Even so, it’s obvious to anyone who uses iOS that there is still an important role for automation. And it was because of his support that Apple’s automation team went on to develop AppleScript/Objective-C, script libraries, and JavaScript for Automation.īut the Apple of today is an entirely different company, focusing as it does on the iPhone and iOS.
Jobs personally approved the inclusion of Automator in OS X, and he enabled and supported adding AppleScript as a development language to Xcode. These industries live and die by custom workflows based on AppleScript and other automation technologies built deep into macOS.
The reason AppleScript survived the purge of products and technologies after Steve Jobs returned was that Jobs understood the importance of automation to key Apple markets, like publishing, finance, and TV and film, not to mention the enterprise and IT worlds. Sure, Apple could have plans to replace AppleScript and Automator with super secret magic unicorn technologies, but based purely on what the company has done and said, it’s hard to believe that. And “support” can mean “maintenance mode” rather than “advancing the state of the art.” Regardless, eliminating Sal’s position isn’t a step in the right direction. It may be overreaching to read too much into his precise words, but “intent” is an aim or a plan, not a guarantee.
What’s less good is that it would appear that Apple doesn’t see the need for having a position that evangelizes user automation.Ī 9to5Mac reader sent email to Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, to ask that Apple not kill AppleScript and Automator, and was told “We have every intent to continue our support for the great automation technologies in macOS!”įederighi’s response prompts the question of whether Apple’s future actions will bear out his statement.
So it doesn’t look as though Apple was trying to get rid of Sal personally, which is good. It’s my understanding that multiple groups within Apple wanted to hire Sal afterward, but Apple was under some sort of hiring freeze that prevented him from migrating within the company. What should we make of Sal leaving? Apple didn’t lay him off specifically, it instead eliminated the position of Product Manager of Automation Technologies. He was long a champion for the user,īelieving that users know best what they need to do and that automation technologies were essential for enabling users to create and streamline their own workflows. Sal worked tirelessly within Apple to encourage support for AppleScript and Automator (among much else), and to ensure that Apple apps provided the necessary scripting dictionaries and Automator actions. Although Sal hasn’t been making as many public appearances as he used to in the days of Macworld Expo, his indefatigable efforts to promote user automation inside and outside Apple have had wide-ranging impact. The news that Apple had laid off Sal Soghoian, who has been a fixture in the world of scripting and automation for decades, hit hard at MacTech Conference back in November.