“Avadis ‘Avie’ Tevanian, Apple Computer’s Chief Technology Officer, is leaving the firm to ‘pursue other interests,’ the company confirmed Monday. Tevanian, who came to Apple in 1997 from his previous post working for Steve Jobs at NeXT, played a key role in developing Mac OS X, the company’s widely adored operating system,” Alan Saracevic reports for The San Francisco Chronicle.
“Although Apple wouldn’t say what Tevanian’s plans are, Vice President of Worldwide Corporate Communications Katie Cotton wrote in an e-mail that, ‘He plans to take some time off in the interim. He hasn’t left yet, though. His last official day is March 31,'” Saracevic reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: Tevanian was an important figure in the development of the Mach kernel at Carnegie Mellon and later worked for NeXT Computer and then at Apple, both times brought into the firms by Steve Jobs. At Apple, he was the lead in the development of Mac OS X.
Advertisements:
• Apple’s brand new iPod Hi-Fi speaker system. Home stereo. Reinvented. Available now for $349 with free shipping.
• Apple’s new Mac mini. Intel Core, up to 4 times faster. Starting at just $599. Free shipping.
• MacBook Pro. The first Mac notebook built upon Intel Core Duo with iLife ’06, Front Row and built-in iSight. Starting at $1999. Free shipping.
• iMac. Twice as amazing — Intel Core Duo, iLife ’06, Front Row media experience, Apple Remote, built-in iSight. Starting at $1299. Free shipping.
• iPod Radio Remote. Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. Just $49.
• iPod. 15,000 songs. 25,000 photos. 150 hours of video. The new iPod. 30GB and 60GB models start at just $299. Free shipping.
• Connect iPod to your television set with the iPod AV Cable. Just $19.
Related article:
Avie Tevanian named Chief Software Technology Officer of Apple – July 08, 2003
Hmm, is this a blip or a bump?
How much Apple stock does he own?
That sucks. That’s like Jonathan Ive leaving. We’re losing an ll-star here.
Sorry, that should read “all-star”
Apple stock is going to ZOOOOM high soon, BUY!! BUY!! BUY!! yiiiiihaaa!!!
I AM UPGRADING APPL TO BUY BUY BUY~!~ I BOUGHT IT AT $59.50 ITS GREAT DEAL!!! SOON IT’LL HIT $9000.45!
This is the worst thing I can think of except for Steve leaving. Now I know why I am down 25K in stock price. I now know why the shorts are killing Apples stock.
Am I to believe that nobody on Wall Street knew this was coming? Once again the small invester gets trampled over by corporate america.
It’s NOT like Jonathan Ive leaving. Tevenian is brilliant but he was a team leader, establishing the deep roots of Darwin/OS X, and working out the frameworks for XCode and the transition to OS X and probably to Rosetta. Unless Apple’s planning on doing another major platform switch, I think the particular sort of heavy lifting that he excelled in is basically all done.
Losing Ive would be like losing Picasso, on the other hand. An inferior Apple product design would be far more conspicuous and telling than an inferior OS upgrade.
I think Avie leaving is an opportunity. He’s done a great job, but every now and again, you just need to inject new blood. It’s a bout Thinking Different, right?
Can’t talk now. Gotta send my resumé.
One of the reasons creative people leave a firm/project, is they feel the mission is complete, that there are no more important issues to be worked out.
If this is the reason Avie is leaving Apple, then the heavy lifting is done. From here, its a matter of following a defined road map.
Avie was/is an incredible resource. He has been at Jobs side for nearly 20 years. I know that I would need a rest after running alongside Jobs for that long.
Good Luck Avie.
I just hope M$ do not get him to finish crapp windows.
please come back for OS 11
All stocks gone down 30% since mid february.
ANSWERS.COM = down 35%
EARTHLINK = down 35%
GOOGLE = down 35%
APPLE = down 35%
its just the laws of media, they know stocks will go up during the new years, and down after january, so they buy before new years and then sell and short after new years and they feed the media with proper news to maximize their money.
this happens every year. I sold APPLE at $75 when it came down from $87. However i bought some again because, because i think investors are underestimating the intel iMAC sales.
i got an intel imac, its just amazing, i would never switch back to windows again, and i think this is going to take off like iPOD.
Oooooh, nooooooo!! Ohmigod, what de hell am I gonna do??!!?!????? HELP ME!! HELP ME, EVERYONE!!! I . . . I’m feeling so . . . lost! What’s going on in de world??!??!??!?? This CAN’T be happening!! It . . . just . . . can’ttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeh-heh-hehessssss, calm down nerds. De world isn’t ending, and de sun’s not going to blow up. De Mac geek love will keep flowing despite one Apple suit leaving de nerd herd.
I mean, it’s not like de big man himself is jumping ship, right?
(No, I was talking about Kimmel.)
CTOs are VERY IMPORTANT when it comes to software development.
i wonder why apple couldn’t talk him out of leaving?
Ballmer hired him to fix Vista.
He’s going to assist M$ with Vista (you know,delays and all that jazz). Seems that, after all, he’s off temporarily, perhaps he’ll return.
Then, Vista will become the new Mac Os. That is, we’ll have an Apple GUI over M$ code.
Doomsday…..Bwahahahahhahahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m leaving Apple to create two totally original products: the aPod(R) and the Dead Meat Music Store.
Avie is leaving Apple to pursue life as a roadie for Hootie and the Blowfish…
That’s all there is to it…
Wouldn’t that be great if the plan was for Avie to get snapped up by MS so he could be a mole and totally mess up it’s development even worse?
he he, still can’t get the picture of Ballmer from a few stories back out of my mind…
One can only imagine the pressure Mr Tevanian has been through in the last 10 years. The good news is, he’s now worth millions of dollars and can do whatever he wants. I hope he’s going to take some well deserved time off to explore the world and then do whatever he wants. Don’t be surprised if Mr. Jobs stays in touch or keeps Avie on a stealth money stream for advice.
No worries about him going over to the dark side, his big financial rewards were accompanied by air-tight non-disclosure and non-compete agreements.
Have a great life Avie. Thanks for making OS-X the best.
He was in charge of more than just OS X, he was the CTO of software for the entire company. While it’s true that he had a long history of expertise in UNIX and the MACH Kernal, two elements of OS X that probably won’t change much from here on out, I dare say his role as CTO of Software means that he had an impact of the design of every app, just like Jonathan Ive has an impact on the visual design of everything Apple does.
Now we are starting to see the turmoil brewing in Apple and why the stock is dropping.
Somethings up at Apple. And it ain´t the stock.
I thought this was announced a couple months ago.
I agree with the others… I have a feeling that Microsoft offered him a billion dollars or something to architect the next version of Windows (after Vista).
I hope this is not a bad sign. His leaving right before the Apple anniversary makes me think he does not like the direction the company is taking on technology and software. Could it have something to do with an announcement coming on April 1st? Please let this be a happy coincidence.
Just so I’m clear…
MSFT can’t deliver an operating system in six years and none of the senior management fsckwits responsible have either jumped or been pushed, despite the fact that the stock price has been stagnant for the best part of five years.
Avie Tevanian’s team delivers 1 major OS platform and five significant revisions, plus God only knows how many patches, and he decides to leave and commune with nature or whatever rather than stick around to earn more stock options which will undoubtedly appreciate because of Apple’s continuing commercial improvement.
If that isn’t an example of the cosmic joke that is the Universe, I’d like to know what is…
Steve gave him the pink slip for all the security problems and delays in getting X out the door. not!! Avies done a great job, not like All-chin over at M$
jon Rubenstein and Avie leaving March 31.
Why else would he have no other plans in the “interim”?? This is exactly the type of announcement you make in the corporate world when a senior exec gets the boot.
BTW, that doesn’t mean he did a bad job with OS X, or anything else for that matter. His skills just might not be the best for what Apple needs the next few years. As Fred noted, expertise with kernel-development and other heavy duty software engineering might not be the focus at Apple for the next 3-4 years.
I bet he got a sweet severance package though…
Jake
Next watch point – Will Leopard be delayed????
Now, FTFF shall we?
Peace and thanks for the memories.
MDN Word of the day “Million” Thanks a million Monsieur Tevanian.
One of the coolest Apple guys I’ve met. I am sure he is going to watch out for Apple out there…
Leopards already done…..in test mode
Thanks for all the work, enjoy your family and a long rest.
From a longtime Mac User
This man, if he chose to, could claim to be the father of OS X. A Geek God of the 1st Order. Developer of the Mach Microkernel, developer of NeXTStep, OpenStep, Mac OS X.
With stock options, this guy should be set for life. In my book he has earned every penny of it. Maybe he wants to lay on a beach and watch the babes go by with a cool one in his hand, maybe something else. With his education, resume and track record, it’s his call.
Anyway, if you are out there looking in:
Thank You from a long time Mac user.
Fired! Fired ! WTF! Are you on crack! These types, at this level, do not get fired!…. unless they screw something up so bad the company is about to collapse. Which is sure not Apple! at least not now! Market share gains, pending/current ownership of billions of living rooms worldwide, more cash than God! I wouldn’t think money could make him stay either. When you have gazillions…. gazillions more, are less important than “your time left”! Maybe he wants to build a rear cool rock garden or whatever! I am sure his underlings are pretty sharp and will carry the flag just fine. Shit! look at what they have done so far! and no end insight.
Millions of us thank you (and everyone at Apple) for your work everyday!
Put your feet up on your desk Avie, and relax!
You earned it!
This can only mean 1 of 3 things:
1. Things will get better.
2. Things will get worse.
3. Things will remain the same.
I certainly hope that for Apple and Tevanian thing #1 will prevail.
Avie, is kewl. I wish him well on his new endeavours.
DAMN!
Avie made the OS X.
We need you come back!
What no one seems to be addressing is who the hell is going to replace Tevanian? Where are Apple going to get some one of his calibre? Is SJ going to replace him at all? I hope SJ knows he needs to be replaced by another Phd ubergeek. Who could Apple get and from where? MIT? Stanford? Surely they would have their pick to parachute in just about anyone?