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Tim Cook Performance Review 2014

M

MeeMac

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 17, 2013
205
5
Tim Cook Performance Review 2014

It is time for end of year performance reviews. Based on the billions of dollars we have committed to Apple products; we should evaluate Apple’s commitment to us. How better than to review the performance of the person most responsible for Apple’s performance in 2014.

My rating is that Tim has made great strides as a Community Organizer. This is Tim’s strength.

While his predecessor primarily used technology to change culture; Cook is using the Apple brand name and economic power to change culture by supporting causes the board of directors believes will provide economic benefits beyond the current technology consumer. This may result in opening new monetary avenues for the company outside of the technology world.

The area for improvement for Cook is technological leadership. Technological leadership is the Steve Jobs Legacy. And as such it is Apple. Tim appears to be more fashion oriented. He has assembled a design team that also seems more focused on fashion; perhaps even more so than design.

Tim’s fashion focus may ultimately result in the Apple culture placing image before technology. This is a huge risk for Cook and ultimately Apple itself.

Case in point is the iWatch. This merger of fashion and technology might be the next step in consumer technology. Or it might be the last step in consumer technology. Will fashion and technology be the wave of the future? Time will tell.

Until then; how do you rate Tim’s 2014 performance?
 
kazmac

kazmac

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2010
10,086
8,627
Any place but here or there....
I cannot talk about anything except what I use Apple for, technological ease of use.

This was not a good year, if you go by the surface rather than what's underneath.

I am not an image person and the places Apple appear to be going are not places I want to go.

If the software and hardware options/quality do not dramatically improve next year, along with this form before function business I think I'll have to reconsider my home computing options once this iMac goes bye-bye.
 
Last edited:
Ariii

Ariii

macrumors 6502a
Jan 26, 2012
681
9
Chicago
I'm just saying; even design-wise, the current Apple products were solidly designed (for the most part) and looked sleek, but they have still had the same sort of look (metallic/glass) across ALL of their product lines. It's not like what Tim Cook is doing is that new. The iMac still looks the same, for the most part, as their previous ones whether it's slimmer or not, same for the MacBook line. The iWatch looks cool whether it will actually turn out to be a good product :p

I actually ended up liking the newer iOS even though their desktop systems aren't headed in a great direction.
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,481
43,406
MeeMac said:
Until then; how do you rate Tim’s 2014 performance?
Click to expand...

In terms of new hardware a C-
The new mac pro is probably the one stellar product.
The iPhone 6, is a nice product, but being so thin, it incurred a lot of bad press. It also seems to be a scratch magnet as well.
The Apple Watch - its been rumored for years, yet its a no show for 2014 (yes they finally unveiled it for 2015).

In terms of software a C-
Yosemite/iOS8 have some great features, and for themes part is bug free. Gutting iWork and calling it an improvement should get a F for failing.

Profitability: A. Clearly Apple is making money hand over fist.

I guess stock holders should be happy since he's made them a lot of money.

Overall, I'm not happy with how he's been running apple, but I'm just a dumb consumer.
 
Rogifan

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,147
31,204
maflynn said:
In terms of new hardware a C-
The new mac pro is probably the one stellar product.
The iPhone 6, is a nice product, but being so thin, it incurred a lot of bad press. It also seems to be a scratch magnet as well.
The Apple Watch - its been rumored for years, yet its a no show for 2014 (yes they finally unveiled it for 2015).

In terms of software a C-
Yosemite/iOS8 have some great features, and for themes part is bug free. Gutting iWork and calling it an improvement should get a F for failing.

Profitability: A. Clearly Apple is making money hand over fist.

I guess stock holders should be happy since he's made them a lot of money.

Overall, I'm not happy with how he's been running apple, but I'm just a dumb consumer.
Click to expand...

I'm curious why it matters whether Watch came out in 2014 or 2015. It's not like Apple announced a product and release date and then missed that date. The whole wearables category is in its infancy. Why the rush? Unless you just wanted Apple to release something just for the sake of it, just to try and please the tech media that has ADD and is constantly wanting a new toy to play with.
 
grahamperrin

grahamperrin

macrumors 601
Jun 8, 2007
4,942
648
A mismatch

Just one criticism:
  • a stated desire to produce the best
  • multiple products are far from the best
  • at least one product is unacceptably poor
– I criticise the mismatch between the stated desire and the reality.

As I treat him as the premier spokesperson for Apple, I would like him to have display a better grasp of what's acceptable to customers. But I wouldn't want his job, and I wouldn't want him criticising what I do, so that's not a criticism of Cook personally. Just a thought.

My respect for Apple would have been greater, this year, if the company had met more people's expectations of 'the best'. Some things should have been deferred.
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,481
43,406
Rogifan said:
I'm curious why it matters whether Watch came out in 2014 or 2015.
Click to expand...
I think you're failing to see the forest through the trees ;)

My point is, as a whole, apple was missing the mark on new products. The nMP, and iMac are great products (though a lot of detractors), yet they're not "new" in the sense of something different.

Cook has promised that we'd see a lot of new products coming from Apple this year and said the same thing last year. I'm using the watch, as one example of that promise by Cook.

To me, I have no use of the watch and I don't care of it was released now or next year, but as an example of Cook promising one thing and failing to deliver (for what ever reason).
 
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