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Apple CEO Tim Cook Speaks on Diversity and Inclusion at Auburn University

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Apple CEO Tim Cook visited his alma mater Auburn University this afternoon, where he held a talk with students at the Telfar B. Peet Theatre. Auburn University student paper The Auburn Plainsman shared details on the talk, which covered topics like diversity and inclusion, subjects Cook is passionate about and often covers in speeches.

Cook told students that it's important to be prepared to encounter people with diverse backgrounds in every career field. Students, he says, will work at companies where they will need to work with people from other countries and serve customers and users from all over the world.

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"The world is intertwined today, much more than it was when I was coming out of school," Cook said. "Because of that, you really need to have a deep understanding of cultures around the world."

"I have learned to not just appreciate this but celebrate it," Cook said. "The thing that makes the world interesting is our differences, not our similarities."
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Cook went on to explain that Apple believes you can only create a great product with a diverse team featuring people with many backgrounds and different kind of specialities. "One of the reasons Apple product work really great... is that the people working on them are not only engineers and computer scientists, but artists and musicians."

Cook has spoken at Auburn University several times in the past, and looks fondly at the time he spent there. "There is no place in the world I'd rather be than here," Cook told students. "Brings back a lot of memories. I often think that Auburn is really not a place, it's a feeling and a spirit. Fortunately, it is with you for all the days of your life. It has been for me at least."

According to The Auburn Plainsman, an exclusive interview conducted with Tim Cook will also be featured on the site later.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple CEO Tim Cook Speaks on Diversity and Inclusion at Auburn University
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/04/06/tim-cook-auburn-university-diversity-inclusion/
Tim just shut up. Your SJW act has been exposed for the complete BS it's always been. You never show this moxy in the Middle East where LGBT people are executed on daily basis or in China where censorship is the name of the game but so long as you can build your products on the cheap and sell em in despotic countries I suppose everything is fine...
 
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jdillings said:
Dear Tim, tell us about the diversity and inclusion in China and the Middle East where you do business
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And? While the techie in me doesn't love Cook or the job he's doing, the rest of me really appreciates him. He won't go down in history as a tech visionary, but he's influencing the world in many other ways (that I deem to be good).

If everyone who disagreed with censorship in China or human rights abuses in the Middle East didn't do business there, would those places change? No. They'd become complete echo chambers. And don't pat yourself on the back. You need that cheap Middle East oil and cheap Chinese manufacturing as much as the rest of us. At least Cook is standing up and pushing his values forward in places that don't see much of that. His actions don't have the wow factor of unveiling a super sexy new piece of tech, but they are powerful and transformative just the same.
 
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Well said Tim Cook.

And just because he can't single-handedly change the world into a human rights paradise overnight, it doesn't mean he shouldn't do, or say, something. Like any of us. He may be CEO of Apple, which affords him a huge public platform compared to most people, but it doesn't make him omnipotent.

The idea he should just shut up because he makes stuff in China (as one example) is flawed. The world is interconnected and diverse, in many many ways, and we all have to work with it in its evidently imperfect state. Recognising its diversity and working towards improving inclusion where it is possible to promote such things is being part of the solution - remaining silent when you don't have to is being part of the problem.
 
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As a female of European and Asian descent, I also celebrate diversity and inclusion. Which is why I remember just a few weeks ago there was news on this very forum about shareholders calling Tim out on the fact that the very top of Apple management was mostly middle aged white dudes and that their commitment to diversity was apparent only in the retail side of their business. They wanted to know how Apple was going to address the apparent imbalance. And I don't recall the exact words of the response, but I remember being struck that the answer was something of the usual rebuff we get from Apple and Tim when they don't have an answer. He didn't seem to give two chips then, but he does when addressing his alma mater when there's nothing he needs to do to back up the inspirational talk. Interesting.

And really, I don't mind the middle aged white dudes. Under Steve Jobs they did a good job getting great useful products out so any of us could use them to do great things and start our own businesses, whatever our race, and favored bathroom might be. Who could begrudge that? They developed and created a compelling ecosystem...that is now falling apart under this man's tenure. Parts of it are still really good but man, look at the computers that should be the foundation of the ecosystem. Jeez.

I started out admiring Tim Cook so much. And I'll leave it right there.
 
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Nice spin....but the reality is that he's a hypocrite who only lectures when and where it is convenient.

When he starts taking a stand in China, then he can get on his soap box.

Porco said:
Well said Tim Cook.

And just because he can't single-handedly change the world into a human rights paradise overnight, it doesn't mean he shouldn't do, or say, something. Like any of us. He may be CEO of Apple, which affords him a huge public platform compared to most people, but it doesn't make him omnipotent.

The idea he should just shut up because he makes stuff in China (as one example) is flawed. The world is interconnected and diverse, in many many ways, and we all have to work with it in its evidently imperfect state. Recognising its diversity and working towards improving inclusion where it is possible to promote such things is being part of the solution - remaining silent when you don't have to is being part of the problem.
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This man is such a hack. Notice how Schiller and Federighi were the ones who decided it was important to address professionals? Meanwhile, Tim's doing crap like this, which (if you've forgotten) has NOTHING to do with making computers.
 
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Here's the real problem with this (among others): if Apple was pushing out the products people wanted, then sure, do all the SJW crap they want (they shouldn't, but whatever, I'll be fair here).

The fact that his energy isn't being put into the right areas is why people are mad, politics aside.
 
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logicstudiouser said:
Tim, I agree diversity and inclusion is great, but you have allowed the mac lineup to be neglected far too long. Enough speeches, time to do your job!
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You want him hands on with a breadboard and soldering iron?
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aaronhead14 said:
This man is such a hack. Notice how Schiller and Federighi were the ones who decided it was important to address professionals? Meanwhile, Tim's doing crap like this, which (if you've forgotten) has NOTHING I do with making computers.
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Wait, you know for a fact that Tim Cook had nothing to do with it? Source? & It's not exactly insanity that the product marketing VP and software engineering VP addressed pros (in terms of hosting the "talk").
 
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aaronhead14 said:
This man is such a hack. Notice how Schiller and Federighi were the ones who decided it was important to address professionals? Meanwhile, Tim's doing crap like this, which (if you've forgotten) has NOTHING I do with making computers.
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Well, in fairness, this IS his Alma Mater so I can understand why he would speak at their event. But yeah... I did notice it was Schiller and Federighi. It's either China or special interests that get all the love now. I hate to sound like a bitter cow pointing that out so often. And I could be very wrong in my limited perspective of what his job entails. But I'm not a grumpy mom for nothing...gotta be a little sour sometimes or I'd have to change my username. ;)
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mariusignorello said:
Here's the real problem with this (among others): if Apple was pushing out the products people wanted, then sure, do all the SJW crap they want (they shouldn't, but whatever, I'll be fair here).

The fact that his energy isn't being put into the right areas is why people are mad, politics aside.
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Well said and to the point. I wish I could write like that.
 
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If he'll make diversity thinner, and with more band colors and less updates, I'll give him credit for being consistent.
 
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