During yesterday's announcement that IBM's Mark Papermaster was joining Apple as Senior Vice President of Devices Hardware Engineering, the company also announced that Tony Fadell, Apple’s Senior Vice President of the iPod Division, and his wife, were “reducing their roles within the company.”

Apple's official announcement made it sound like Tony and Dani were getting some leisure time; however, a CNet News report reveals that the couple might have also been kind of pushed into spending more quality time with their loved ones. Apple is known for wanting to create its own chips inside the iPhone and iPod touch, and Papermaster is in a position to deliver the goods.

However, the move isn't necessarily bad for anyone, the daily debrief reveals. It might just be that Apple simply needs a different kind of experience this time around, to ensure that the iPod lives on. Fadell has served Apple faithfully for more than eight years, during which time not once has Apple been disappointed in his results.

However, the smaller iPods are slowly being swallowed by the company's “funnest” device, the iPod touch. A different kind of approach is needed when working with a device that is primarily a small computer, and less an actual media player. Hence, it is widely believed that Apple's hiring of Mr. Papermaster was simply a logical step for the company's business.

Apple noted that Fadell would remain at Apple as an advisor to the CEO. Lambert (the wife), currently Vice President of Human Resources at Apple, will depart from the company at the end of this year, after a successor is in place.

A statement coming from Apple CEO Steve Jobs yesterday revealed that Apple saw Mark Papermaster as “a seasoned leader” who “[wa]s going to be an excellent addition to our senior management team.” As for Fadell and Lambert, Jobs said that, “Tony and Dani have each made important contributions to Apple over the past eight years. We’re sorry to see Dani go, and are looking forward to working with Tony in his new capacity.”