I often get the feeling that some so-called tech writers would love to trade places with Steve Jobs. That way, they could direct the affairs of Apple and have it build the products they really want.

Unfortunately, though it is real easy to be an armchair critic, actually running a multibillion dollar global corporation is another thing entirely. It takes real special skills, and you can see that Apple has had trouble filling the top spot over the years. From John Scully to Gil Amelio, all were tragic failures in one way or another, perhaps because they couldn’t see the long-term impact of their decisions.

That, more than anything, may be the biggest advantage Steve Jobs holds over the other CEOs who have run Apple over the years — and some say almost into the ground. He and his fellow executives don’t look only as far as the next quarter in plotting their strategy for Apple. So a temporarily falloff in sales or a temporary craze won’t interest them, because they don’t believe that serves the long-term success of the company.

In contrast, it appears most of the other PC makers on the planet are so busy fighting tooth and nail for every possible sale that they are often missing the big picture.

Story continued in this week’s Tech Night Owl Newsletter.

This article was posted on Sunday, May 24th, 2009 at 6:00 PM and is filed under News and tagged with: advantage, Apple, company, John Scully, netbook, quarter, Steve Jobs, strategy, tech media.