It wasn't always obvious that Cook would be the CEO of Apple after Jobs left. This is the job Forstall wanted, but that Apple didn't want him for. The job went to Cook, and so Forstall was either going to have to find a place to be happy in Apple or he'd be on his way out.
This gives a smooth transition to the large teams under him over the next year or so, in exchange for more vesting of his shares.
People saying this is about Maps or Siri or Skoumorphism are focusing on relatively petty issues.
This is about how is going to be the leader of Apple. Tim Cook turned out to not just be the interim CEO, and waiting a year for the transition is respectful all around-- and is enough time for everyone to know what the right direction for their lives is.
Forstall may want to do a startup-- where he'd certainly be a CEO.
This gives a smooth transition to the large teams under him over the next year or so, in exchange for more vesting of his shares.
People saying this is about Maps or Siri or Skoumorphism are focusing on relatively petty issues.
This is about how is going to be the leader of Apple. Tim Cook turned out to not just be the interim CEO, and waiting a year for the transition is respectful all around-- and is enough time for everyone to know what the right direction for their lives is.
Forstall may want to do a startup-- where he'd certainly be a CEO.