Apple's Vice President of PowerBook development has officially resigned, though sources admit he was basically fired. Mark Foster's last day at work will be tomorrow, Friday. There will be no replacement for his position. Instead, PowerBook development has now been folded into desktop system development. Glen Miranker will be the head of both PowerBook and desktop system engineering.
Reasons for the change have been given as "a difference in style with Apple Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering Jon Rubinstein ." Sources have said that "unofficially" the delays in the ramp of Lombard's production played a role in the change.
It goes without saying that this is a landmark change in Apple's hardware development organization. We're looking for great things from the new organization. Those who were looking for blood after the most recent PowerBook delays can rest assured that the problems were well noted at Apple, and the necessary changes have been made.
Update: 11:22 CDT Apple has replied to an emailed request for confirmation with "Apple has no comment."
Update: 16:47 CDT Confirmation of all the elements of this story have been received.
Update: 20:33 CDT MSNBC has picked up the story, and offers further confirmation.
