Controversial Tech pundit Robert X. Cringely has an interesting column this week …

… I find myself wondering what would happen if Steve Jobs were put in charge of any of the Big Three car companies?

It wouldn’t be boring, that’s for sure, and I’m fairly certain Steve could do a better job than the Detroit executives currently in charge.

… Today Apple and Jobs are at the top of their game, taking market share from other computer companies while at the same time establishing game-changing new product concepts like the iPod and iPhone. Apple is America’s largest music seller (who could have seen that one coming back in ’97? Nobody), has no debt, and $22+ billion in the bank. Even at its currently depressed stock price, Apple is worth more than any of the car companies and for good reason: Apple has a future. …

What would Steve do?

… He’d look at the car market and conclude a number of things: 1) it’s a no-brainer to embrace dramatic design (no boring cars); 2) performance sells, and; 3) safety and fuel economy are co-equal secondary goals. So Steve’s goal for his car company would be to make a limited line of vehicles that were dramatically styled with visibly different technologies from the competitors and were uniformly 20+ percent safer and 20+ percent more fuel-efficient. …

Read the post – Robert X. Cringely – Insanely Great: What if Steve Jobs ran one of the Big Three auto companies?

Why will governments bail out car companies but not computer companies like Yahoo?

Because of jobs.

Ford, GM and Chrysler will keep inefficient vehicles and plants in North America because it’s easier to leverage the potential loss of those jobs into tax benefits, loans or gifts of tax dollars from Canada and the USA. That might work short term, IF the taxpayer can afford to subsidize auto workers, but long term those companies are doomed to lose out to foreign competitors.

It’s so predictable.