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Tim Cook Chats With Students After Receiving Honorary Degree From University of Glasgow

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Apple CEO Tim Cook received an honorary degree from the University of Glasgow in Scotland today as planned. Cook then sat down for a Q&A session with the audience of students, reflecting on topics ranging from his personal beliefs and influences to U.S. President Donald Trump's recent immigration ban.

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One student asked if he could work at Apple as a tongue-in-cheek question, and Cook noted the company is hiring worldwide and pointed him towards its jobs website. Cook later said "coding should be required in schools," as "kids will never know any other environment other than the digital one."

Cook, responding to a question about Apple's future activism plans, said he does not view Apple or himself as an "activist." Instead, he said Apple simply stands up for things it is deeply knowledgeable or has a strong point of view about.
.@tim_cook is officially an honorary grad! Does this mean we all need to switch to @Apple? 😋 pic.twitter.com/v89lJydDCH - Uni of Glasgow (@UofGlasgow) February 8, 2017
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Cook reiterated that he does not support Trump's recent immigration ban, echoing a memo he sent to employees a few weeks ago. Apple was one of several tech companies that sent a letter to Trump opposing the executive order, noting "we are a nation made stronger by immigrants."

Apple was also one of nearly 100 companies, including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Snap, Uber, Twitter, and Intel, to jointly file a legal brief backing the original lawsuit brought by Washington state's attorney general that brought a temporary halt to the immigration ban on Friday.

Cook finished by noting that late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had the biggest influence on his own life by far.
"He took a risk with me when I was 36 years old, and it was sort of that instance, and many instances thereafter, that I recognized that I had been on the wrong path--and that I was sort of rudderless in a way. I met a CEO for the first time that was totally focused on basically one thing: making great products. He had a focus that was unlike any other. His thinking was so pure. He wasn't trying to maximize his wealth or anything else. He really understood the sort of things we work on, and the results that come from those things, and he separated those two."
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Cook said Jobs had a clear order in his life that was necessary in order to remain focused: family, Apple, Pixar, and very little else.

Cook remained in Bute Hall following the chat to take photos with students. Earlier in the day, he was spotted at a local Apple Store.

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: Tim Cook Chats With Students After Receiving Honorary Degree From University of Glasgow
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/02/08/tim-cook-fireside-chat-university-of-glasgow/
If it were Steve Jobs this would be an interesting story. No offense to Mr. Cook but everything great about Apple's culture and products he basically inherited from Jobs. We all know innovation has been stagnant since his death and it seems the company culture has also changed enough to cause significant churn in executive levels. This is not to say Apple isn't doing well for its shareholders. But it just doesn't have the character it did under Jobs.
 
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He is so out of touch and clueless about IT.

Coding should not be required at school . And I have a development background. Yes we live in a digital age, we don't need to code it ourselves .
 
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MH01 said:
He is so out of touch and clueless about IT.

Coding should not be required at school . And I have a development background. Yes we live in a digital age, we don't need to code it ourselves .
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That's a blinkered approach…

We learn a plethora of subjects in school in order to prepare us for the world beyond. Many of these subjects won't be pursued directly, but what we learn from them combines to make for well-rounded knowledge.

Learning coding allows pupils to have an understanding of the digital world they inhabit, instead of being ignorant to how it works. The same principle as learning about language or science.
 
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atomic.flip said:
No offense to Mr. Cook but everything great about Apple's culture and products he basically inherited from Jobs.
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Nonsense.

For instance, under Tim, Apple launched a charitable matching program and a global volunteer program, and they've started doing annual diversity reports.

These sorts of things wouldn't have been a priority for Steve, thus clearly having an impact on Apple's corporate culture. And I'm pretty sure that impact is "great".

atomic.flip said:
We all know innovation has been stagnant since his death
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We do?

Cause I'm not even sure what the hell that means. What kind of innovation happened between the launch of the iPod and iPhone (a little over five years) that hasn't happened between Steve's death and now (again, a little over five years)? The iPod photo? The iPod Hi-Fi? Or maybe iPod socks?
 
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orbital~debris said:
That's a blinkered approach…

We learn a plethora of subjects in school in order to prepare us for the world beyond. Many of these subjects won't be pursued directly, but what we learn from them combines to make for well-rounded knowledge.

Learning coding allows pupils to have an understanding of the digital world they inhabit, instead of being ignorant to how it works. The same principle as learning about language or science.
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I've worked in software development for over 15 years, knowing coding has no impact of your understanding of the digital world. Programming is not the digital world. The digital world = end user,
Which is good design, hence why apple products became successful.

It's like saying I need to understand computer architecture to get the most out of the digital world....no.

Tim Cook wants more and more minions to make money from him , just happens that he can take 30% from and developers in a nice AppStore he has.....
 
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Just wondering why people get honorary degrees in the first place. Has there ever been instances where someone has refused one? If I didn't go to school at a place, and they offered this to me, I can't imagine I would take it.
 
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ThaRuler said:
I can finally comment on these political posts!! Wohoo!!! I have over 100 messages now.

Oh yeah, Tim Cook sucks.
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I'll definitely reach enlightenment by perusing your posts no doubt.
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tshrimp said:
Just wondering why people get honorary degrees in the first place. Has there ever been instances where someone has refused one? If I didn't go to school at a place, and they offered this to me, I can't imagine I would take it.
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"Progressive - A person who believes in an individual's views, rights, and opinions.....as long as it is the same as theirs"

So you must be a progressive then?
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Chupa Chupa said:
What did they award him with? A Masters of Deception? :D
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Say what?

Apple wouldn't be as successful as it is now without Jobs's ability to attract brilliant people like Cook, etc. Cook may or may not have Jobs finely tuned ability to see what tech stuff is useful, helpful or enjoyable, and how to make it work for everyone but he's certainly no less a genius than he was before, and apparently somewhat more empathetic than Jobs, who seemed to focus his brainpower on stuff he did best. Like making dings in the universe.
 
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chucker23n1 said:
Nonsense.

For instance, under Tim, Apple launched a charitable matching program and a global volunteer program, and they've started doing annual diversity reports.

These sorts of things wouldn't have been a priority for Steve, thus clearly having an impact on Apple's corporate culture. And I'm pretty sure that impact is "great".
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Sorry, as an Apple fan, I'm looking for great products that just work. I couldn't care less about diversity reports. They can have the most diverse company in the world, but if they're building garbage, what good does that do anyone?
 
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I don't remember Cook sent a letter to Obama when Iraqis banned for 6 months in 2011. As if Apple is already ran out of workers in the next 120 days. Besides most of the foreign workers they hire are from India anyways. :rolleyes:
 
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Macyourdayy said:
Say what?

Apple wouldn't be as successful as it is now without Jobs's ability to attract brilliant people like Cook, etc. Cook may or may not have Jobs finely tuned ability to see what tech stuff is useful, helpful or enjoyable, and how to make it work for everyone but he's certainly no less a genius than he was before, and apparently somewhat more empathetic than Jobs, who seemed to focus his brainpower on stuff he did best. Like making dings in the universe.
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Oh good lord it was a freaking joke. Take a chill pill and relax.
 
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is this the Irish payback to Cook for setting up those shells in Ireland so Apple pays less taxes? We know that this executives all live in the United States and get great protections but avoid paying taxes.
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Zenithal said:
I'm surprised a student hadn't quipped that Cook had immense courage to stand up against DJT. Though, I suppose it would have flown over his head.
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Cook is massively rich and does not need courage to say things that Drumpf does not like. Cook and his fellow executives have parked most of their wealth overseas and are well protected from anything Drumpf can do.
 
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