I can’t remember a time since the go-go days (and subsequent burst) of the 2000 internet bubble when so many major managers of tech companies were shuffled around like fray-edged cards in a loaded deck.

Until recently.

The CEO shuffle – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly:

• The Good: Steve Jobs has stepped down as CEO of Apple (but on the board). Not good for Apple, but – to me – good for him. Health is more important than business. Spend time with the wife and kids. And Apple’s going to be fine, at least short term.
• The Bad: I never really had an opinion about Jerry Yang’s replacement at Yahoo, Carol Bartz. Well, now she’s gone. If she was really fired over the phone, well, that’s indefensible. She’s the freakin’ CEO – if no respect for her, show some respect for the office. Yeah, Yahoo is circling the drain – what she was brought into to fix – but, still. Face to face. Confirms to me (if true) that Yahoo’s best days are just a distant image in the (internet’s) rear-view mirror… (Update: Time to re-read Paul Graham’s screed against Yahoo! from about a year ago, What happened to Yahoo.)
• The Ugly: The crazy-ass shit going on at TechCrunch – Arrington in/out? HuffPo winner/loser? AOL’s Armstrong has a spine or not? It’s a clash of what each party defines (or declines) to accept as journalism and act accordingly. I think – right or wrong – Arrington has always acted consistently; AOL/Armstrong and Arianna/HuffPo kinda want it both ways (each in a different “both ways”). Interesting…

Note: Some may swap the “good” and the “bad” (bad that Jobs is stepping down; good that Bartz has been given the boot). Whatever. Just my take at this moment – the “ugly” I have more to say about, but that’s another post.

This post is a reaction to Bartz’s sudden departure – and how I saw the small pattern.