Iron Man: Steve Jobs Is Even Tougher Than You Think.

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Iron Man: Steve Jobs Is Even Tougher Than You Think.
By Robert X. Cringely
May 3, 2008 - 9:29:47 PM

There was a game we used to play in the office, years ago, casting a movie of our own lives. What well-known actor or actress would play you? Who would play your friends? The game eventually faded, as games always do, but at the time it was great fun. So let's try it again: who would you cast to play Steve Jobs of Apple? Certainly not Noah Wyle, the only actor to actually play the Apple CEO. I've always thought there were elements of Jack Nicholson in Jobs, but Nicholson is too old for the role. But now it is clear the role should go to Robert Downey Jr. based on his turn this week as the sardonic reformed arms merchant turned Iron Man. Maybe Downey is a little too nice to play Jobs but otherwise it fits, especially in the elaborate planning and preparations that we see coming clear at Apple. Like Iron Man, Jobs is up to something, something big.

There are very few CEOs in high tech who have been at their jobs longer than Steve Jobs. While Jobs founded Apple with Steve Wozniak and Mike Markkula back in 1977, remember he was cast out by John Sculley in 1985 and didn't return until Apple bought NeXT in 1997. Still 11 years is a long time in the top job. Bill Gates didn't last that long as CEO of Microsoft, taking over from Jon Shirley in 1990 and handing the reins to Steve Ballmer in 2000. Among the big companies only Michael Dell has been at it longer than Jobs altogether and Dell is back in his hot seat only reluctantly, returning in an attempt to bring his company back to its number one market position. Once things are fixed at Dell, if they can be, Michael will be gone again, while Jobs seems in his element and determined to stay for as long as possible.

And why not? He has taken the company from also-ran to market leadership based on quality design, not just the best price. Jobs made Porsche his archetype and has built Apple in that car company's image, selling entertainment, which always sells for more than sheer calculating ability. Apple is a lean and mean profit machine that is, more than any of its traditional rivals, poised to dominate the emerging markets for Internet-distributed entertainment and mobile devices. Industry pundits are always watching for the next new thing Jobs and Apple will come up with.