[giantrobot]

Yeah the GP sounds like it's apologizing a bit much for Amelio. The quadrant-based product lines was not really in place until the release of the iBook in 1999.

Amelio failed to cut the printer/accessory divisions which were mostly just selling rebadged hardware from other companies. He kept the Newton division even though it was not on a trajectory to success (I say this as a long time Newton fan). He also kept around far more Mac SKUs than were necessary (Performas, education-only SKUs). That's all stuff Jobs cut when he came back.

Amelio had the unenviable task of righting a sinking ship. He didn't necessarily do a bad job at it but acqui-merging with Next and getting Jobs back was the best choice he made during his tenure.