Scott Forstall commemorates 20th anniversary of OS X

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion
In a rare tweet, former Apple executive Scott Forstall has celebrated 20 years of Mac OS X, the operating system he helped create.

Scott Forstall speaking in 2020 (Source: Code Break)
Scott Forstall speaking in 2020 (Source: Code Break)


Late on March 24, 2021, the 20th anniversary of Mac OS X's official public release, former senior vice president Scott Forstall tweeted a little Apple history.

Happy 20th Birthday Mac OS X! I still remember when we named you. In a small room in IL1. When Steve slashed a large X on the wall and smiled. Look at how far you've come from a young Cheetah.

— Scott Forstall (@forstall)


IL1 is a room in Infinite Loop, Apple's campus at the time. When OS X was being developed, he was in charge of its user interface, the element that became known as Aqua.

His success in that contributed to his promotion to senior vice president in 2003. Forstall would go on to play a major role in the creation of the iPhone, and then the App Store.

Reportedly known within the company as a mini-Steve Jobs, Forstall left Apple in 2013. He was seemingly forced out following his handling of the Apple Maps launch.

Since then, Forstall has become a Broadway theatre producer. He spoke in May 2020 about having been hand-picked for Apple by Steve Jobs, but has otherwise chosen to stay out of public view.

Most recently, Epic Games requested that Forstall testify in the forthcoming App Store case, but Apple had to admit it was having trouble finding him.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,163member
    He was forced out as he was a threat to certain other executives
    elijahgtyler82Beatsthtwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 19
    macapfelmacapfel Posts: 575member
    He was a member of the golden generation at Apple. 
    elijahgtyler82Beatsthtwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 19
    neilmneilm Posts: 987member
    entropys said:
    He was forced out as he was a threat to certain other executives
    Evidence?
    randominternetpersonfred1omar moralesRayz2016watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 19
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,163member
    opinion. I have more if you are interested.
    elijahgtyler82Beatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 19
    prokipprokip Posts: 178member
    He was forced out because he was an arsehole and his mentor, Steve, was no longer there to have his back.
    omar moralesjony0Rayz2016
  • Reply 6 of 19
    n2macsn2macs Posts: 87member
    Bring him back, bring him back, bring him back. They need a little fire in the design department.
    elijahgtyler82Beatstoatraderwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 19
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,759member
    prokip said:
    He was forced out because he was an arsehole and his mentor, Steve, was no longer there to have his back.
    By many accounts so was Jobs. Who was also forced out, and the rest is history. Why do you think he was called a mini-Steve? I agree with @entropys , he was booted as he was seen as a threat. I wonder if history will eventually repeat itself and he'll come back. I wonder too where things would be today if he was still there, I'd wager Cook would no longer be CEO.
    edited March 2021 Beats
  • Reply 8 of 19
    tyler82tyler82 Posts: 1,101member
    Losing Scott was one of the biggest blunders in Apple history. iOS was so much easier to use, better looking, and just ran better with him at the helm. 
    elijahg
  • Reply 9 of 19
    omar moralesomar morales Posts: 60member
    tyler82 said:
    Losing Scott was one of the biggest blunders in Apple history. iOS was so much easier to use, better looking, and just ran better with him at the helm. 

    You gotta be kidding right?
    jony0applguyfastasleepRayz2016
  • Reply 10 of 19
    bshankbshank Posts: 255member
    He still won’t apologize about the Apple Maps debacle when it launched. Tim Apple is still waiting
    jony0Beatsapplguy
  • Reply 11 of 19
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,759member
    bshank said:
    He still won’t apologize about the Apple Maps debacle when it launched. Tim Apple is still waiting
    Why should he? It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible - and Google Maps still existed. Maps itself was fine, it was the out of date and incomplete data that was the problem. Siri is utter shit and much worse than Maps ever was, though that's not a surprise since Eddy Cue was its long time proprietor, even falling asleep in meetings. Why hasn't he been given the boot? Everything he's looked after has been a disaster at some point. John Giannandrea appears to be head of Siri now, with Bill Stasior (one of the original founders of Siri) leaving in 2017 and Brian Pinkerton after that.
    edited March 2021
  • Reply 12 of 19
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    WE’VE FOUND HIM!!
  • Reply 13 of 19
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    prokip said:
    He was forced out because he was an arsehole and his mentor, Steve, was no longer there to have his back.
    But why didn’t Steve fire him? It seems Cook waited for Steve to die so he can find the first excuse to get rid of him. That’s dirty.

    I’m not anti-Cook, I just wish they were both at Apple. 
    elijahg
  • Reply 14 of 19
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,417member
    tyler82 said:
    Losing Scott was one of the biggest blunders in Apple history. iOS was so much easier to use, better looking, and just ran better with him at the helm. 
    LOL strong disagree. I do not miss the faux leather, ripped paper, green felt, reel-to-reel podcast player, watching a stupid card shredder animation when removing stuff from Passbook (now Wallet). He embraced and amplified Jobs' worst design fetishes. Good riddance to all of that. 
    badmonkwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 19
    spartadataspartadata Posts: 31member
    n2macs said:
    Bring him back, bring him back, bring him back. They need a little fire in the design department.
    Lmao bring him back and put him in the apple car department! 


    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 19
    tyler82tyler82 Posts: 1,101member
    fastasleep said:
    tyler82 said:
    Losing Scott was one of the biggest blunders in Apple history. iOS was so much easier to use, better looking, and just ran better with him at the helm. 
    LOL strong disagree. I do not miss the faux leather, ripped paper, green felt, reel-to-reel podcast player, watching a stupid card shredder animation when removing stuff from Passbook (now Wallet). He embraced and amplified Jobs' worst design fetishes. Good riddance to all of that. 
    At least I knew where to tap for a button or to activate something. Everything was clearly defined.
    JosephAU
  • Reply 17 of 19
    k2kwk2kw Posts: 2,075member
    elijahg said:
    bshank said:
    He still won’t apologize about the Apple Maps debacle when it launched. Tim Apple is still waiting
    Why should he? It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible - and Google Maps still existed. Maps itself was fine, it was the out of date and incomplete data that was the problem. Siri is utter shit and much worse than Maps ever was, though that's not a surprise since Eddy Cue was its long time proprietor, even falling asleep in meetings. Why hasn't he been given the boot? Everything he's looked after has been a disaster at some point. John Giannandrea appears to be head of Siri now, with Bill Stasior (one of the original founders of Siri) leaving in 2017 and Brian Pinkerton after that.
    At this point it should be Cook apologizing for SIRI.
  • Reply 18 of 19
    bestkeptsecretbestkeptsecret Posts: 4,265member
    #BringBackScottForstall could be even bigger than #ReleaseTheSnyderCut!
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 19
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,417member
    tyler82 said:
    fastasleep said:
    tyler82 said:
    Losing Scott was one of the biggest blunders in Apple history. iOS was so much easier to use, better looking, and just ran better with him at the helm. 
    LOL strong disagree. I do not miss the faux leather, ripped paper, green felt, reel-to-reel podcast player, watching a stupid card shredder animation when removing stuff from Passbook (now Wallet). He embraced and amplified Jobs' worst design fetishes. Good riddance to all of that. 
    At least I knew where to tap for a button or to activate something. Everything was clearly defined.
    I don't have any problems using my iPhone. iOS 7 almost 8 years ago, it's time to move on.
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