Tim Cook Discusses His Job, Apple's Long-Term Future, AI, Virtual Reality, and More

[iMi]

- iPad has established a new category of tablets computers.
- iPhone has established a new category of mobile phones.
- iPod has established a new category of music mp3 players.
- iMac has established a new category of all-in-one desktop computers.
- Macbook air has established a new category of thin, full keyboard and disc-less laptops.

These are categories that hardly existed before Apple built them. Of course all these categories were created under steve jobs even Apple Watch was conceptualized under jobs now what we are eager to see is for tim cook to create a new category. One more thing a category does not mean an invention of new product rather then transforming it and making it a trend even iconic and of course easy to the extent that people start using the product name to mention a category. Like Kleenex for tissues, iPod for mp3 players and iPads for tablets.

You are incorrect.

iPhone wasn't the first smart phone. IBM has developed a smart phone well ahead of Apple. Palm Treo was also another immensely popular smart phone. Also predating the iPhone. Apple again watched, learned, and launched the best smart phone at the time cornering the market.

iPod wasn't the first MP3 player. Diamond Rio was one of the first successful MP3 players. I even had one! Apple saw an opportunity and a pain point (small capacity) and develop the world's first hard drive based player that changed everything and revolutionized the industry.

iMac wasn't the first all-in-one desktop developed. That title goes to HP and well before Apple.

MacBook Air isn't an invention. It's a laptop that happens to be thin, but Apple didn't establish the category. I believe the first Ultrabook (which is what MacBook Air is essentially) was developed by Intel. Acer and Lenovo both had an Ultrabook well ahead of Apple.

Apple is a close follower and a darn good one.

 

[Kabeyun]

I compare Apple to a nuclear reactor. Steve Jobs was the reactor core and Tim Cook was the surrounding system that converted nuclear reactions into electricity. Jobs was an idea man, and he needed an operationalizer to be successful. Without Woz, the Apple I never would've happened. Without Cook Apple could never have dominated the supply chain the way they did. Jobs' death was like hitting the SCRAM button. The control rods are in and Apple is doing great generating electricity off the decay heat.

Lots of people here and elsewhere are bemoaning lack of innovation, by which they mean there's no freakin' OLED on an iPhone or some such trivia. All that stuff is peanuts. Evolution, not revolution. Changing what your gadget's screen is made out of is utterly not what real innovation is. Where are our electronic lives going? What's the next thing? Jobs had an uncanny knack for those answers. The reason Musk captured our imaginations with Tesla is that suddenly a car powered by electrons could go 250 miles. Maybe someone within Apple (no, it wasn't Forstall) has enough neutrons to eventually get the keys. Maybe not. You can't hire that person to the top, because the Board looks for the operationalizer, not the mercurial genius with no college degree. Besides, that person is out there somewhere else being the next Steve Jobs.

Apple blew up home computing with the Apple II, again with the Macintosh, again with iMac when home computing had devolved into a desk full of stuff, again with iPhone. Now what? Even the coolest, sexiest iPhone is still an iPhone. Make one that reaches satellites (no, not that Thuraya thing)! The watch is okay but absolutely unnecessary for either production (like a computer is) or consumption (like an iPod was). It isn't easy (anyone remember Google Glass?) and we shouldn't unfairly demand it every six months. We'll see what happens with this car thing. Meanwhile, Cook will harvest decay heat as well as anyone ever could.

 

[HighDesert50]

Oh my, so much belly aching. Mr Jobs indeed had a rare gift of passionately sharing a vision with both employees and consumers alike. We were awed by his risk taking endeavors and he made us feel connected when he personally responded to a consumer's email. Apple has changed. You are not going to change it. So, how about trying something different. Spend $35 to get a Raspberry Pi, explore Raspbian, and introduce yourself to the open source world of linux. Take a risk. The awe is still out there. Steve would be proud of you.

 

[thelookingglass]

Sorry, but listening to Tim Cook talk excites me as much as listening to an accountant. He's just not a "product" guy in the way Steve Jobs was or Elon Musk is. Listening to those guys talk, you get the sense that you're listening to what the future will hold. Listening to Tim talk is just boring most of the time.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

Last keynotes was nearly two hours long and to be honest its getting a bit long for just showing you a few products line the problem is they waffle on to long about things

I'm starting to wonder if next month's keynote will be two hours or longer depending on the material they have to cover....or defend. Or will they spend more time on the new laptop and less on the phone? Will they phone it in and hide under a rock until next Fall for iPhone 8?

 

[swingerofbirch]

The part that Apple and the analysts miss is that it's not just about finding new categories or the next thing, it's tending to the garden you've already planted. I now almost exclusively use third-party softare on the Mac, whereas iLife, and to a lesser extent iWork, used to be great selling points of the Mac (nothing holds a candle to iMovie 6 HD, IMO). Explain to me why in Photos I cannot drag and drop a photo, unless it's to the Finder or Mail—I can't drag and drop to any other application. It's getting easier to use Google Photos on the web than a first-party built-in software app (Google Photos from a browser lets me drag and drop more than a first-party app--that's crazy). And I find basic things like networking have actually deteriorated since the introduction of OS X. Siri hasn't been tended to. Beyond Google having way better AI, its speech recognition is a level ahead of Siri.

 

[Soccertess]

This combined with Cue and Federighi's recent interviews really makes me think Tim has been told he is fired or needs to leave by next year.

Apple is on defensive, and trying to make Tim's legacy look better than the critics are saying.

Maybe Apple has something up their sleeve in Sept, maybe not.. I really think the stakes are high for September

 

[canadianreader]

You are incorrect.

iPhone wasn't the first smart phone. IBM has developed a smart phone well ahead of Apple. Palm Treo was also another immensely popular smart phone. Also predating the iPhone. Apple again watched, learned, and launched the best smart phone at the time cornering the market.

iPod wasn't the first MP3 player. Diamond Rio was one of the first successful MP3 players. I even had one! Apple saw an opportunity and a pain point (small capacity) and develop the world's first hard drive based player that changed everything and revolutionized the industry.

iMac wasn't the first all-in-one desktop developed. That title goes to HP and well before Apple.

MacBook Air isn't an invention. It's a laptop that happens to be thin, but Apple didn't establish the category. I believe the first Ultrabook (which is what MacBook Air is essentially) was developed by Intel. Acer and Lenovo both had an Ultrabook well ahead of Apple.

Apple is a close follower and a darn good one.

Ummm .... I quote my own self maybe you blinked and missed it:

"a category does not mean an invention of new product rather then transforming it and making it a trend even iconic".

 

[Pamela5]

I really hate the Apple store changes. I was there yesterday and the layout and variety of accessories is horrible. I used to enjoy going, now it's a form of torture.

I don't know who's idea it was to change the Genius Bar to Genius Grove but it's stupid. Companies spend years building branding reputations. I see no advantage to screwing with that when it was working just fine.

Genius Grove, referring to Apple Grove. Not perfect but I doubt apple would just use "technical support". I don't mind the name change, I thought the bar name didn't fit myself, they aren't serving drinks, you know?

 

[Aldaris]

Sometimes when I read/hear a complaint about the iPhone UI, I'm reminded of Forstall and iOS 6. Man, if I could only share some of the stories of the heated debates on campus - it was very much a civil war between those who liked Forstall's skeuomorphic designs versus simplicity.

"Remember, remember!
The Forstall of Apple,
The skeuomorphic treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the skeuomorphic treason
Should ever be forgot!"

One day those stories will be told. Of interest to myself, there apparently is a similar schism in Disney (parks) as the old dogs are dying- great case studies in my opinion.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

This combined with Cue and Federighi's recent interviews really makes me think Tim has been told he is fired or needs to leave by next year.

Apple is on defensive, and trying to make Tim's legacy look better than the critics are saying.

Maybe Apple has something up their sleeve in Sept, maybe not.. I really think the stakes are high for September

Some members were getting that similar vibe. But if this is the case, it should be before next year. To me, it doesn't make sense for Tim to move in to his new office only to have to leave it by 2017.

It is more likely he would resign to save face and choose a successor and I hope it is NOT Jeff Williams.

 

[Aldaris]

Tim Cook should be fired and replaced with someone competent like Craig Federighi. Phil Shiller is like the Steve Ballmer of Apple and Eddie Cue looks like a con man.

Cue is the negotiator/deal maker to wheel and deal with the entertainment industry. Guys gotta have a constant blood alcohol level of 25.
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Some members were getting that similar vibe. But if this is the case, it should be before next year. To me, it doesn't make sense for Tim to move in to his new office only to have to leave it by 2017.

It is more likely he would resign to save face and choose a successor and I hope it is NOT Jeff Williams.

Could be more of "we don't have any reason to be in the news... better do interviews so people don't forget about us..."

 

[coolfactor]

Nope nope nope! None of this is warming me up for anything. It's a non-vision.

Last keynote was a great reflection of Apple today. It's a club of seniors that make you shiver when they use words like "amazing" and "extremely" and try to be hip. It's like your stupid uncle using words like cool and awesome.

There were a lot of new faces in the last keynote, more than any before it. Sure, the older leadership may still be there, but there's a ton of younger blood coming to the front-lines now.

Apple is changing, and some of us don't want them to, and we fear they may have already lost their way. Their focus on hardware perfecting has not wavered, but software and user experience have taken a downturn. The one area where I'm being impressed is the web. They continue to deliver top-notch product websites, storefronts, and the iCloud and AppleID websites are pretty darn good now. I think their desktop software took a hit when they aimed for feature parity across platforms — I think that was a mistake.

They continue to build out data centres, and I think this will only get better and better as these facilities take hold. People complain about Siri and Maps not being good, well there's plenty of other options available... go use them. Nobody is stopping you.

 

[oopsroger]

Tim Cook needs to come to Hong Kong IFC Apple Store once more, and see how pathetically empty (compared to the past) the place is.

 

[MH01]

Tim Cook needs to come to Hong Kong IFC Apple Store once more, and see how pathetically empty (compared to the past) the place is.

Interesting that you say that, I went past the local store today, and it was empty. People need new products to drop in and have a play with.

Cook would not know, he is too busy playing politician and flying around the world.....

 

[bluespark]

I'm going to agree with your statement.

I'm too deep in the ecosystem to leave.

Mac, apple watch, iPhones, iPad

If just one item was removed, it'd cause issues for me across my devices.

The Samsung Note does intrigue me, but I'm jailed in the walled garden

I'm feeling the same thing. For a long time, I accepted Apple solutions -- first, because they were the best, then because they were acceptable, and now because I am in too deep. Now, I am spending a fair bit of time searching the internet for ways to achieve what I'm used to via Android. I'm not yet at the point of switching, but I find myself increasingly close.
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Excellent point. Who is going to walk in the door and replace him and immediately bring to market a slew of new products and drastic changes to existing ones?

If I were on Apple's board, my perfect catch for CEO would be Satya Nadella. Apple badly needs someone like him.

 

[mi7chy]

If I were on Apple's board, my perfect catch for CEO would be Satya Nadella. Apple badly needs someone like him.

Nadella is much better than Cook but the ideal person that comes to mind is Elon Musk. We need to clone Musk so he can be CEO of multiple companies and to run for US president instead of the other two immature and dishonest clowns.

 

[anthorumor]

MacRumor: Apple buys Tesla and Elon Musk becomes CEO. That would be amazeballs.

 

[smulji]

Excellent points. All I'm at liberty to state is Angela and Ive hit it off from the start. Angela being an American in London and Ive being British, they had a bit of a friendship before she was courted over. She and Ive have been working overtime on restructuring retail; Angela focusing on operations and Ive on design and both on layout, etc. It's been a fascinating collaboration. The downside is that she's been out of the spotlight since working behind the scenes, and that includes Ive. Ive has had to juggle a lot more however it's what he really wants to do. Truthfully, he was very close to leaving Apple and moving back to the UK. Cook knew it was the wrong time for another well known "figure" at Apple to depart right after Jobs passed and Ive didn't want to leave right away out of respect. In the time since, he's been allowed more design influence having added UI to product/Industrial Design.

As for too much influence, I would suggest waiting. There are a lot of changes ahead with retail and design that have taken quite a lot of time, research and hard work, and collaborative work between marketing, retail operations, etc.

I thought Industrial Design & UI Design responsibility was handed over to two separate people now & Jony Ive's just focusing on Retail Design & big picture stuff.
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Here's the thing that's worrisome. If and when Cook leaves, is Williams going to be CEO? I say this because he promoted Williams to his old position and it makes me wonder if he's going to continue his agenda. Think about it. Williams met Cook at Duke University. They both worked in IBM before joining Apple in 1998 at the same year. Smell a rat?

I predict Apple's next biggest markets will be health (Apple Watch) & transportation (Apple Car?). And guess whose division that's under? Jeff Williams.

 

[Col4bin]

Someone should have asked him why the Mac is being neglected so badly.

Not just the Mac being neglected, but general QA issues plaguing recent MBP models, too. Very frustrating.

 

[Savor]

I still like Tim though. He seems like a nice gay man. I worked with gay co-workers before, and they often are responsible and hard working. I bet more Apple employees enjoy working with him than Steve. Tim doesn't rule with an iron fist. Easier to get along with. More approachable while SJ would give you a scowl that would destroy your soul. Probably also why Apple became fat cats and less innovative.

We can't expect a CEO to be similar to Steve Jobs. That's like once in a lifetime. Even Bill Gates lacks the foresight and charisma. I bet nobody even knows the CEO for other companies except for maybe Mark Zuckerberg. Who runs Samsung? Who runs LG? Google it since most people will shrug their shoulders if you ask them who is the CEO for several companies. Name a CEO for a random company without Google search and I bet most people are stumped.

I like Timmy. Mr. Nice Guy. Just doesn't have the same gene (and jeans) as Steve to want to keep making a dent into this universe. Tim probably needs to go on some acip trip to find out what he really is motivated of doing. Like the newly retired Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan. Steve is more Kobe. Competitive. Flashy. Arrogant. Highly motivated. Timmy is like Timmay. Quiet. Just does his job. Doesn't need drama and attention.

The doom and gloom is blown out of proportion. A world without Apple won't be so fun anymore similar to us hating Kobe or LeBron, then praise and miss them when they retire. I see Apple similar to brands like Nintendo, Disney, Walmart, McDonald's, Sony, and Coca-Cola. They are going to be around forever whether Apple is no longer as great as they once were. Nintendo have been around since 1889. They went through struggles recently and still keep pushing along.

Whether Apple is still the most successful tech company in twenty years (2036) is a different story. Who knows if we will still be using smartphones by then? Different decades have different trends. Nothing last forever...

 

[Zirel]

Man, you need to work on those reading comprehension skills.

No, it's not mine "reading comprehension skills", is people distilling hate without even giving a thought.

 

[apolloa]

Cracking job? It's got even further behind PS4 and they've messed up their messaging again around Scorpio and the new slim model.

Actually mate the Xbox One has started to outsell the PS4 in some markets, and they have pretty much said the exact same as Sony has about the Neo, all games wil work on all systems, nothing mixed about that message. So not sure what your problem is with it?
It's absolutely back on track and they've turned up the value dial to 11.

Sony and MS want to get into VR, they need better more powerful systems to do that properly, the Neo and Scorpio have been built for this.

 

[MH01]

here we go ... 3 roots of apple ...... what they will do with iphone 7 to take over note 7 ...... that a big question for sept event ,,,,,,,,,

When was that pic taken? Ives has not been that skinny for years......

 

[Chicane-UK]

In all honesty, this speech screams a prelude to Tim's resignation and possibly retirement. I bet he is hanging around for the new Apple campus to complete, take/steal credit for all the architecture awards, move in for the Spring 2017 product launch and then ride off into the sunset.

Craig Federighi for CEO!