or does criticism from anyone below you not count any more?

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Absolute dictatorship, no matter how enlightened, typically fosters a top-down culture that does not tolerate dissent. There is little doubt that Jobs was such a dictator.

There was a period of time while Steve Jobs was still alive and part of the company but had bigger things on his mind prior to his remission.

We saw this with the release of the aluminum unibody MacBook. There was no product differentiation other than the FireWire port. There were probably a few products that were far enough down the pipeline that couldn't be killed when Jobs was back for a brief period of time.

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