Well, it happened on Friday morning, but the news didn't start making the rounds until after AtAT was already broadcasting, so we've had all weekend to chortle in our joy: as first pointed out by faithful viewer Flow Flow and breathlessly confirmed by the Associated Press, Motorola's CEO Chris Galvin has "unexpectedly resigned" due to "differences with the board." And even if you're thousands of miles from Schaumburg, Illinois, if you listen verrrrry carefully, you can still hear the champagne corks popping.

Yes, the only Motorola employees not hung over from a two-day celebratory drinking binge that commenced immediately after the news broke are probably the ones who are still drinking; based on anecdotal evidence, the man was not a popular guy among the folks in the trenches. (Given that he "eliminated nearly 60,000 jobs since August 2000," we can't say we're all that surprised.) He was frequently described as having exactly one qualification for the job, i.e. being the founder's grandson. On more than one occasion we've heard Mr. Galvin referred to by engineers as "Motorola's Amelio," a description which imparts volumes of data to anyone familiar with the "I'm Going To Shoot Myself In The Head" Years in Apple's history. Apparently the shareholders agree, since Motorola's stock rose 5% in after-hours trading when news of Galvin's firi-- uh, retirement hit the streets.

We will say this: if nothing else, Galvin certainly borrowed his spin from Gil Amelio. In his statement, Galvin announced that he had "achieved substantial results" and leaves his successor "with a formidable Motorola platform compared to three years ago, before [he] implemented [his] five-point turnaround plan." Wow, the déjà vu is practically choking us. Suppose that if the next CEO does manage to prevent Motorola from sinking into the mire, Galvin will write a book about how it was all because of the groundwork laid by his tireless crusade against nigh-insurmountable odds?

A word to those partying Motorolans out there: don't forget to say a prayer of thanks to Saint Steve. Seriously, if you think Galvin's, ahem, "retirement" is completely unrelated to recent reports that the alleged PowerBook-delaying G4 shortage got so ridiculously bad that it actually prompted a visit to Motorola headquarters by none other than Steve "Ezekiel 25:17" Jobs himself, you're living in a dreamer's fantasy world populated by chocolate-filled leprechauns and unicorns whose horns dispense free Kool-Aid. (On the plus side, since it is a fantasy world, you can probably still get Purplesaurus Rex. Man, we used to love that stuff.) Remember, just about the first thing that Steve did after wiggling his way back into One Infinite Loop was persuade Apple's board to push Amelio overboard to feed the sharks; coaxing Motorola's board to lay the smackdown on Kid Galvin would have been child's play. In fact, we're betting he did it using only the words "these aren't the droids you're looking for" just to make it a little bit more of a challenge.

The only way to know for sure, of course, is to wait and see who gets named as Galvin's successor; The Financial Times reports that Motorola president and chief operating officer Mike Zafirovski is up for consideration, but nothing's etched in stone. We can't imagine that Steve has any interest in running yet another company, especially Motorola now that IBM is the PowerPC horse to bet on... but if he's bored enough to decide that he wants the gig, get ready for one wild ride. Jon Ive-designed cell phones, anyone?