Tim Cook Profiled in New Biography as 'The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level'

[I7guy]

The company (thanks to Tim's shortsighted accounting lenses) is no longer at 1T after the disappointing iPhone sales. And if anyone took the company near 1T, we look at the guy who created the product which made it happen.

Yep, Apple was the first trillion dollar company. I suppose no one else in the world ever had a stock portfolio that lost money /s

So are you insinuating that Satya Nadella/ Steve Ballmer are more innovative than Bill Gates because the company reached greater heights under them? Because we all know who created the products which made Microsoft successful.

No, I’m flat out saying Steve Jobs was over aggrandized and Tim Cook is under appreciated. You may feel differently, but Tim still got the book.

 

[nebojsak]

1985 - Jobs leaves Apple, Apple lives off the Macintosh for 11 years making breakthrough record high profits along the way but then went downhill to almost bankruptcy in 1996.

2011 - Jobs passes away - Apple lives off the iPhone for 8 years.

I think it's too premature to credit Cook with "genius" if history serves of anything.

So true. In this case, because relying on kids and housewives as your main target market has always been a slippery ground. There's always cooler and fancier stuff around the corner.

 

[Analog Kid]

Tim Cook will not get close to that number, period.

You didn’t call Cook a failure, and nobody called Jobs a failure. If you can’t see through that to the underlying point, you aren’t trying very hard.

Cook won’t get close to that number because $12T is the GDP of second largest economy in the world. It would mean people investing almost as much into one company as the world has invested in US bonds.

You’re ignoring everything I said and making a petty distinction to deflect from my point.

"You don't think he'd be proud today to see his vision vindicated by having his hand picked successor lead Apple to becoming the world's most valuable company?"

Hmmmmmm, I think Apple already became the world's most valuable company...under Steve Jobs. Again, nice try.

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/08/09/apple-most-valuable-company-anniversary/

Point taken. I may have blown the metric, but my point was simply that Jobs would have been proud of Apple’s increasing and continued success.

 

[Shanghaichica]

The company (thanks to Tim's shortsighted accounting lenses) is no longer at 1T after the disappointing iPhone sales. And if anyone took the company near 1T, we look at the guy who created the product which made it happen.



So are you insinuating that Satya Nadella/ Steve Ballmer are more innovative than Bill Gates because the company reached greater heights under them? Because we all know who created the products which made Microsoft successful.
[doublepost=1554918872][/doublepost]

Within a span of just 15 years Jobs came up with 3 product lines, all of them smash hits. Its been almost 10 years of Tim Cook and so far nothing except incremental improvements which the competition has already done before

The iPad is a derivative of the iPhone. The iPhone was the only one that was revolutionary. The iPod was an MP3 player that had good marketing coupled with iTunes.

 

[Analog Kid]

But who the hell gives a heck about quotes and sayings? Steve himself could have renamed his company "Apple Donuts", but that is not changing the fact that the computers and stuff he used to sell at his time simply worked. Could anybody imagine the situation in which any of the Apple computers in -say- 2008. comes with same well-documented issues and same buggy and cheap hardware through a two or three generations? Like Microsoft used to do, but massively overpriced.

Apple has turned to a Coca Cola/McDonald's type of company, selling gadgets for kids and housewives. Which is nice, but they should at least stop lying to their old customers.

It’s not about quotes and sayings, but you managed to crop the most relevant quote from your reply. The fact is that Jobs was clearly the motivation behind reducing the emphasis on the Mac, not Cook.

You’ve sanitized your memory of Apple history... G4 Cube. Leaking liquid cooling systems. Stagnating PowerPC performance. MobileMe. iPhone antenna issues.

I just started Googling Apple recall 20xx starting from 2011 and working backwards— there’s no shortage of hits...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-macbook-pro-recall.2089324/
https://www.apple.com/mt/support/exchange_repair/macbook-bottomcase.html
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2340149
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203254
https://www.digitaltrends.com/apple/apple-to-replace-swollen-macbook-batteries/
https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2005/c...all-of-ibook-and-powerbook-computer-batteries

 

[JOBS-3:16]

You didn’t call Cook a failure, and nobody called Jobs a failure. If you can’t see through that to the underlying point, you aren’t trying very hard.

Cook won’t get close to that number because $12T is the GDP of second largest economy in the world. It would mean people investing almost as much into one company as the world has invested in US bonds.

You’re ignoring everything I said and making a petty distinction to deflect from my point.

Point taken. I may have blown the metric, but my point was simply that Jobs would have been proud of Apple’s increasing and continued success.

"You’re ignoring everything I said and making a petty distinction to deflect from my point." Which point? I can't find one that holds water. This point? "Jobs did a great job turning Apple around, but comparing the effort of bringing a failing company sitting on massive intellectual assets back to profitability to bringing one of the most successful companies in the world to be the most successful on a linear scale is disingenuous." This statement is not only incorrect, it discredits what Steve Jobs accomplished, which was taking a company that was nearly bankrupt, and turning it into the most valuable company on the planet. Name another CEO, in the history of mankind, who has accomplished this feat.

This we can agree on: Point taken. I may have blown the metric, but my point was simply that Jobs would have been proud of Apple’s increasing and continued success.

 

[jeyf]

apple is 40+ y old
goes to prove a mid life crisis can be profitable

 

[Analog Kid]

"You’re ignoring everything I said and making a petty distinction to deflect from my point." Which point? I can't find one that holds water.

This point:

As you progress, each doubling becomes much harder.

Which you again ignored explained this way:

Cook won’t get close to that number because $12T is the GDP of second largest economy in the world. It would mean people investing almost as much into one company as the world has invested in US bonds.

It would require reinvesting about a third of the entire US stock market into Apple.

 

[I7guy]

"You’re ignoring everything I said and making a petty distinction to deflect from my point." Which point? I can't find one that holds water. This point? "Jobs did a great job turning Apple around, but comparing the effort of bringing a failing company sitting on massive intellectual assets back to profitability to bringing one of the most successful companies in the world to be the most successful on a linear scale is disingenuous." This statement is not only incorrect, it discredits what Steve Jobs accomplished, which was taking a company that was nearly bankrupt, and turning it into the most valuable company on the planet. Name another CEO, in the history of mankind, who has accomplished this feat.

This we can agree on: Point taken. I may have blown the metric, but my point was simply that Jobs would have been proud of Apple’s increasing and continued success.

Lou Gerstner.

 

[Oraichu]

The "Genius" who took Apple to new heights of anti-consumer design choices.

 

[JOBS-3:16]

Lou Gerstner.

Nope.

 

[EightyTwenty]

I haven't seen anything from him that makes that much sense if I had to be honest. I look back on Apple's product lines under Jobs; clear, simple product lines fit to purpose. Now I look at lines like the Macbooks, I wouldn't even know where to start to buy one; the entire line is now confusing as hell - the Air, Macbook Pro and Macbook once fit into nice, simple use-cases; all that's gone.. it's a mess of models needing 2-3 dongles each to be useful. I bought a Surfacebook last time and I've never looked back.

There is a lot to criticize Cook for, but the whole "dongle" thing is so 2016.

USB-C is the present and the future. USB-A is the past. It's time to bury it and move on. Apple did the right thing by killing it (mostly). I actually wish they went further and removed it from the Mac Mini and iMac completely. The sooner accessory makers switch to USB-C entirely, the better.

 

[nebojsak]

It’s not about quotes and sayings, but you managed to crop the most relevant quote from your reply. The fact is that Jobs was clearly the motivation behind reducing the emphasis on the Mac, not Cook.

You’ve sanitized your memory of Apple history... G4 Cube. Leaking liquid cooling systems. Stagnating PowerPC performance. MobileMe. iPhone antenna issues.

I just started Googling Apple recall 20xx starting from 2011 and working backwards— there’s no shortage of hits...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-macbook-pro-recall.2089324/
https://www.apple.com/mt/support/exchange_repair/macbook-bottomcase.html
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2340149
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203254
https://www.digitaltrends.com/apple/apple-to-replace-swollen-macbook-batteries/
https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2005/c...all-of-ibook-and-powerbook-computer-batteries

No. I'm speaking solely about my today's choices, being an Apple computer user for almost two decades. And they are pretty miserable, and that's the fact. Unless you consider buying a six years old non-upgradeable trash can a choice. Or buying a $3000 so-called Pro non-upgradeable laptop with solid 15-20% chances to get it with faulty keyboard. Keyboard, remember? The peripheral used for basic communication with the computer, typing passwords, business and delicate stuff and all. Give me a break.

All of the pre-Cook era things you mentioned lasted for a season or so, and were either fixed or abandoned after that. And now we have keyboard issues along the whole line of top products, that spans three generations of them. Spot the difference.

 

[I7guy]

Nope.

Yep. And he didn’t have any computer experience.

 

[LordVic]

You didn’t call Cook a failure, and nobody called Jobs a failure. If you can’t see through that to the underlying point, you aren’t trying very hard.

Cook won’t get close to that number because $12T is the GDP of second largest economy in the world. It would mean people investing almost as much into one company as the world has invested in US bonds.

You’re ignoring everything I said and making a petty distinction to deflect from my point.

Point taken. I may have blown the metric, but my point was simply that Jobs would have been proud of Apple’s increasing and continued success.

I think Jobs would have been impressed and happy with the monetary side.

But I think he'd also be incredibly frustrated by the products that have been released.

The one thing that Jobs always said (and maybe he said it, but didn't believe it) is the first and fore most important part of making a product was how the product was used, and how it performed. If you manage to do this, than the profits will flow from that.

The current Apple doesn't seem to share this ethos and tends to believe that profits are the primary reason for making the devices of today, rather than making the best products that people can use.

 

[cbaca51]

I actually like Tim a lot. He’s overhated.

 

[jgdeschamps]

I think Jobs would have been impressed and happy with the monetary side.

But I think he'd also be incredibly frustrated by the products that have been released.

The one thing that Jobs always said (and maybe he said it, but didn't believe it) is the first and fore most important part of making a product was how the product was used, and how it performed. If you manage to do this, than the profits will flow from that.

The current Apple doesn't seem to share this ethos and tends to believe that profits are the primary reason for making the devices of today, rather than making the best products that people can use.

You are correct, sir.

 

[JOBS-3:16]

Yep. And he didn’t have any computer experience.

Two things...one IBM wasn't on the verge of bankruptcy prior to Lou taking the helm. While they were in serious decline, they were still worth over $40 a share when he took over. Two, IBM was never the world's most valuable company during his tenure. Again, nope.

 

[citysnaps]

As a pro photographer I would not be caught dead using a phone to do the job of a real camera.

Let me some of your work.

 

[LordVic]

I actually like Tim a lot. He’s overhated.

Anyone running a business would love his insight, his business sense, his ability for supply chain management. He's a great go to guy to make sure the products you want to make can be made profitability.

I would love him as a C level suit with that responsibility to advise a CEO.

But as a CEO? He's leaving much to be desired. His business acumen has clearly interfered with the quality of product in the name of profit, where he either completely doesn't understand the products themselves, or doesn't have enough of a grasp on those who are making the product to keep them reasonable or in line.

I truly doubt that Steve Jobs would have kept the current keyboards around for 3+iterations of problem after problem. Yes, ******* released some problematic stuff while Steve was around, but 2nd version fixed it or removed it. Cook doesn't seem to be that interested as long as he can maximize profits

 

[duervo]

Good god... why would they post that?

In I. B. M.— we have a man,
Has vision like a dream;
No matter where— be it here or there Heís held in high esteem;
Built this business and it’s here to stay T.J. Watson, he showed us the way
Said long ago “Think”; watch us grow, Now o’er the earth we’re spread.
His leading force—steers to a course That’s helped both you and me;
In U. S. A.—and in other lands,
Across the seven seas,
Where our I. B. M. is shining bright T.J. Watson is the guiding light,
For years ago he said we’d grow,
Now o’er the earth we’re spread.​

It was a different time when those were written. 1930’s ... post-Great Depression. I suspect that much of the employees were quite grateful to have a job at the time, especially with a family to take care of. Their appreciation is reflected in the songs.

At least, that’s the way I eventually justified them.

The cringe-worthy part to me was being told that they were still singing them at corporate events decades later.

 

[Analog Kid]

No. I'm speaking solely about my today's choices, being an Apple computer user for almost two decades. And they are pretty miserable, and that's the fact. Unless you consider buying a six years old non-upgradeable trash can a choice. Or buying a $3000 so-called Pro non-upgradeable laptop with solid 15-20% chances to get it with faulty keyboard. Keyboard, remember? The peripheral used for basic communication with the computer, typing passwords, business and delicate stuff and all. Give me a break.

All of the pre-Cook era things you mentioned lasted for a season or so, and were either fixed or abandoned after that. And now we have keyboard issues along the whole line of top products, that spans three generations of them. Spot the difference.

I can understand why you’re so unhappy— you’re trying awfully hard to be... You’re exaggerating the negatives and dismissing history and context that doesn’t feed your misery...

You’ll need to give me a source on keyboard failures. I can’t find a source anywhere near that. The only source I’ve found quoting a percentage is Apple Insider, and they estimate 11% of repair events were keyboard related in 2016 and 8% in 2017 compared to a baseline of 6% in 2015.

That is not a percentage of keyboards failing, it is a percentage of repair events related to keyboards. They were clocking 118 keyboard failures in 2014 and 112 failures in 2017. There was a rise in 2016 that was addressed and I don’t see any indication of a multigenerational problem here.

“the 2016 model generated double the service calls for the keyboard itself, completely obscuring the fact that the machine is more reliable overall than predecessors.”​

There’s a ton of links to people using small sample sizes or social media polls that give numbers all over the map, but those all suffer from selection bias— some guy says 30% of his small office failed and it gets shared like mad. I don’t see any dependable data other than the AI survey. I’ve also seen that AI link laundered through other sites and being quoted as 11% of units failing, which is not what they are calculating.

Apple still has the most reliable computer products:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/apples-macbooks-still-the-most-reliable/

 

[I7guy]

I think Jobs would have been impressed and happy with the monetary side.

But I think he'd also be incredibly frustrated by the products that have been released.

The one thing that Jobs always said (and maybe he said it, but didn't believe it) is the first and fore most important part of making a product was how the product was used, and how it performed. If you manage to do this, than the profits will flow from that.

The current Apple doesn't seem to share this ethos and tends to believe that profits are the primary reason for making the devices of today, rather than making the best products that people can use.

Peter Drucker 101, a company exists to provide a service and makes profit from those services. Even if your services are priced high they have to have value.

 

[Analog Kid]

I think Jobs would have been impressed and happy with the monetary side.

But I think he'd also be incredibly frustrated by the products that have been released.

The one thing that Jobs always said (and maybe he said it, but didn't believe it) is the first and fore most important part of making a product was how the product was used, and how it performed. If you manage to do this, than the profits will flow from that.

The current Apple doesn't seem to share this ethos and tends to believe that profits are the primary reason for making the devices of today, rather than making the best products that people can use.

What grounds do you have for that assumption of intent? What products would Jobs have been more frustrated with today than back in his day? Jobs was notoriously frustrated by everything internally, and effusive when presenting, but what is so different today other than the tendency of forums like this wail and amplify every little thing?

Jobs believed profits follow design because you can charge more and maintain demand for a well designed product. He was a smart businessman. One day I’ll find the time to dig up the reference but I also remember him being very concerned about building up a strong cash reserve to help Apple though any future hard times.

 

[nebojsak]

You’ll need to give me a source on keyboard failures. I can’t find a source anywhere near that.

Just utilise the same strategy you did in your previous post - throw in some links from macrumors and other forums, then measure percents by yourself.