Apple CEO Tim Cook: Apple's 'Ecosystem Has Never Been Stronger' and Long-Term Health Has 'Never Been Better'

[citysnaps]

He'd set Apple for his 2019 yearly bonus to be contributions to the Poor, Homeless, abused, to medical research earmarked to work for everyone regardless of insurance package or income

Cook’s entire wealth (a few hundred million $, I’m guessing) has been pledged to charitable organizations at his passing (outside of a modest amount set aside for his nephew’s college education).

Is that stand-up?

I have no idea how much he personally contributes to charities every year in addition to the above. Do you know?

 

[ipponrg]

iCloud Drive (online secure storage; accessible between all your Apple devices)

The irony in this is Apple is using Google Cloud Platform for their iCloud. If people can’t read between the lines, it means your iCloud data is being hosted and served from Google data centers around the world.

 

[DeepIn2U]

As am I. The iPod litterally changed Apple’s popularity from that of a niche brand to a household name.

Agreed. Household name status for consumer electronics ... forcing them to change their Apple Computer Inc corporate name to Apple, Inc !

* iTunes jukebox was greatly designed and very easy to use; helping to boost sales of the iPod. Stop one place, shop one place, get best experience using products, best support for your usage when you needed help too. (try that with the Zune + MusicMonkey/Napster/etc!

* iPod sales, increased exponentially when they expanded the product range not just to serve diferent price segments yet also mostly for use cases. Doing this exploded their sales and popularity!

* Gave Apple the funds it needed for even better, if not yet similar ads for PowerBook G4 Aluminum ads (Ming and Mini-Me)

hence the main reason why iPhone back in 2007 was billed by Jobs are:
"A Phone, a Wide Screen Touch iPod, A breakthrough internet computing device!"

Yeah the iPod rocked!

PS: I'm still looking for a Classic U2 model.
PowerMac G4 first though.
[doublepost=1547005196][/doublepost]

Cook’s entire wealth (a few hundred million $, I’m guessing) has been pledged to charitable organizations at his passing (outside of a modest amount set aside for his nephew’s college education).

Is that stand-up?

I have no idea how much he personally contributes to charities every year in addition to the above. Do you know?

No it's not being a stand-up guy.

1. He can spend it all before death!
2. He can have a major personal civil case and loose it all.
3. He can always reneg on that plan!

Being a stand-up guy is NOT when you're dead! It's doing the right thing, right now, when you're able to or at the very least TRY doing the right thing by action here and now ... not a lapel PIN (like those that wear fake poppies from November 1st to November 11th or until November 30th. It's not about kissing arse to get that Window Office.

That's my point ... Besos and Gates are doing it NOW, while their worth Billions; One doing it even though he's no longer the driving component of the company he started (Gates). None are trying to brag about it for marketing or to say or to be recognized as a standup guy ... their doing it case it IS the right thing to do. Gates even tries to get other millionaires to contribute. GATES actually goes into the field to do work AND to see his good money being used first hand ... so he's not just DOING the right thing or being a stand up guy ... he's making sure THE RIGHT THING is BEING DONE!

So .. please don't insult both our intelligence here on the meaning of the phrase "stand up guy" without a really good debate and examples

Cheers.

"And proctor ..... Always remember to do ... The ... Right ... Thing!"


[doublepost=1547005419][/doublepost]

The irony in this is Apple is using Google Cloud Platform for their iCloud. If people can’t read between the lines, it means your iCloud data is being hosted and served from Google data centers around the world.

Where did you see that Apple's iCloud is hosted on Google's Cloud Platform/Servers?! Are you saying they all are or just some of there services or some accounts of iCloud is hosted on Google's Cloud?

At any rate the data is encrypted so even Google cannot access the data. As it is ... Google, if their the host, can only tell x amount of Petabytes of data fill x amount of drives across x amount of servers. When trying to open the data they'll get an error.

 

[citysnaps]

Agreed. Household name status for consumer electronics ... forcing them to change their Apple Computer Inc corporate name to Apple, Inc !

* iTunes jukebox was greatly designed and very easy to use; helping to boost sales of the iPod. Stop one place, shop one place, get best experience using products, best support for your usage when you needed help too. (try that with the Zune + MusicMonkey/Napster/etc!

* iPod sales, increased exponentially when they expanded the product range not just to serve diferent price segments yet also mostly for use cases. Doing this exploded their sales and popularity!

* Gave Apple the funds it needed for even better, if not yet similar ads for PowerBook G4 Aluminum ads (Ming and Mini-Me)

hence the main reason why iPhone back in 2007 was billed by Jobs are:
"A Phone, a Wide Screen Touch iPod, A breakthrough internet computing device!"

Yeah the iPod rocked!

PS: I'm still looking for a Classic U2 model.
PowerMac G4 first though.
[doublepost=1547005196][/doublepost]

No it's not being a stand-up guy.

1. He can spend it all before death!
2. He can have a major personal civil case and loose it all.
3. He can always reneg on that plan!

Being a stand-up guy is NOT when you're dead! It's doing the right thing, right now, when you're able to or at the very least TRY doing the right thing by action here and now ... not a lapel PIN (like those that wear fake poppies from November 1st to November 11th or until November 30th. It's not about kissing arse to get that Window Office.

That's my point ... Besos and Gates are doing it NOW, while their worth Billions; One doing it even though he's no longer the driving component of the company he started (Gates). None are trying to brag about it for marketing or to say or to be recognized as a standup guy ... their doing it case it IS the right thing to do. Gates even tries to get other millionaires to contribute. GATES actually goes into the field to do work AND to see his good money being used first hand ... so he's not just DOING the right thing or being a stand up guy ... he's making sure THE RIGHT THING is BEING DONE!

So .. please don't insult both our intelligence here on the meaning of the phrase "stand up guy" without a really good debate and examples

Cheers.

"And proctor ..... Always remember to do ... The ... Right ... Thing!"

Oh, ok. That’s a rather immature response.

So...How much does Cook donate every year? Cook’s a modest guy, and not the type to talk about what are private matters for most people.

 

[Baymowe335]

The problem is that there is far more negative than positive, let me give you some examples:

Siri is horribly stagnant and behind the competition. Look at the breakthrough Alexa is happening in the world, that should have been Apple. Alexa is frickin everywhere, from Ecobee's thermostat, to Sono's smart speaker. In the meantime Homepod remains limited, it's got caveman Siri with only Apple music, no Spotify connect. A product without vision.

Apple maps: When the iPhone came out, Apple maps was ahead of its time, now it's been stagnant and behind the competition.

iOS on iPad - There is no vision for iOS, the amazing iPad hardware is being limited by its OS.

What happened to the revolutionary TV service that Steve Jobs said he had cracked? Spotify beat Apple in leading the music streaming revolution, and it looks like Apple is behind in leading the TV streaming revolution as well.

iCar? Dead.

Yes, Apple is amazingly profitable and valuable, but the fact is it's living off Steve's foundations, and it's not doing much to keep the company sustainable for the next decade.

"Siri is bad" doesn't tell the story at all. A study recently showed Siri answers questions as well or better than any of the competition. Siri has improved dramatically and if you fail to recognize that, you're using old narratives and old data.

Siri also doesn't have a ton to do with financial performance of Apple. It's a nice to have, but it doesn't have a direct impact to financials. Does Apple need to get better here to keep customers? Sure, but it's not so black and white that Siri bad. Apple doesn't mine your data and compromise your privacy, so they naturally aren't going to do certain tasks as well as a Google where YOU are the product. Siri does commands, very well...which is all a lot of people want in an virtual assistant.

Siri on HomePod Asked 800 Questions and Answered 74% Correctly vs. Just 52% Earlier This Year

Siri on iOS Answered 78.5% of Queries Correctly in Latest Test, Trailing Google Assistant at 85.5%

You have no idea if the "iCar" is dead. None.

Again, if you fail to see the innovation, that doesn't mean it's not there. Silicon, Watch, AirPods, elements of the iPhone, iPad, and services like ApplePay all have tons of innovation. ECG from your wrist? What is that? FaceID? Why are Android manufacturers still struggling for an easy to use, secure facial recognition tech? Chin on the bottom of all phones, even the company that manufactures the Apple display?

Alexa is spyware and didn't even answer as many questions correctly as Apple in a recent test. Actually, Alexa is worse in every test except information here. What do you have to say about that?

Apple Music has almost 60 Million subscribers now. Certainly not a small amount and that is probably Spotify's worst nightmare. Guess what? Apple can give that service away if they want to and it's Spotify's entire business.

iPad is amazing at the moment, particularly iPad Pro, but yes...I agree it can do more with a proper OS. I still own one and love it and others seem to as well. The iPad grew double digits y/y. Remember, just facts.

Non iPhone business grew 19% y/y
50% wearables growth
25% services growth
Growth in many markets outside of China (US, Germany, Italy, Korea, Canada).

I could go on, but I doubt you read this far.

 

[ipponrg]

Where did you see that Apple's iCloud is hosted on Google's Cloud Platform/Servers?! Are you saying they all are or just some of there services or some accounts of iCloud is hosted on Google's Cloud?

At any rate the data is encrypted so even Google cannot access the data. As it is ... Google, if their the host, can only tell x amount of Petabytes of data fill x amount of drives across x amount of servers. When trying to open the data they'll get an error.

You can do a search for “iCloud gcp”, but here is a link to one of many recent articles: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/26/apple-confirms-it-uses-google-cloud-for-icloud.html

Just like AWS, it’d be shady if any Google employee can access the storage. I can see Apple using them to store objects since that is not Apple’s bread and butter in services

 

[Baymowe335]

iPhone sales are down. Revenue is up because of services and increased phone price.

Don’t you understand what fewer sales means? Apple survives only on brand image. If the public persona ever perceives it as not the best top-of-the-line Tesla of mobile phones...it’s toast. Stagnated design and fractured product lines...

Well, who cares. Stock and revenue are up. That’s all that matters...

for now.

LOL! I JUST posted the iPhone numbers from the 10k and you still said iPhone sales are down? I gave you units and revenue from the 10K! All up!! LOL, I can't keep responding to you.

Units were UP in the last 3 years DESPITE price increases. That's the whole REASON it was so amazing. The only year they were down was after the large screen phones came out bc there was pent up demand. After that, units rose slightly and revenue increased tremendously.

 

[DeepIn2U]

You can do a search for “iCloud gcp”, but here is a link to one of many recent articles: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/26/apple-confirms-it-uses-google-cloud-for-icloud.html

Just like AWS, it’d be shady if any Google employee can access the storage. I can see Apple using them to store objects since that is not Apple’s bread and butter in services

Thank you for providing the link.

Unfortunately the ONLY link to Apple that that CNBC article states is
https://www.apple.com/business/site/docs/iOS_Security_Guide.pdf
And searching that document for 'google' shows up only twice and specifically related to Email and OAuth for Gmail.

Thus the link cannot be verified as a good source.

Then again ... The Verge points to the same article
https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/26/17053496/apple-google-cloud-platform-icloud-confirmation

Specifically stating (also back in February 2018) that the Apple Security document stated

The encrypted chunks of the file are stored, without any user-identifying information, using third-party storage services, such as [Amazon] S3 and Google Cloud Platform

Yet today it only states ... (full paragraph under "iCloud"

Each file is broken into chunks and encrypted by iCloud using AES-128
and a key derived from each chunk’s contents that utilizes SHA-256.
The keys and the file’s metadata are stored by Apple in the user’s iCloud
account. The encrypted chunks of the file are stored, without any user-
identifying information or the keys, using both Apple and third-party
storage services.

No more mention of Google's Cloud Platform. Apple owns a LOT of their own server farms. It's a REAL shame Apple OSX Server, XServe, XServe Raid and other software/products did NOT continually evolve because right now that is one HUGE argument that would've been shot down in terms of security discussion.

 

[trifid]

"Siri is bad" doesn't tell the story at all. A study recently showed Siri answers questions as well or better than any of the competition. Siri has improved dramatically and if you fail to recognize that, you're using old narratives and old data.

Siri also doesn't have a ton to do with financial performance of Apple. It's a nice to have, but it doesn't have a direct impact to financials. Does Apple need to get better here to keep customers? Sure, but it's not so black and white that Siri bad. Apple doesn't mine your data and compromise your privacy, so they naturally aren't going to do certain tasks as well as a Google where YOU are the product. Siri does commands, very well...which is all a lot of people want in an virtual assistant.

Siri on HomePod Asked 800 Questions and Answered 74% Correctly vs. Just 52% Earlier This Year

Siri on iOS Answered 78.5% of Queries Correctly in Latest Test, Trailing Google Assistant at 85.5%

You have no idea if the "iCar" is dead. None.

Again, if you fail to see the innovation, that doesn't mean it's not there. Silicon, Watch, AirPods, elements of the iPhone, iPad, and services like ApplePay all have tons of innovation. ECG from your wrist? What is that? FaceID? Why are Android manufacturers still struggling for an easy to use, secure facial recognition tech? Chin on the bottom of all phones, even the company that manufactures the Apple display?

Alexa is spyware and didn't even answer as many questions correctly as Apple in a recent test. Actually, Alexa is worse in every test except information here. What do you have to say about that?

Apple Music has almost 60 Million subscribers now. Certainly not a small amount and that is probably Spotify's worst nightmare. Guess what? Apple can give that service away if they want to and it's Spotify's entire business.

iPad is amazing at the moment, particularly iPad Pro, but yes...I agree it can do more with a proper OS. I still own one and love it and others seem to as well. The iPad grew double digits y/y. Remember, just facts.

Non iPhone business grew 19% y/y
50% wearables growth
25% services growth
Growth in many markets outside of China (US, Germany, Italy, Korea, Canada).

I could go on, but I doubt you read this far.

I honestly admire your passion in defending Apple in some things that I think are quite indefensible. I found this from John Gruber, one of the most prominent Apple apologists, an article he made in March 2018, his conclusion on the state of Siri in 2018:

"The gist of The Information’s story is that Siri has existed for seven years without cohesive leadership or product vision, and the underlying technology is a mishmash of various systems that don’t work well together."

https://daringfireball.net/linked/2018/03/14/the-information-siri

You mentioned Airpods, I love Airpods, by far the best product Apple has released in a long time. But there is a lot wrong with Apple in terms of vision, in this example with Siri, I just hope Apple's leadership identifies the issues and fixes them. I'm honestly worried that actually Cook doesn't see the issues and thinks everything is great. How else do you explain Siri lacking a cohesive vision for 7 years?

 

[Baymowe335]

I honestly admire your passion in defending Apple in some things that I think are quite indefensible. I found this from John Gruber, one of the most prominent Apple apologists, an article he made in March 2018, his conclusion on the state of Siri in 2018:

"The gist of The Information’s story is that Siri has existed for seven years without cohesive leadership or product vision, and the underlying technology is a mishmash of various systems that don’t work well together."

https://daringfireball.net/linked/2018/03/14/the-information-siri

You mentioned Airpods, I love Airpods, by far the best product Apple has released in a long time. But there is a lot wrong with Apple in terms of vision, in this example with Siri, I just hope Apple's leadership identifies the issues and fixes them. I'm honestly worried that actually Cook doesn't see the issues and thinks everything is great. How else do you explain Siri lacking a cohesive vision for 7 years?

I posted a real study on actual questions asked to 4 virtual assistants in which Siri performed quite well and you give me 1 person’s opinion?

Look, not saying Siri is a world beater, but she has improved A LOT in the last year and data is starting to show that.

You also have to remember Apple isn’t a data miner of personal information, so their approach is different to AI because they actually give a crap about user privacy whereas Amazon and a Google make you the product.

You just repeated what Gruber said about Siri...that doesn’t mean he’s right.

Virtual assistants are also a very minor part of the overall Apple story anyway. They have one and it can improve, but this company just did $266B in revenue and made $60B in profit....more than any company in history. Consumers have spoken. They like Apple stuff...bought more than ever.

 

[ipponrg]

No more mention of Google's Cloud Platform. Apple owns a LOT of their own server farms. It's a REAL shame Apple OSX Server, XServe, XServe Raid and other software/products did NOT continually evolve because right now that is one HUGE argument that would've been shot down in terms of security discussion.

Wholeheartedly agree. If Apple would've invested in server technologies, it would've been very interesting. There was no reason they couldn't do it except that they'd sacrifice their profit. I definitely think they are entirely consumer focus with no interest in enterprise support. That would have been an interesting and exciting story with them going head to head against Microsoft, Google, and Amazon in that space

 

[Tech198]

Apple probably has done allot better for themselves, but there is also little evidence that a company tells you they are doing bad as well. In fact,, i don't think they exist.

Wholeheartedly agree. If Apple would've invested in server technologies, it would've been very interesting. There was no reason they couldn't do it except that they'd sacrifice their profit. I definitely think they are entirely consumer focus with no interest in enterprise support. That would have been an interesting and exciting story with them going head to head against Microsoft, Google, and Amazon in that space

If Apple did more with trying to get OS X server, and rack mounted bays (affordable) to business (instead of buying Dell) which my mate goes to for Poweredge, then perhaps Apple would have a something there.

I guess you can't really compare price t that because weather its Dell, or other, your already paying allot for servers anyways

 

[trifid]

I posted a real study on actual questions asked to 4 virtual assistants in which Siri performed quite well and you give me 1 person’s opinion?

Answering questions is one metric but there are so many other factors for which to rate a virtual assistant. And I linked John Gruber because he is one of Apple's most prominent cheerleaders, he's even done interviews with Apple execs. Having him say that about Siri I thought it was significant enough, but I guess you'll stick to your posture on this and I'll stick with mine.

 

[weup togo]

It's not so much he cared as much as they were thread bare at that point having fired lot of people in the late 90s. Look at this graph for the people Apple had in 2004

https://www.statista.com/statistics/273439/number-of-employees-of-apple-since-2005/

No it is very much exactly like SJ cared. He specifically and repeatedly talked about it. Apple has not had cost-cutting layoffs in this century because of him.

 

[MadeByApple]

Because speaking publicly for Apple is part of his job.
[doublepost=1546981376][/doublepost]

Sorry, but i don’t buy that. Yes he needs to have a public image. But the frequency, timing, and the **** he says seem more like a marketing stunt than anything meaningful.

There are many CEOs that do not hold interviews with news outlets as much as Tim. (Steve Jobs would be on that list.)

Tim says variations of the same thing at these interviews. Apple is doing amazing. We have the best ___ we’ve ever made. I am excited about the impact ____. It’s almost comical how predictable his interviews have gotten. There’s almost no authenticity to his interviews.

All that leads me to wonder why does he do it in the first place.

 

[Greymacuser]

Tim Kook. King of Denile.

 

[Peperino]

"Apple's long-term health has "never been better," the product pipeline has "never been better" and the "ecosystem has never been stronger," especially when it comes to services, according to Cook.".

Apple's long term health has "never been better"
Then why:
1- Apple will no longer report iPhone sales unit numbers
2- lower guidance
3- production cuts.
4- keep increasing prices.
5- Lack of innovation.
6- Increased update cycles to the point of ridiculousness.

Product pipeline "never been better"
- Mac pro (trashcan) was a failure. Still waiting for an upgrade after 5 years.
- Mac Mini: Ridiculously expensive (over 65% of original). After 4 years, same design, same case and a disposable machine that the SSD cannot be upgraded.
- Macbook Pro: Overpriced, cheap keyboard feel, non-upgradable (soldered RAM and SSD), A useless touchbar, and the remove of the Mag-Safe. So good you cannot connect your own iphone.
- Macbook Air: 20% more expensive with no innovation.
- iMac: Same 10 year-old external design. Almost 2 years without an update.

"ecosystem has never been stronger
That is why beeing an Apple user I use Google maps, sheets and hangouts.

Brilliant ideas for the long term!!
As Tim Cook said in Jim Cramer interview, Apple thinks for the long term...NOT

Tim Cook is Pathetic.

[doublepost=1547019409][/doublepost]Tim Cook's interview has never been worse!
Apple prices has never been more expensive
Lack of innovation has never been stronger.

Damage control has never been lamer.

The good thing is that Apple thinks for the long term... especially in updating cycles.
The good thing is that Cook's plan to save Apple is to increase concentrate on the trade in program. Really? Is that the best he can do about innovation?

 

[Steve121178]

I posted a real study on actual questions asked to 4 virtual assistants in which Siri performed quite well and you give me 1 person’s opinion?

Look, not saying Siri is a world beater, but she has improved A LOT in the last year and data is starting to show that.

You also have to remember Apple isn’t a data miner of personal information, so their approach is different to AI because they actually give a crap about user privacy whereas Amazon and a Google make you the product.

You just repeated what Gruber said about Siri...that doesn’t mean he’s right.

Virtual assistants are also a very minor part of the overall Apple story anyway. They have one and it can improve, but this company just did $266B in revenue and made $60B in profit....more than any company in history. Consumers have spoken. They like Apple stuff...bought more than ever.

Siri is absolute garbage and that's because Apple has neglected it for years. It's embarrassingly poor compared to literally all rival services from Google, Microsoft, Amazon etc.

 

[otternonsense]

Great, more vapid tripe by the platitude machine. It's now been what, seven years? They've not innovated a single new product (the watch was the last product Jobs had a hand in) and all they've done was year on year updates (on SOME product lines and not entire families), emojis, watchbands, Pro apps/peripherals that died on the vine, and an AI assistant that may have been the first entrant in the market but is the last to cross the line in utility and smarts. Ripping off Android and Cydia apps each year and claiming it's an invention does not innovation make. Worse yet, once being the go-to example of clever engineering and perfect industrial design, their products are uncharacteristically slipping in quality and execution.

They need somebody who can think outside the box like Jobs could. Cook is the short term profitable version of Scully. He spends too much time obsessing over photo ops, politics and social issues and not nearly enough on tracking the market and creating the next best thing.

 

[Michael Goff]

Siri is absolute garbage and that's because Apple has neglected it for years. It's embarrassingly poor compared to literally all rival services from Google, Microsoft, Amazon etc.

I wouldn’t say it’s bad compared to Cortana.

 

[dilbert99]

the product pipeline has "never been better"

Where have I heard that before and nothing came of it?

 

[Steve121178]

I wouldn’t say it’s bad compared to Cortana.

I use both and Siri is so bad it's not even worth using most of the time. I speak with an English accent and it consistently fails at dictation and when I do ask a question it gives me comical results. The lack of investment & direction in Siri shows there's been no improvement in years.

Cortana may have stagnated but at least it works very well & I have always found Google Assistant (or whatever they call it these days) to be very competent.

 

[Michael Goff]

I use both and Siri is so bad it's not even worth using most of the time. I speak with an English accent and it consistently fails at dictation and when I do ask a question it gives me comical results. The lack of investment & direction in Siri shows there's been no improvement in years.

Cortana may have stagnated but at least it works very well & I have always found Google Assistant (or whatever they call it these days) to be very competent.

“There’s been no improvement in years” is enough for me to roll my eyes on its own.

 

[Steve121178]

“There’s been no improvement in years” is enough for me to roll my eyes on its own.

That's what I do when Siri fails at understanding & taking a simple dictated message in 2019.

 

[Michael Goff]

That's what I do when Siri fails at understanding & taking a simple dictated message in 2019.

The plural of anecdote is not data.