Tim Cook on the Urgency of Solving Problems, Unpredictability of Apple, and Industry Disruption

chineseguy38 said:

I'm glad Tim Cook didn't get the honour. He doesn't deserve any. He only cares of money and not like Steve Jobs focusing on user experience.

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Here's a common flaw in your logic: Good user experience results in more money, because if the customers aren't happy, they stop buying. That's how Apple has always raked in the cash. If you ask me, let them focus on money, as long as they focus on what makes them money: Our happiness.

haruhiko said:

Retina Displeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeighhhhhhhh.

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Text doesn't do his droll speech justice I'm afraid. I love the guy, but he's no presenter. Perhaps they should hire.

kalsta said:

I haven't… but I did enjoy the quotes in the article, particularly this:



A clever metaphor I thought!

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Oh man, you need to. So many great quotes.

nuckinfutz said:

I too am keen on seeing if the Cook led Apple can deliver. Part of me thinks the company's standards have dropped a bit.

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So am I, and I think they may have slipped a bit as well, but i don't think that was due to Tim being in charge.

Lion being the big stinker (but only one example) for me that people have been unhappy with - was in progress under Steve.

I think more likely what happened is that Steve had a vision for a unified, simple computing environment synced across all your devices since the late 90s (there are interviews out there regarding his vision for this from way back, can't remember off the top of my head where exactly right now though), and he was getting close enough to taste it. I certainly remember finding a video interview about 12 months ago with him from the 90s where he was talking about concepts which seem to resemble the foundations of icloud.

Knowing he had little time left, corners may have been cut (by the team) a little to try and push ahead and get there towards the end.

So, I don't think this is Tim's fault. Apple have plenty of talented people, and there is still some way to go with regards to Steve's vision of "it just works" across multiple devices before they run out of ideas.

Now that Steve is GONE, I think it's likely that there will be less rushing software out the door in an unfinished state to try and "get there" before Steve passes away...


edit:
seriously, a lot of the whines about lack of ugpradability, appliance-type nature, lack of filesystem access and iCloud sync, etc are all Steve's philosphy. bitching about that sort of thing and blaming Tim for it is not really fair, Steve was always against slots, cables, user servicing, etc.

Banyan Bruce said:

Many of my students are very keen to get iPad Minis but the price is simply killing them, so they are going for cheaper Samsung tabs instead. There is a real feel of recession and bout of belt tightening going on in the UK this Christmas and with future reductions in ICT spending due next year, Apple needs to consider price because value is a perceived metric tempered by the real ability to pay.

Apple needs to get the price point right...these kid's and their parents don't, and can't afford to, buy tablets every year and as MS discovered if you catch them early then they stick with what they know rather than change. No matter how good the alternative is, the other option has got to become onerous before they'll consider change. That's why MS office is so entrenched and Pages et al is still a very distant second in the real world. Don't blow it, Apple

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yep...ive been buying apple since 87...just bought my son a nexus 7 for xmas...due to cost..I like it.

ConCat said:

Here's a common flaw in your logic: Good user experience results in more money, because if the customers aren't happy, they stop buying. That's how Apple has always raked in the cash. If you ask me, let them focus on money, as long as they focus on what makes them money: Our happiness.



Text doesn't do his droll speech justice I'm afraid. I love the guy, but he's no presenter. Perhaps they should hire.

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Like what, come out with an iPad mini with iPad 2 screen and releasing another iPad in 8 months which LTE for rest of the world should've been with iPad 3 instead?

IJ Reilly said:

I've been waiting my entire life for someone to say that they suffer fools gladly. The wait continues.

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That's hilarious; I almost fell off my chair laughing, LOL.

WalterNeff said:

It's not an award or honor. Hitler was named once; so it's not some sort of prize.

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Correct; more like an acknowledgement.

teknikal90 said:

really?
what has he done this year that is truly great? (to the level of the past winners)

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Again, it's not about greatness; the rules of selection state nothing about 'greatness', just "the individual or group of individuals who have had the biggest effect on the year's news". The Ayatollah Khomeini was named (1979), as was Joseph Stalin, twice (1939 & 1942).

See also WalterNeff above.

By TIME's criteria, it could even have been Capt. Francesco Schettino of the Costa Concordia, or even Carly Rae Jepsen, or Psy's Gangnam Style with almost a BILLION -say what?- YouTube views, but I personally think Obama was a good choice for 2012.

Sadly. Until that "Magical TV" show up... Apple will be losing followers and reputation. Not from us the hardcore Apple lovers but from the newcomers, the ones that came to make Apple a Billionaire Corporation when the iPhone arrived.

You need to understand that pleasing the masses is easy. Loyalty from the masses isn't. People who value your efforts will always support you but people who's looking always for a hit will suck your blood until they find something else. We are going to still be here but them are going to move forward to other devices.

Like the music industry, there are people who like music, fans and true listeners.

Like Steve Wozniak said: "Apple will embrace dark times... But it will arise stronger than ever"

Is Tim going to be in Halo 4?

LeoCastillo said:

For those complaining about the photo, I believe they were trying to go to a similar style with the Obama photos.

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What, no halo over Obama's head? And where is the choir of angels?

Mainstream Media fail.



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ConCat said:

Tim Cook is interesting? I take it you've never seen his keynotes?

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On the positive side, he's no Steve Ballmer.

Whatever your opinion of Tim Cook, I don't think anyone could disagree that that is the worst picture of him ever taken. It makes him look 10 years older, and like the headmaster of an English public school.

macs4nw said:

That's hilarious; I almost fell off my chair laughing, LOL.

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I got to thinking, a talent agent for comedians might suffer fools gladly, but they'd have to be really good fools.

Scooz said:

Steve Jobs cared about Computers, Music, Internet, Communications. And he led a Company to care about those markets.

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You forgot education. Jobs cared a lot about that. As well as the creative professional scene. Those were the 2 big markets Apple hat in 1997 and still has those today.

All Tim has to do is stay out of Jony Ive's way and keep the company focused on innovating. Getting more content deals will also help.

?

GorgonPhone said:

blah b;ah b;ah apples main issue is stagnation in IOS and a very boring retro static UI design that needs to be updated and modernized soon..

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To look more like an Android?

Tim Cook's a great leader but in terms of innovation, he's not that guy. He motivates and drives people achieve great things, sure, but it's nothing like what Jobs was: he was an innovator first and then a manager. I was not surprised when Time's shortlist had Cook's name but I think it's definitely not a worthy position. No offense: I like Cook's work but he's the commerce side of Apple. Apple needs an artist again to begin innovating with new things. It's been doing rehash for a long time now.

Great Photoshop/Lightroom skills this photographer has. Not.

Unpredicatability????

Apple was pretty predictable under Steve Jobs, release a new product, stock goes up.

Its only been under Tim Cook that Apple has been releasing duds and the stock is dropping.

I don't understand how anybody can believe Tim Cook is doing well for Apple. He was an adequate caretaker shortly after Steve Job's passing, but it sole purpose since then should have been to find an ideal replacement for Steve Jobs. Tim Cook is no Steve Job's and the companies performance over the last few months is proof of that.

Tim Cook is solely responsible for the Maps fiasco. There are two realities. Either he was aware of the Maps issues, went on stage and lied about how awesome the new Maps app was, OR, under his leadership middle management lied to Tim Cook and Tim Cook never bothered to actually use the new app and so went on stage clueless to how crappy the new Maps app was.

Steve Job's would never have released Maps in the state it was in.

Tim Cook should step down as leader of Apple, he is either a liar or a clueless twit, either are not good traits for a CEO.

Tim Cook was running Apple long before Steve Jobs died, both as official interim when Steve was on his medical leaves, and as CEO-in-deed for a much longer time when Steve had little energy for work. So while you can blame Cook for the volatility of Apple stock you should also give him credit for its phenomenal rise, or blame Steve, or solar flares, while you are at it. Not to mention, Apple had plenty of misfires while Steve was CEO, some of them hammered the stock, and required public mea culpas. People do seem to forget that, or maybe they never knew.

As for the Maps fiasco, I tend to suspect that underlings took the brunt of the blame for a strategic error. The best thing we can say about Cook's leadership in this case is that he didn't go into denial mode (as Steve sometimes did). He acted quickly and realistically and to some extent contained the damage.

Finally, Apple was nothing like predicable under Steve Jobs. Anybody who thinks it was just wasn't there.

ChrisCW11 said:

Its only been under Tim Cook that Apple has been releasing duds and the stock is dropping.

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Looking at the stock price alone is a terrible way to analyze the health of a company as there are too many factors that effect the day-to-day price of a stock. Whose to say the current value of Apple's stock isn't a bargain given the performance of the company? UBS gets called for being "cautious" when they give Apple a target price of $700 a share.

I'm wondering where this All-is-lost Post-Jobs perspective is coming from? It's true Apple's growth appears to be slowing, but they are still posting massive profits quarter after quarter. Even after Jobs.

'Duds' are a matter of subjectivity, I suppose, because sales are excellent even if you perceive the products to not be. I've not seen any evidence to show any abandonment (yet) of Apple's values or commitment to quality, design, or innovation.

A better question is whether or not Apple can keep up their momentum...That I think is much more interesting than trying to spin Apple's clearly successful year.

I am not sure where Apple is going now. AAPL stock is crushed. Once dominant, the iOS is loosing market share. No innovation for a company of that scale and with that amount of cash. Apple refusing more frequent and significant product updates. Quality issues, legal problems, inability to meet consumer demand.

Tim lost sense of direction after Steve is gone. Perhaps Tim is a good supply chain manager but he is no visionary and he feels too old. Tim is turning into a steve balmer. Apple needs a new leader.

rmwebs said:

Dear god fire the photographer.

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What? That photo was taken with an iPhone 5!

ChrisCW11 said:

Apple was pretty predictable under Steve Jobs, release a new product, stock goes up.

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Predictable??? Apparently you haven't been watching AAPL for many years.

saturn88 said:

I am not sure where Apple is going now. AAPL stock is crushed.

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AAPL's stock fall is not due to any flaw in Apple's strategy or product line. There are many factors at work here. Ultimately the stock is still higher now than it was last year, and ultimately the stock will rise again. Those of us who watch AAPL have seen this happen a million times before.

LagunaSol said:

Predictable??? Apparently you haven't been watching AAPL for many years.



AAPL's stock fall is not due to any flaw in Apple's strategy or product line. There are many factors at work here. Ultimately the stock is still higher now than it was last year, and ultimately the stock will rise again. Those of us who watch AAPL have seen this happen a million times before.

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"million times"? How many times AAPL dropped 28% off its highs in the last 10 years?

LagunaSol said:

AAPL's stock fall is not due to any flaw in Apple's strategy or product line. There are many factors at work here. Ultimately the stock is still higher now than it was last year, and ultimately the stock will rise again. Those of us who watch AAPL have seen this happen a million times before.

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About ten times, anyway. It's always remarkable when the stock markets fret (this being their function, essentially) and people with little or no money invested begin to fret in unison, as if the markets know something fundamental that nobody else does. The stock runs up 50% in a few months for no apparent reason, and nobody thinks to credit the company's leadership; then it falls back half that much, also for no apparent reason, but now it's clearly the fault of the CEO. It sort of figures, but not logically.

Cook's leadership has not really been tested yet. If he's serious about continuing Apple's strategy of disrupting existing markets (and there's no reason to believe otherwise), then we will see quite soon how well he guides the company through those rapids.

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saturn88 said:

"million times"? How many times AAPL dropped 28% off its highs in the last 10 years?

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Many. It dropped 50% in one day once.