The answer turned out to be a melding of the two. Finally, developers had a clear signpost to follow. Richardson, who returned to Apple in December, said he came back because senior management had a vision that made sense. And that's what's happened recently, as 460 new applications have returned to the Mac. Indeed, third-party developers applauded the new Apple for reaching out to them.
Every time there's a misstep, they run the risk of losing a half a percent market share.
But Waldman said he now has Jobs' home phone number and talks to him frequently. The relationship between the two companies is also based on self-interest. It also pledged to develop applications for the Mac. Declaring its love Richard Wolpert, who was in charge of The Walt Disney Co.'s online division when it decided to produce a Mac-compatible version of the popular Disney's Blast Online site, said the Jobs regime seems more committed to developers than previous Apple administrations. Wolpert said he was impressed when Jobs called him and immediately sent a team to Southern California to discuss a possible business venture.