Apple CEO Tim Cook Talks Antitrust Investigation, Trump Relationship, Working From Home and More in Interview

[PickUrPoison]

Where do people get this idea that Apple engineers are incapable of installing Slack?

Or that Slack is the answer to any/all teamwork, collaboration, communication, etc. requirements?

Twelve million daily users. That’s it. No, I’m not slagging them. It seems to be a nice platform, it does what it does, and it’s extensible. But they don’t have a monopoly on how to do WFH.

The best tool for the job. That’s what always drives the discussions in the corporate world that I’m a part of. That may or may not include Slack, Teams or anything else. There’s no one size fits all solution.

 

[PickUrPoison]

I mean, to a point. Apple is infamously secretive, so I assume some sections aren’t available via VPN, period.

But, yeah, I don’t know why people think Apple can only use FaceTime. Apple doesn’t always have to use its own public products.

Yeah I’d guess a lot of the R&D projects are only available from inside. iirc one of the spies that got busted had transferred a ton of files to a computer while they were on site. Headed for the San Jose Airport maybe 20 minutes away, but were met by the Feds with a pair of silver bracelets.

 

[Abazigal]

Can we stop pretending that Cook is ever going to give an interesting answer? We know his stance on all of this because it’s also Apple’s public stance on it. He’s not going to go off-script or give a surprising response like an Elon Musk would, he’s only doing this to double down on the press release they put out a couple of weeks back.

He is consistent in that regard, to say the least.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Can we stop pretending that Cook is ever going to give an interesting answer? We know his stance on all of this because it’s also Apple’s public stance on it. He’s not going to go off-script or give a surprising response like an Elon Musk would, he’s only doing this to double down on the press release they put out a couple of weeks back.

Imagine that, an adult acting like... an adult.

Relatedly, Apple doesn’t have any problem getting D&O. Tesla? Well, if someone was willing to write it, the terms (limitations, exclusions, price, etc.) were apparently not exactly to Tesla’s liking, since they dropped it last April.

 

[fokmik]

If 90% of people vote with their wallets to buy only Apple..and creating that thing called “monopoly” it should be a non legal action
People, users , vote ..and usa eu are for benefits for - company or users focus

 

[Agit21]

And what would Musk say? You're talking about a guy who said "we'll coup whoever we want". If anything, he would probably fully support the Chinese government openly, since Tesla is huge in China. I'd rather have Cook say nothing than him saying something stupid.

The very big difference is what Apple / Cook and Tesla / Musk have to say about the USA and Trump. Musk is no hypocrite!

 

[laptech]

Not sure how Tim Cook is supposed to answer a politically charged question.

[...]

Politicaly charged question?? not in the least. A moral and ethical question, Yes most certainly. Such a question goes to the heart of finding out how far a company CEO is prepared to overlook human rights abuses for the sake of continued profit for the company because lets face it, Apple having the bulk of it's manufacturing in China allows it to turn a hefty profit.

 

[Tech198]

Apple is often good at going in one direction and sticking to it.

 

[itsmilo]

Not as bad as this I guess:

this would be funny if it wasn't so sad. Basically China made everyone their B but "omg look at Nazi Germany. I do not understand how the world could just watch for so long! - Pleasure to do business with you until they bomb your own backyard" is still true to this day I guess

 

[chucker23n1]

Or that Slack is the answer to any/all teamwork, collaboration, communication, etc. requirements?

Twelve million daily users. That’s it. No, I’m not slagging them. It seems to be a nice platform, it does what it does, and it’s extensible. But they don’t have a monopoly on how to do WFH.

The best tool for the job. That’s what always drives the discussions in the corporate world that I’m a part of. That may or may not include Slack, Teams or anything else. There’s no one size fits all solution.

"Apple needs to do x (because it's what everyone else does)" dates back to at least the 1990s. (I can't help but wonder to what extent Spindler started the clone program because he thought it was a good idea, vs. because he was told be "experts" that it was.)

The very big difference is what Apple / Cook and Tesla / Musk have to say about the USA and Trump. Musk is no hypocrite!

I don't know about hypocrite, but does Musk try to shape public opinion to his personal gain? Absolutely he does; he downplayed the pandemic because he was afraid he didn't have enough staff in his factories to reach his revenue goals.

Apple having the bulk of it's manufacturing in China allows it to turn a hefty profit.

To a point, yes, but also, I don't think Cook is lying when he points out that the infrastructure just isn't there in most countries. You can't just start manufacturing computers with all their components in, say, the US. You could do it in the 90s, but tons and tons of suppliers are gone and don't have the incentive to come back.

 

[laptech]

[.....]

To a point, yes, but also, I don't think Cook is lying when he points out that the infrastructure just isn't there in most countries. You can't just start manufacturing computers with all their components in, say, the US. You could do it in the 90s, but tons and tons of suppliers are gone and don't have the incentive to come back.

Interesting how you point out the difficulties of moving manufacturing back to the US but yet it seems so easy for a company to move manufacturing out of the US to a foreign country. I bet Apple never had any difficulties in taking maunfacturing out of the US and putting it in China but now out come the excuses why they should not be returned to the US.

As for Tim Cook, when he talks about 'infrastructure', he's actually talking about the cost parts shippments. He does not want to increase supply chain costs by having parts shipped from China to a manufacturing plant in the US, is cheaper to have the manufacturing done in China in the same country where the majority of parts are made as well.

 

[PickUrPoison]

The very big difference is what Apple / Cook and Tesla / Musk have to say about the USA and Trump. Musk is no hypocrite!

What did Apple/Cook say about USA and Trump? Please refresh my recollection.

Not sure if Musk is a hypocrite but he certainly is a liar.

It could also be that he’s not quite as smart as he thinks he is. Remember when he predicted the number of new Covid cases in the US would probably be close to zero by the end of April?

For the record, April was a very bad month here: >850,000 new cases, and >52,000 deaths. Not cumulative, just in the 30 days of April. And, >27,500 new US cases on April 30 itself. That’s definitely, probably not close to zero.

You’re no epidemiologist, Elon, stay in your lane. And no, don’t use your lane assist technology, use your brain.

 

[Vjosullivan]

Notwithstanding. Collaboration is very very useable within the Apple Ecosystem.

With that caveat, you've pretty much defined the problem with Apple software.

 

[JM]

For all his vast wealth and power Tim seems a very down to earth humble guy

We're all just people doing people things. Some are just more ridiculously rich and famous than others, haha.

 

[citysnaps]

Interesting how you point out the difficulties of moving manufacturing back to the US but yet it seems so easy for a company to move manufacturing out of the US to a foreign country. I bet Apple never had any difficulties in taking maunfacturing out of the US and putting it in China but now out come the excuses why they should not be returned to the US.

Of course it was easy. Especially after the Chinese government over decades invested many billions of dollars subsidizing/creating the easy-to-access contract manufacturing infrastructure that exists today in China. Apple's products would not be competitive without Chinese contract manufacturing.

That's why pretty much all consumer electronics are manufactured in China (for the most part). The Chinese government had a strategic vision and executed.

If the US government had a similar strategic vision decades ago starting in the 1980s/1990s, and efficiently executed on that with massive government subsidies, then Apple and other consumer goods companies would likely be manufacturing in the US.


"I bet Apple never had any difficulties in taking maunfacturing out of the US and putting it in China but now out come the excuses why they should not be returned to the US."

Excuses? So funny! Apple, by itself, manufactures roughly 600,000 iPhones per day, with that being able to be instantly ramped up when needed (Christmas, new product releases, etc.). Believing that contract manufacturing could instantly come to being in the US today, at the level Apple and other companies require, is ridiculous.

 

[swingerofbirch]

So, so many political things to comment on but it gets tedious, so I'll just ask:

Do you think Tim Cook has ever had a moment of "serendipity" or "spontaneity" at Apple Park?

 

[I7guy]

Politicaly charged question?? not in the least. A moral and ethical question, Yes most certainly. Such a question goes to the heart of finding out how far a company CEO is prepared to overlook human rights abuses for the sake of continued profit for the company because lets face it, Apple having the bulk of it's manufacturing in China allows it to turn a hefty profit.

Who said Apple overlooks anything? Most of us can't go two inches without bumping into something that has an origin in China, 100%. So in that sense we would all be hypocrites. And yes it's okay to for Apple to turn a hefty profit.

 

[jcshas]

Anyone happen to notice the object sitting behind Tim? New HomePod?



.

 

[vvswarup]

Interesting how you point out the difficulties of moving manufacturing back to the US but yet it seems so easy for a company to move manufacturing out of the US to a foreign country. I bet Apple never had any difficulties in taking maunfacturing out of the US and putting it in China but now out come the excuses why they should not be returned to the US.

You talk as if Apple has a factory that in the US that it closed and moved to China. Apple doesn't own any factories. It pays contract manufacturers to produce its components to specification. If a contract manufacturer doesn't exist in the USA to produce a component to specification, what would you have Apple do?

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

And what would Musk say? You're talking about a guy who said "we'll coup whoever we want". If anything, he would probably fully support the Chinese government openly, since Tesla is huge in China. I'd rather have Cook say nothing than him saying something stupid.

We don't know what he'd say - that's what makes him interesting to interview.

I don't think he'd say something stupid... Tesla is too dependent on China right now. It's not unnecessarily and stupidly dependent on China the way Apple is, but it is Tesla's second biggest market, and they're too vulnerable right now to afford to risk it. Maybe in 2-3 years when Tesla has a few more factories in Europe and the US they could afford to risk China retaliating.

 

[chucker23n1]

Interesting how you point out the difficulties of moving manufacturing back to the US but yet it seems so easy for a company to move manufacturing out of the US to a foreign country. I bet Apple never had any difficulties in taking maunfacturing out of the US and putting it in China but now out come the excuses why they should not be returned to the US.

Uh, yeah, because so many suppliers already exist in East Asia. Like I said.

As for Tim Cook, when he talks about 'infrastructure', he's actually talking about the cost parts shippments. He does not want to increase supply chain costs by having parts shipped from China to a manufacturing plant in the US, is cheaper to have the manufacturing done in China in the same country where the majority of parts are made as well.

There's so much more to it than shipping parts, but yes, the cost and latency of shipping stuff back and forth makes things worse, too.

 

[chucker23n1]

Anyone happen to notice the object sitting behind Tim? New HomePod?

View attachment 957471

.

Air purifier, is my guess.

 

[jonnysods]

Not sure why people interview him - he normally sticks to the same few talking points. I like Tim in many ways, but he doesn't think about technology or users like Mr Steve would. Loved his insights in interviews and chats. It's not Tim's fault as he was a supply chain/finance focused person with its own benefits.

 

[hot-gril]

Interesting how you point out the difficulties of moving manufacturing back to the US but yet it seems so easy for a company to move manufacturing out of the US to a foreign country. I bet Apple never had any difficulties in taking maunfacturing out of the US and putting it in China but now out come the excuses why they should not be returned to the US.

How is this interesting?

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

And what would Musk say? You're talking about a guy who said "we'll coup whoever we want". If anything, he would probably fully support the Chinese government openly, since Tesla is huge in China. I'd rather have Cook say nothing than him saying something stupid.

Yes, Musk is refreshing, he says what he means. And he's a complex, highly intelligent, high achieving, human, so what he thinks can be surprising and complex and mind blowing.