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Raj Aggarwal Details Jobs' Tenacity in AT&T/Apple Revenue Sharing Deal

Pretty funny how we got so many guys here who know what it's like to work with or under Tim Cook. Tell me, what was it like working with Tim? Because I see no other way you all could make such confident statements about the guy.

You know people who actually DO work for Tim? They'd disagree with you haters. But what do THEY know, they're just the guys actually working at the company. Many people have a deep respect for Tim there. Is he Steve Jobs? No. Did Steve Jobs want another clone of him running the company? No, obviously he didn't. I'm pretty sure Jobs would know better than any of you who was suitable to lead Apple.
 
damn, i'm so sick about hearing every month over the past 2 years remembering how Steve used to be like this or used to be like that... :rolleyes:


are these guys trying to exist/survive in the media by talking about SJ ? :rolleyes:
 
Can we please just abolish use of images of the 2007 iPhone forever please? Even if it's obliquely relevant to the article?
 
Who will be the face of Branding & Marketing?

keysofanxiety said:
Well of course we won't. But Cook has been an integral part of Apple since the late '90s. Without Cook you wouldn't have got the production pipelines of products sorted, or have the profit margins that Apple enjoy.

Steve Jobs is irreplaceable, that can't be argued. But IMHO, Cook is the perfect CEO for Apple. Leave the product design to Ive, leave the finance and manufacturing to Cook.
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aristotle said:
Tim is a wuss. Apple needs a prick at the helm to succeed against partners that will stab them in the back if given a chance and competitors ready to steal every idea they have.

Business is war people. It is not a charity or a friendly affair. You have to show dominance or everyone will walk all over you and steal your lunch money.

Cook was the perfect COO for doing the logistics stuff but he is not leadership material.
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Maybe they should hire Ashton Kutcher. I hear he did a pretty good job of pretending to be a prick in Jobs.
 
boshii said:
We will never see things like this from Cook.
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chado53 said:
just shows you steve's intensity to get what he wanted. i feel like apple has a bunch of wusses running the show; that's probably why their products are so stale now.
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And you never got it from Steve, either. Where's your $50/month everything unlimited plans? I mean I have one -- with Virgin Mobile.

Every other sucker is paying $90+/month for theirs - if they're lucky to still be grandfathered.
 
As of yet...

I am an Apple fan (I'm also an SNL fan, with no regard to years and casts). The very first computer I purchased was a Performa 6360, it was an Open Box from Best Buy or whatever store there was like that at the time. Most Mac aficionados will tell you how crappy a computer that particular strain was. But for me it was the business and I will never speak ill of it. It was Mac, and I was 'in'.

It did things I hated, especially with OS 8, until they released a firmware update. I used to play games like Prime Target and Carmeggdon on my computer. I had Appleworks and I still miss it. Sure I was happy when Steve Jobs returned, even though I could only run 9.22 and never X. I upgraded to an eMac. It was a big ugly buster, but I loved it. Playing Descent and retyping the novel I had worked on for so many years. And I loved it.

Operating systems were never perfect, SoundDesign into iTunes, WTF? BUt I had bought in and would not turn back. I hated Windows with it's disappearing discs.

ANd here it is, years later, I've got my 27" iMac, my iPad and my iPhone(4s), two Apple TVs. Two of my three children have MacBook Pro's, my third child has his own iMac and his reprehensible Windblows machine (he's a gamer and feels he needs it, got it from his Mom who also has one).

Like most Apple fans, I hate that Steve Jobs died. I actually cried in the grocery store when I got the alert, like he was Frank Zappa or something. I'm sticking with them and would encourage others to as well. I like what they do. I like what they do (not everything. I still believe they should have commercials in the TV shows the offer on iTunes so we could choose to pay or watch commercials and then everyone is happy). But I think, without doubt or hesitation, that iOS and OS X are the best operating systems available for most folk on the planet.

Good Business!
 
malman89 said:
And you never got it from Steve, either. Where's your $50/month everything unlimited plans? I mean I have one -- with Virgin Mobile.

Every other sucker is paying $90+/month for theirs - if they're lucky to still be grandfathered.
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Did you read the story or just skim through it? Nowhere does it say that Steve was successful.
 
chado53 said:
just shows you steve's intensity to get what he wanted. i feel like apple has a bunch of wusses running the show; that's probably why their products are so stale now.
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What are you talking about? :confused: It's just been two years since he passed away, I'm not sure what kind of miracles you're expecting Apple to pull off? Everything takes time, and Steve sure as heck didn't bring something innovative every year.

----------
Millah said:
Pretty funny how we got so many guys here who know what it's like to work with or under Tim Cook. Tell me, what was it like working with Tim? Because I see no other way you all could make such confident statements about the guy.

You know people who actually DO work for Tim? They'd disagree with you haters. But what do THEY know, they're just the guys actually working at the company. Many people have a deep respect for Tim there. Is he Steve Jobs? No. Did Steve Jobs want another clone of him running the company? No, obviously he didn't. I'm pretty sure Jobs would know better than any of you who was suitable to lead Apple.
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Thank you for being one of the few who isn't acting like a wannabe, arrogant know-it-all CEO. I applaud you, sir. :)
 
Ya

Tax avoidance trick? Employees weren't treated this well before. Maybe they are starting to feel like Walter White's wife post Walter.
 
What about the long term effects?

The exclusivity agreement is probably one of the biggest reasons that Android got as big of a foothold as it has. I had a lot of friends in those early years who would tell me, "I really want an iPhone but I need Verizon/Tmobile/etc" network. Those people ended up settling for some crappy Crapdroid phone. :(
 
aristotle said:
Tim is a wuss. Apple needs a prick at the helm to succeed against partners that will stab them in the back if given a chance and competitors ready to steal every idea they have.

Business is war people. It is not a charity or a friendly affair. You have to show dominance or everyone will walk all over you and steal your lunch money.

Cook was the perfect COO for doing the logistics stuff but he is not leadership material.
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No one on the planet can replace Steve Jobs. A person like that is once in a lifetime. Apple will be a different company moving forward, but will stay true to its DNA.

It is important to remember, Steve Jobs himself chose Tim Cook. Steve was a brilliant man, I would not bet against that choice.


imageWIS said:
Apple should have Jony Ives as CEO, he's going to be more aggressive than Cook.
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Steve set Jony up within the company's structure as pretty much untouchable. He can do whatever he wants and no one but Tim Cook is to interfere with him. And now with his new title, his vision will affect every aspect (software and hardware) of what Apple designs, which puts him very much in the auteur position (auteur theory of design) that Steve was in. We're about to see the early results of that in the next 12 months. Steve had impeccable taste/instincts and I believe Jony does as well.

I felt this last WWDC was sort of the opening act to what Apple is going to look like post Steve. Since Steve's death everything has been transition.


I'd love to know one day if it was solely Tim Cook's choice to put Jony in the position he's in now, or if he was following a roadmap left behind by Steve.



shiseiryu1 said:
The exclusivity agreement is probably one of the biggest reasons that Android got as big of a foothold as it has. I had a lot of friends in those early years who would tell me, "I really want an iPhone but I need Verizon/Tmobile/etc" network. Those people ended up settling for some crappy Crapdroid phone. :(
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Well, that, and they were and are making like 500 flavors of Android devices for every possible budget including free. There's really only one iPhone at any given time, with last years design sticking around as a lower cost alternative.

It now seems that Apple has figured out how to build a cheaper iPhone (the rumoured 5C) that meets their high standards. It alone won't catch Android, but it doesn't have to.
 
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alent1234 said:
Apple can sell iPhones cheaper and still remain profitable
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I thought about that while posting but then came to the conclusion that the cell phone manufacturer industry is far more competitive then the US cell phone provider industry and for Apple to maintain its margin it's much more impressive.

Why do you think Apple is coming out with a lower cost alternative?
 
mikeheenan said:
We never saw it from Jobs... ATT has never offered a $50 "everything" plan.
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Well, when Steve Jobs ran Apple he could strongly *influence*, but not directly control ATT. After reading about how Steve took a hands on approach meeting in person with the leaders of the big phone companies, and pushing his messages like $50 talk/text/data, I can't help but wonder if we have Jobs to thank for T-Mobiles $50 everything plan. They were talking to Apple way before they finally got the iphone you know... Seems very likely to me the T-mobile guy said well we can't get the iphone yet but I do really like this pricing idea he's got.. and that may have helped T-mobile access to the iphone. I can't help but credit Steve with this since if it were left up to the carriers we would all have 2G and pay $100 a month. Anyway, phenomenol guy and I love the George Bernard Shaw quote!
 
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Diode said:
Sad that AT&T could probably offer a $50 unlimited everything plan and remain profitable - but fat chance getting them to do it.
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I don't know, they've bloated themselves up pretty bad. Not so sure they have such great profits with what they probably pay to their execs.
 
This was innovation in its own right. Steve annoyed me with some of his views, often excluding capabilities like blu-ray, RAM upgrades in the iPhone/iPad, etc., but I always admired his tenacity. Tim's doing fine, and I think he's starting to get better at certain things, but Steve will always be missed.
 
boshii said:
Read the quote. It was never said that they did.
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You're right the original quote is about how tenacious Jobs was about getting the best deal possible. However, your reply could be misinterpreted as Jobs got something ($50 all-you-can-eat plan) Cook has never been able achieve. Perhaps you should have been a bit more clear.
 
donutbagel said:
That deal was an amazing advantage for AT&T. It makes me wonder if Steve Jobs conceded to AT&T a lot to give them an exclusive deal.
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Hind sight is everything. The reality is before Apple came to the market with the iPhone, no other handset maker was able to control the user experience. The carriers stood in the way. Apple had to make a deal with the devil to bring its vision to market.

Unfortunately, Apple's tie in with AT&T gave Google plenty of time to become entrenched on the other carriers. Without the success of the iPhone on AT&T, however, the carriers would never have embraced Android like they did.
 
mbh said:
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." --George Bernard Shaw
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And thankfully, Steve certainly was the consummate example of the above.

MacRumors said:
.....According to Aggarwal, Jobs was hands-on in a way that no other CEO was. He personally met with the CEOs of each carrier, and "got deeply involved in the details he cared about." Jobs, Aggarwal recounts, was willing to take risks to "realize his vision" and made "outrageous" demands that ultimately worked out in Apple's favor. AT&T's exclusivity agreement expired in 2010, but the deal Jobs struck with the company earned both AT&T and Apple an enormous amount of money thanks to the iPhone's immediate popularity with customers.

Article Link: Raj Aggarwal Details Jobs' Tenacity in AT&T/Apple Revenue Sharing Deal
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A salesman like no other, with vision and passion like no other.
 
'$50 a month unlimited voice, data, and SMS plan — that's our mission. We should ask for and go after something unreasonable that no one has been willing to accept.'

This really, still, should be the ultimate goal. It's the price-point where I personally believe just about everyone can appreciate the technology/value trade-off and would be willing to pay the price asked - with discounts depending on how many phones/devices you have attached to the plan, of course. Maybe a $5 discount per each additional device attached to the plan? I think that sounds reasonable.
 
donutbagel said:
That deal was an amazing advantage for AT&T. It makes me wonder if Steve Jobs conceded to AT&T a lot to give them an exclusive deal.
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Why would Steve Jobs be conceding anything to give AT&T an exclusive deal? That's to AT&T's advantage, not Apple's. The story here is that Steve Jobs gave AT&T the exclusive to get the deal he wanted.
 
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