Tim Cook in Memo to Employees: 'There Has Never Been a Moment of Such Great Potential As This One'

[Peperino]

What are you even talking about?

Let's take a look at what has happened under Tim's watch...

- Disruption of the wearables market with the Apple Watch.
- Disruption of the headphones market with the AirPods and AirPods Pro.
- The best iPad hardware there has ever been in the current generation of the iPad Pro
- The best iPhone hardware there has ever been in the current iPhone Pro
- The move to the M1 in the Mac line with a processor that is blowing away the competition and putting the heat on Intel
- Numerous new products under development and in R&D
- Record revenue numbers... during a pandemic.

Yes. He's completely gutted what used to be a great company. 👌

Cook concentrated on disrupting wearables. Watch, iPhone and ipad which all are great products. And that shows Apple priorities. Apple pay is also great.

Though, He most certainly gutted the entire computer line for many years. So much so that many people switch to PC.

- The Macbook Pro 2016-2019 was a complete failure, with a bad keyboard, that took them 4 years to fix.
- The Mac Pro. The Trashcan was a failure, and was not updated in 6 years which in computer is an eternity. Furthermore, the new MacPro specs and obscene price completely alienated the middle pro users that use to pay 2-3k for a pro computer. So much so that even users that are wealthy did not consider buying it.
- iMac. Although a great machine, the external design was not updated in 10 years? Aging shows all over, with not able to adjust vertical monitor level, thick bevel, bad camera, etc.
- iMac Pro- Another failure that wanted to temporarily replace the Mac Pro. But due to the lack of upgradability, overheating, etc could not do it.
- Mac mini. After 5-6 years of not updating, Apple uses the same bad casing that had trouble cooling. Really?

Apple (computer) users got tired of the constant recycling every year of the same models, with only internal upgrades and the lack of innovation. Only recently they decided to invest in building their own CPU (M1).
Innovation became so bad, that at Apple new releases, the only ones applauding are Apple employees.

Other flaws to mention are
- Homepod, so expensive that it got discontinued.
- Apple TV. The remote is a joke.
- AppleTV+ Apple invested Billions to break in into a new category of producing content, that is overcrowded by companies that have been doing it for much longer and with much more content (Netflix, Amazon, Disney, etc). Some will say, that Apple shows won award, quality, blah blah, etc but the truth is that came late to an overcrowded party, spending billions in content that will be difficult to recoup the investment.

So we all know that Cook concentrated on thriving on what made more money for Apple (Wearables). But do not be so naive to claim that he did not gut the entire computer line.

 

[jscooper22]

I really think Apple has gotten so good at making gobs of money that it's how they measure success now. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that if that's your motivation; congrats and enjoy. I didn't believe this about Jobs while he was alive, but the more I read after his death the more it occurred to me he saw wealth as a happy side effect from everything else he wanted to to. The company's current leadership is really good at leveraging this or that ecosystem or technology, and shifting resources to maximize shareholder return, but they really haven't done much in the way of changing the world lately, and their offerings are sadly lacking any excitement, mainly because they are safe, guaranteed to turn a profit, and not much more. This is similar to what Scully did, I'm afraid, and I think it may be what Jobs most feared for the company he co-founded then saved. Too bad he's not around to do it again.

 

[Abazigal]

You realize it's the company that intentionally slowed down their processors, right? The one that deplatformed Parler, right? With the exception of the M1 processor, which is a truly Innovative product, all they do for decades is to market yesterday's technology with tomorrow's design.

That’s because Apple is a design company, not a tech one. What Apple does best is take an emerging product category with a frustrating user experience and deliver a polished product made possible by its control over both the hardware and software.

Using the latest tech for the sake of it is the very antithesis of what Apple is.

 

[Black Belt]

You realize it's the company that intentionally slowed down their processors, right? The one that deplatformed Parler, right? With the exception of the M1 processor, which is a truly Innovative product, all they do for decades is to market yesterday's technology with tomorrow's design.

And release products so so slowly. They forgot about deadlines. Steve would be screaming at people

 

[Rob_2811]

That’s because Apple is a design company, not a tech one. What Apple does best is take an emerging product category with a frustrating user experience and deliver a polished product made possible by its control over both the hardware and software.

Using the latest tech for the sake of it is the very antithesis of what Apple is.

Are you still beating this awful take into the ground? What products have they designed that aren't a tech product?

 

[Peperino]

That’s because Apple is a design company, not a tech one. What Apple does best is take an emerging product category with a frustrating user experience and deliver a polished product made possible by its control over both the hardware and software.

Using the latest tech for the sake of it is the very antithesis of what Apple is.

You do not make sense whatsoever. Tech and Design go hand in hand. Furthermore, Steve Jobs was alwasys leading always with new designs. Leaving wearables to the side when was the last time Apple did a true design update on the computer line up? The Mac Pro was the only thing lately, which is obscenely unaffordable, and the M1. Other than that, they were recycling and milking existing design for so many years that it is pathetic.
Even the recent new iMac(10year old design) they did not even update the Bevel, camera, etc.

 

[quarkysg]

The only difference is that Apple now is an empire, albeit a formulaic boring aimless one that operates at minimum risk and iterates existing blockbuster SKUs to death.

Transitioning Macs from Intel to Apple Silicon is extremely high risk if you ask me.

 

[Jony Quest]

I can’t speak for the negative responses, but I can guess they’d rather see substantive movement on things like stagelighting screen problems, bending/unresponsive-screen iPads, dock issues on M1 laptops, etc rather than flowery rhetoric that doesn’t actually solve any of the issues Apple steadfastly ignores that’s adversely affecting their users all the time.

What does that have to do with a celebration of 45 years as a company?

 

[Abazigal]

Are you still beating this awful take into the ground? What products have they designed that aren't a tech product?

It’s not about whether tech is used or not, but how it’s used.

Why did a product like the folding phone exist? Because Samsung had evidently spent a lot of money developing their flexible screen technology and felt pressured to turn that into something to both recoup their investment and show the public that they were still innovators.

Having engineers excited about about new hot tech and trying to turn it into a product is the exact reason why Samsung failed, because the incentives were totally misaligned with what the public wanted.

Meanwhile at Apple, design remains the magic ingredient, with Apple designers calling the shots, and searching for and having technology made to serve the product experience. An example would be the Apple Watch straps. It’s an integral part of what makes the whole Apple Watch experience so successful, because people have a wide variety of great looking bands that they are able to swap in and out so readily. It’s pretty obvious when you look back on it in hindsight, yet Apple seems to be the only one with a thriving watch strap ecosystem.

This also makes me wonder just why the current watch strap swapping mechanism remains so inconvenient to use.

This is also why my money’s on Apple being the one to do smart glasses right, because they get both design and tech. Other companies typically only possess either the design or the technology chops but not the other. And well, Apple having aggregated the best spenders thanks to the iPhone.

 

[Rob_2811]

It’s not about whether tech is used or not, but how it’s used.

Why did a product like the folding phone exist? Because Samsung had evidently spent a lot of money developing their flexible screen technology and felt pressured to turn that into something to both recoup their investment and show the public that they were still innovators.

Having engineers excited about about new hot tech and trying to turn it into a product is the exact reason why Samsung failed, because the incentives were totally misaligned with what the public wanted.

Meanwhile at Apple, design remains the magic ingredient, with Apple designers calling the shots, and searching for and having technology made to serve the product experience. An example would be the Apple Watch straps. It’s an integral part of what makes the whole Apple Watch experience so successful, because people have a wide variety of great looking bands that they are able to swap in and out so readily. It’s pretty obvious when you look back on it in hindsight, yet Apple seems to be the only one with a thriving watch strap ecosystem.

This is honestly miles wide of the mark

If designers called the shots at Apple the Macbook Pro in 2021 wouldn't look exactly the same as it did in 2016, the iMac wouldn't look exactly like it did in 2012.

Even the iPhone, the money, their biggest product the design is milked for years. They released a 'new' phone last year that looks almost identical to the iPhone 6 from 2014!

 

[I7guy]

I don't think thats true really, i think a lot of people don't see enough change.

It would certainly be more intertesting than milking the same smartphone designs for years on end adding an extra camera lens every year.

While you may not like the state of the current, they are doing well for their customers and shareholders. And well one can argue, if they did x, imagine they could get twice the business. Sometimes in hindsight it's the right thing to do, other times in hindsight, not so much.

 

[I7guy]

I know we come from different schools of thought, but what I'm saying here is less opinion and more fact. Have you seen or read TC actually provide thought leadership on technology, as the CEO of the most reputable tech brand on earth? Wouldn't it be something to expect from someone in his role?

I honestly don't know the answer? It seems to me I haven't heard any tech CEO lately provide the type of "thought leadership" that you may want to be hearing.

 

[Rob_2811]

While you may not like the state of the current, they are doing well for their customers and shareholders. And well one can argue, if they did x, imagine they could get twice the business. Sometimes in hindsight it's the right thing to do, other times in hindsight, not so much.

Yes that happens when you spend lots of money on your own stock. It's market manipulation obviously but thats another debate..

 

[I7guy]

Yes that happens when you spend lots of money on your own stock.

In noticed you didn't bold customers, the key revenue driver.

Do you believe Apple could be pulling in record revenues without customers buying their products, subscribing to Apples' services?

 

[russell_314]

The funny thing is I think he actually believes what he’s saying 😂

 

[russell_314]

Apple Silicon , nuff said

If Apple plays their cards right with this one they have gold. That’s a big “if” though

 

[Rob_2811]

In noticed you didn't bold customers, the key revenue driver.

Do you believe Apple could be pulling in record revenues without customers buying their products, subscribing to Apples' services?

Yeah their funadmental business is strong but their stock is what it is due to the buyback programme.

4 x what they spent on r&d since 2012 and it shows. The biggest news Apple makes is their financial results.

 

[I7guy]

Yeah their funadmental business is strong but their stock is what it is due to the buyback programme.

4 x what they spent on r&d since 2012 and it shows. The biggest news Apple makes is their financial results.

They should buy back all of the stock and go private, but obviously that won't happen. Apple isn't for everybody. Their products aren't for everyone and their stocks aren't for every investor.

 

[Abazigal]

This is honestly miles wide of the mark

If designers called the shots at Apple the Macbook Pro in 2021 wouldn't look exactly the same as it did in 2016, the iMac wouldn't look exactly like it did in 2012.

Even the iPhone, the money, their biggest product the design is milked for years. They released a 'new' phone last year that looks almost identical to the iPhone 6 from 2014!

Honestly, I don't see why not. One could argue that the iPhone hasn't changed much in design and form factor because Apple spent a lot of time upfront refining the design, so they don't really see much room for improvement henceforth. The consistent form factor is also what allows the iPhone team to design their products years in advance, and why the "S" version of the iPhone tends to come with significantly improved innards. It's easier to design around the constraints of a product when those constraints are made known to you way in advance.

Instead, what we see the design team do is take lessons learnt from designing one product to come up with another one. This constant learning / investigating process is the signature feature of Apple's industrial design team. That's why it wasn't surprising to me that the AirPods max would look like the Apple Watch, or that the sound system would take inspiration from the HomePod. And that's why I suspect the Apple-branded AR headset may well look like a mash-up between the AirPods max and the Apple Watch bands (ie: like all those rumoured designs floating around online).

» Jonathan Ive

quotesondesign.com

After all, Jony Ive was once quoted as saying "It’s very easy to be different, but very difficult to be better." So if the MBP and iMac have not seen any significant design changes in recent years, that's likely because Apple hasn't yet come up with a change that would be both different and significantly better compared to its current design.

It's easy to point to other models like the surface studio with fairly radical form factors, but those also come with drawbacks of their own. Some more debilitating than others. I am glad Apple didn't go down that route.

Not to mention that with the 2016 MBP, the main issue was that the form factor was designed with a promised intel chip spec in mind. One that ultimately never materialised. Now that Apple has their own M1 chips that do everything the OG intel chip was supposed to accomplish (and more), one would argue that there is even more reason for Apple not to change its form factor, now that everything is as it should have been. Apple is now able to make thin and light laptops that boast long battery life and stellar performance, with minimal compromises.

As such, Apple continues to pour ever more effort into incremental improvements in the details. On their own, maybe none of these improvements are evolutionary. But taken together, they tend to add up to a decent list of year-over-year improvements, and Apple's quarterly earnings results show that consumers generally agree.

So when you say that Apple has not changed the design of their products much, I say "precisely". And that is why I believe Apple continues (and will continue) to succeed. What Apple has managed to accomplish is disrupt the conventional tenets of business and shown that conventional disruption theory does not apply to consumer-driven markets where the buyer is the end user. Instead, Apple relies on design and integration to create a premium user experience that users are willing to pay a premium for. Again, all made possible with their tight control over hardware, software and services.

It's all fascinating to watch, and what I have chosen to do is to (try my best to) study, understand, describe and teach it in what little way I can.

Not deny it.

 

[prizm]

Dear Employees,

Work harder, longer hours for the common good of humanity. Forgo your vacation.

That is all.

-TC

 

[portland-dude]

Jesus!
Come out of the gate gunning for blood, why not?

“first post!” with allllllllll the sourness and negativity that has nothing whatsoever to do with a positive article… for once nothing to do with an error, a recall, or a lawsuit.

Y’all aren’t content unless you’re discontent, huh?
What a bizarre way to live.
I am genuinely sorry that you live in such a misery pit, you feel you absolutely MUST attempt to foist it on others & shoehorn seething absolutely anywhere.

They just aren't a zealot is all. Nothing wrong with that. Some of you people have a VERY unhealthy obsession with Apple. They could release the iBaby Blender 9000 and you all would still fork over the money.

 

[Freeangel1]

You betcha Timmy!

Thats why the movement in computers is OPEN Architecture and NOT CLOSED and shut out like APPLE's Model.
Open RISC 5 CPU's with no licensing fees
Open OS's like Android and Linux. thats Why Android is beating IOS and iPhone so Bad.

Majority WINS
Minority Loses

 

[falainber]

My wallet is open for Mr.Cook with a smile!

What is it about Apple and the wallets? Go to the forum/discussion about any other company/product and you'll never see people talking about their wallets. On MR? People talk about their wallets all the time. Is it some ind of disease or something?

 

[Donovan2020]

potential to milk more profit out of customers tim?

Aye aye, comrade! ☭

 

[Abazigal]

What is it about Apple and the wallets? Go to the forum/discussion about any other company/product and you'll never see people talking about their wallets. On MR? People talk about their wallets all the time. Is it some ind of disease or something?

You hear that often because Apple’s ecosystem is designed around people that easily spend money. It’s a common trope around here that Apple gear is overpriced (which I disagree with) but given that, and their financials which are unlike any other comparable company, you can only conclude that Apple buyers spend money - a lot of it.

There are many people who are Apple gear from end-to-end because we don’t want to spend time cobbling some system together, or deal with password or security issues. We just want an integrated solution that works, and if it costs a few bucks more, people like myself are happy to pay it.