Apple reported today in a press release that the ties with IBM are getting stronger. The senior vice president and general counselor of IBM will join Apple and will have the same "rank" as in IBM. Donald J. Rosenberg will be Apple's new senior vice president and general counselor and will report to Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

Regarding this, Steve Jobs said: We're thrilled to welcome such a seasoned professional to our executive team," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Don has a broad range of experience that includes litigation, securities, intellectual property and antitrust, and he will be responsible for overseeing all legal matters and government affairs for Apple.

Donald J. Rosenberg worked with IBM for over 30 years and has held numerous positions. These positions include senior vice president and general counselor of the IBM Corporation and vice president and assistant general counselor for litigation. He was also counselor to IBM's mainframe division where he played a key role in formulating its policies with regard to intellectual protection.

Also, he interacted quite a bit with the SEC, the US Department of Justice and the European Economic Commission. This interaction was mainly the cause of his focus on securities, intellectual property and competition issues.
The State University of New York has granted him with a B.S. in Mathematics at Stony Brook and he also received a J.D. from St. John's University School of Law where he was an editor of the Law Review.

Well, the only thing one could hope for now is that he will do a good job at Apple. The only thing that confuses me is what is really happening in Steve Jobs' head. I am not saying that he is making a wrong decision, far from it. I am just thinking that IBM was once the ultimate rival of Apple, then Microsoft was, and now, both of them are partners in some way with Apple.

I think that Steve Jobs visited Dalai Lama while he was away from Apple and knows something that no one else thinks of knowing. If one would have told me fifteen years ago that Steve would work with and not against IBM and Microsoft too, then I would have laughed my lungs out. Has he seen some holy light during his "absence years" that showed him that in order to bring something unique to the world he has to cooperate with the other giants in the business? Or maybe, he has just viewed some mafia movies and he is "keeping his friends close and his enemies closer"?

As long as he is not loosing control, I don't mind the partnership, but I certainly hope that the second possibility is the true one.