Walt Mossberg says that Jobs called him the night he said he was handing over control of Apple to Tim Cook and told him about his plans for a television set.
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Recode today shared a full recounting of Jobs’ conversation with Mossberg, which took place on the same day that Jobs left the company. “I think he wanted to talk to me because he was feeling a little sentimental. And also because he wanted me to know that he wasn’t going away”, says Mossberg.
But one thing’s for certain now – the Apple TV set was very, very real. He did, however, retain his position as chairman of the board, director and Apple employee.
“He was going to still be involved”. The call apparently started out with Jobs explaining to Mossberg that, even though he was resigning as CEO, he would still be involved with overall strategic ideas and would save one big task for himself: a television.
“He said, ‘Well, it’s television”. Mossberg said that Jobs implied he had figured out a way to offer a proper, integrated TV set from Apple and not just another Apple TV box that you can still find on the market now.
Jobs died two months later. If you would have asked me five minutes after we hung up, I would have said he was going to reinvent the whole TV set.
Mossberg spoke to Steve Jobs on the phone on the day that he submitted his resignation at Apple.
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“I finally cracked it”, Jobs was quoted as saying. Instead of creating a TV set, Apple made a decision to release the Apple TV, which is a set-top box that now features the integration of the Siri digital personal assistant and its own tvOS operating system with an App Store. However, as a new report claimed, Jobs did not look to completely disconnect himself from Apple, but instead had plans to work on a secret project. Described as a TV guide for apps, the feature would go a long way toward simplifying the over-the-top viewing experience.
