More details regarding Forstall’s ousting emerge

If you’ve been anywhere near a computer for the past 24 hours, chances are you’ve heard the news: Scott Forstall, Apple’s SVP of iOS Software will be leaving the company next year.

The word is, Forstall was pushed out for a number of reasons, but the tipping point was the recent iOS 6 Maps debacle. And today, even more details have emerged about his ousting…

Om Malik, of GigaOM, cites sources “deep within Apple” in a new report regarding the Forstall firing. The entire thing is worth a read, but we’ve highlighted a few interesting points below:

“Forstall’s firing was met with a sense of quiet jubilation, especially among people who worked in the engineering groups. Or as one of my sources quipped: there are a lot of people going for celebratory drinks, even if there is a little bit of doubt about their roles in the future.”

This shouldn’t surprise anyone, as Forstall had the reputation for being abrasive. It’s even been said that Steve Jobs used to have to mediate meetings between him and Apple’s other executives.

“According to my sources, there have been fissures in the management team for a while. Steve Jobs and Forstall were close, but none of the executives really cared for the deposed iOS chief. He really built a reputation by executing on Steve’s vision and acting as Steve’s mouthpiece.”

Instead of hiring a replacement, Apple has decided to split up Forstall’s duties among the other leaders. Most importantly, Jony Ive has been made the head of Human Interface across the whole company.

“There is a sense of excitement around Jony Ive taking over as in charge of newly created human interface group. The reason for the excitement: hope for a new design direction for many software products. Most think Eddy Cue taking over the Siri and Maps are smart and natural thing to do.”

Another interesting tidbit from Malik’s post is that a majority of engineers on the OS X and iOS teams were caught off guard by the Forstall news, many finding out within minutes of Apple’s press release.

It’s interesting to get some insight on what the consensus is inside Apple right now, during one of the biggest management changes in the company’s history. And it sounds like everyone is in high spirits.

Scott Forstall, talented as he may be, just clearly rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. And it will be interesting to see what Apple can do, particularly with iOS, now that he’s no longer in the picture.