Steve Jobs coaxed John Sculley to join Apple from Pepsi by saying: "Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?"
Jobs and the ex-chief executive are said to have had a few run-ins in the past, but Sculley was keen to dispel the 'myths' surrounding his and Jobs' relationship when the BBC caught up with him at CES. And he thinks Apple's TV will be a true game changer.
"I think that Apple has revolutionised every other consumer industry, why not television?" he said. According to him, it's the simplicity Apple brings to devices that will really appeal to telly addicts. "I think that televisions are unnecessarily complex. The irony is that as the pictures get better and the choice of content gets broader, that the complexity of the experience of using the television gets more and more complicated.
"So it seems exactly the sort of problem that if anyone is going to change the experience of what the first principles are, it is going to be Apple."
Sculley revealed he hasn't read Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs, but that he'd heard it confirmed his version of events -- "that I never really did fire Steve Jobs and that Apple was actually a very profitable company."
He says he and Jobs disagreed about the price of the Macintosh -- Jobs wanted to reduce it, he wanted to focus on the Apple II -- and the board "agreed that my position was the one they wanted to support."
And he credits Jobs with being ahead of his time with Mac Office and Desktop Publishing. "It wasn't my idea," he said, "it was all Steve's stuff, but he was just a year-and-a-half too early."
Apple's TV set is rumoured to launch at the end of this year or beginning of next, and pack Siri for voice control, as well as Kinect-style gesture controls.
Will Apple shake up the world of TVs? Let us know below, or on our Facebook page.
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anonymous 15 January, 2012 22:15
Wouldn't be surprised if they manage a few innovations.
18-24 months later, anything new will be copied and available elsewhere, cheaper.
Same as everything else they've done, really.
Shame to say, Apple is finished
anonymous 15 January, 2012 22:51
Eh? One of the most valuable companies in the world is finished...there are tonnes of products that apple makes where there cheaper versions...and yet people consistently buy the more expensive fruit based item...yes they're definitely finished!?
anonymous 16 January, 2012 02:58
"18-24 months later, anything new will be copied and available elsewhere, cheaper."
18-24 months later, anything old will be copied by apple and available at apple store, pricier.
anonymous 16 January, 2012 23:46
Apple TV will probably be another sleek and very expensive product. It'll be interesting to see what innovation will come with it. Voice and Gesture control are available today on TVs. No doubt Apple will put a very hefty price on it as they do on all of their products and no doubt also that many people will buy it just so that they can say they have one. The iPhone brigade will be out in force again even if many of them won't have a clue about it's specs and capabilities. They will follow like sheep once again, and Apple will be only too happy to lead them on...e.g. iPhone4s...very little improvement from iPhone4 as far as the average user is concerned, and yet selling in their millions....Ba Ba Ba !!!!
anonymous 20 January, 2012 10:14
It will be just the same as the Apple TV at the momment. good but lacking compared to others. They have missed all the technical revolutions in the TV age including Quattron tech, OLED, Smart TV, so in reality, and at least for now they are coming from behind and the only thing the punters will by this for is the brand and they may be able to sync their iphones with it. I hope this fails