The title should be "Tim Apple, the CEO who loves to play videos in his keynotes"
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Tim Cook Profiled in New Biography as 'The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level'
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Tim Cook: The Genius Who Ran Apple Into the Ground for Short Term Profits Like John Sculley
Hard to
Several years ago, Leander Kahney released a well-received biography of Jony Ive, outlining how the publicity-shy "genius behind Apple's greatest products" came to play such a prominent role at Apple. Kahney painstakingly researched Ive's background, interviewing numerous friends and acquaintances from various stages of his life to put together a portrait of Apple's design guru.
Kahney has now returned with another biography of an Apple executive, and this time he has his sights focused on CEO Tim Cook. Like Ive, Cook is an intensely private person, but Kahney spoke with a number of friends and family members, as well as former coworkers and even a few current Apple executives to learn more about the leader who has had the gargantuan task of following Steve Jobs.
While Apple has had some considerable successes under Cook, some have been critical of the direction the company has taken under his leadership, whether it be product missteps, a perceived lack of innovation, or changes in the company's focus. Kahney finds little to dislike about Cook's tenure, however, as is made immediately clear by his book's title: Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level.
Kahney centers his book around six values he argues "provide the foundation" for Cook's leadership at Apple: accessibility, education, environment, inclusion and diversity, privacy and security, and supplier responsibility.
After a quick look at Cook's 2011 elevation to the CEO position and the death of Steve Jobs, the book delves into Cook's history, starting with his upbringing in Alabama and his time at IBM and Compaq.
The book then looks at his decision to join Apple upon the return of Jobs when the company was still on the brink of bankruptcy, and his operations prowess that saw Apple streamline and outsource its manufacturing, radically improving efficiency and allowing for the scale of growth Apple was to experience.
The bulk of the biography covers Cook's time as Apple CEO, highlighting his transition into the role and some of the early major product announcements like iPhones, Apple Pay, the Apple Watch, and more. The book's focus then turns to broader themes like Cook's emphasis on the environment and sustainability, privacy and the fight with the FBI over creating a backdoor into iOS, and efforts at increasing diversity.
The book wraps up with a look at Apple Park and the company's work on self-driving car technology, and ultimately asks whether Cook is the best CEO Apple has ever had. Analyst Horace Dediu believes that he is, arguing that Jobs was "always the head of product" and "never really a CEO." That emphasis was needed when Apple was fighting for survival, but as Apple got back on its feet, Jobs largely turned over the day-to-day operation of the company to Cook, and Cook's generalist perspective has been what the company needs now that it has matured.
While the book does highlight a few missteps along the way, The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level is overall a glowing portrait of Cook and the job he has done leading Apple. You can agree or disagree with that conclusion, but either way, it's an interesting look at one of the most important figures in Apple's history and a story that hasn't really been told at length until now.
With material drawn from those who knew Cook in his early days, as well as current and former Apple executives like Lisa Jackson, Greg Joswiak, Deirdre O'Brien, and Bruce Sewell, Kahney does a good job of weaving new bits of information into parts of the narrative that are already well known.
If you're interested in hearing more from Kahney about his book and the process of writing it, we're going to be holding an "Ask Me Anything" session with him in our forums later today. Stop by our Apple, Inc and Tech Industry forum at 11:00 AM Pacific (2:00 PM Eastern) today, and Kahney will be available to answer your questions.
Penguin Books has also graciously agreed to offer ten copies of Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level as part of a giveaway. To enter to win, use the widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. By request of the publisher, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older are eligible to enter.
The contest will run from today (April 9) at 7:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 7:00 a.m. Pacific Time on April 16. The winners will be chosen randomly on April 16 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.
For those interested in purchasing the book, it launches next Tuesday, April 16, but you can pre-order now through Amazon, Apple's Book Store, and other outlets.
Article Link: Tim Cook Profiled in New Biography as 'The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level' [Author AMA Today]
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
"Tim Cook, the monotone guy who took my favorite product-focused company and turned it into a boring, political organization."
And that is essentially a textbook CEO's role. Let creative and attuned people imagine the possibilities, weigh the advice of analysts, and ultimately decide which to gamble on.
Cook may be an excellent manager and gambler, or it may be that Apple's mind share has so much momentum that fadish products aren't questioned.
One thing is different about Cook's tenure and Jobs' tenure: their customers. Jobs catered to doers. Cook caters to consumers. Products under Jobs had to have purpose and utility. Cook's products have to be idiot-proof and trendy.
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The company has grown under him, no mistake about that.
But there isn't much longevity in this - he's a genius former supply chain manager, and now a purely fiscal focused CEO - they make good money, but the mojo of the company is definitely gone.
But there isn't much longevity in this - he's a genius former supply chain manager, and now a purely fiscal focused CEO - they make good money, but the mojo of the company is definitely gone.
Great job Tim.
It’s unfortunate you won’t be lauded on MR for your successes but at the same time be blamed for all perceived Apple shortcomings. Even if you inherited them.
Separating the wheat from the chaff is an important part of the job.
It’s unfortunate you won’t be lauded on MR for your successes but at the same time be blamed for all perceived Apple shortcomings. Even if you inherited them.
Separating the wheat from the chaff is an important part of the job.
I can say Tim is almost certainly doing better with the company than I could. I'm not a CEO and never have been. I know many here seem to think they know better than he does, but I suspect most would run the company into the ground in 6 months if they were in his shoes.
He's not Steve and never will be. He's Tim. For better or worse, those are the facts. The Steve Jobs of the world aren't waiting in the wings hoping to be the next CEO of Apple or any other company. They're doing what he would be doing, they're out building their own empires. The odds of another "Steve Jobs" leading Apple are extremely slim, if not impossible. I can't help but feel some people are missing this fact.
I happen to think he was smart enough to gather some of the best people around to keep things going in the right direction. They seem to be carrying on fairly well. Things will never be what they were. With that in mind, I think Tim is doing a great job. Apple's success since Steve passed seems to support that theory.
He's not Steve and never will be. He's Tim. For better or worse, those are the facts. The Steve Jobs of the world aren't waiting in the wings hoping to be the next CEO of Apple or any other company. They're doing what he would be doing, they're out building their own empires. The odds of another "Steve Jobs" leading Apple are extremely slim, if not impossible. I can't help but feel some people are missing this fact.
I happen to think he was smart enough to gather some of the best people around to keep things going in the right direction. They seem to be carrying on fairly well. Things will never be what they were. With that in mind, I think Tim is doing a great job. Apple's success since Steve passed seems to support that theory.
Shouldn’t the word genius be reserved for people like Sir Isaac Newton and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
While Cook deserves praise on the privacy and security front, the other values mentioned are very political in nature. I never got that sense with Jobs. Jobs was indeed the head of product. Cook wears his CEO title well, with so much focus on revenues and not so much on product.
Several years ago, Leander Kahney released a well-received biography of Jony Ive, outlining how the publicity-shy "genius behind Apple's greatest products" came to play such a prominent role at Apple. Kahney painstakingly researched Ive's background, interviewing numerous friends and acquaintances from various stages of his life to put together a portrait of Apple's design guru.
Kahney has now returned with another biography of an Apple executive, and this time he has his sights focused on CEO Tim Cook. Like Ive, Cook is an intensely private person, but Kahney spoke with a number of friends and family members, as well as former coworkers and even a few current Apple executives to learn more about the leader who has had the gargantuan task of following Steve Jobs.
While Apple has had some considerable successes under Cook, some have been critical of the direction the company has taken under his leadership, whether it be product missteps, a perceived lack of innovation, or changes in the company's focus. Kahney finds little to dislike about Cook's tenure, however, as is made immediately clear by his book's title: Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level.
Kahney centers his book around six values he argues "provide the foundation" for Cook's leadership at Apple: accessibility, education, environment, inclusion and diversity, privacy and security, and supplier responsibility.
After a quick look at Cook's 2011 elevation to the CEO position and the death of Steve Jobs, the book delves into Cook's history, starting with his upbringing in Alabama and his time at IBM and Compaq.
The book then looks at his decision to join Apple upon the return of Jobs when the company was still on the brink of bankruptcy, and his operations prowess that saw Apple streamline and outsource its manufacturing, radically improving efficiency and allowing for the scale of growth Apple was to experience.
The bulk of the biography covers Cook's time as Apple CEO, highlighting his transition into the role and some of the early major product announcements like iPhones, Apple Pay, the Apple Watch, and more. The book's focus then turns to broader themes like Cook's emphasis on the environment and sustainability, privacy and the fight with the FBI over creating a backdoor into iOS, and efforts at increasing diversity.
The book wraps up with a look at Apple Park and the company's work on self-driving car technology, and ultimately asks whether Cook is the best CEO Apple has ever had. Analyst Horace Dediu believes that he is, arguing that Jobs was "always the head of product" and "never really a CEO." That emphasis was needed when Apple was fighting for survival, but as Apple got back on its feet, Jobs largely turned over the day-to-day operation of the company to Cook, and Cook's generalist perspective has been what the company needs now that it has matured.
While the book does highlight a few missteps along the way, The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level is overall a glowing portrait of Cook and the job he has done leading Apple. You can agree or disagree with that conclusion, but either way, it's an interesting look at one of the most important figures in Apple's history and a story that hasn't really been told at length until now.
With material drawn from those who knew Cook in his early days, as well as current and former Apple executives like Lisa Jackson, Greg Joswiak, Deirdre O'Brien, and Bruce Sewell, Kahney does a good job of weaving new bits of information into parts of the narrative that are already well known.
If you're interested in hearing more from Kahney about his book and the process of writing it, we're going to be holding an "Ask Me Anything" session with him in our forums later today. Stop by our Apple, Inc and Tech Industry forum at 11:00 AM Pacific (2:00 PM Eastern) today, and Kahney will be available to answer your questions.
Penguin Books has also graciously agreed to offer ten copies of Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level as part of a giveaway. To enter to win, use the widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. By request of the publisher, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older are eligible to enter.
The contest will run from today (April 9) at 7:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 7:00 a.m. Pacific Time on April 16. The winners will be chosen randomly on April 16 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.
For those interested in purchasing the book, it launches next Tuesday, April 16, but you can pre-order now through Amazon, Apple's Book Store, and other outlets.
Article Link: Tim Cook Profiled in New Biography as 'The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level' [Author AMA Today]
Not a hint of irony in the title?
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Tim's top skill is "Playing the System".
He leverages the very obvious fact that there there are ALOT of Dummies on Wall Street with influence.
Under Cook, AAPL's top products are the Apple Watch & AirPods.
ALL OTHER companies with such products as their best would have a market cap of ONLY $100M USD ! ... yet AAPL is once again approaching $1T USD.
The Downside Risk Under Cook is SIGNIFICANT.
He leverages the very obvious fact that there there are ALOT of Dummies on Wall Street with influence.
Under Cook, AAPL's top products are the Apple Watch & AirPods.
ALL OTHER companies with such products as their best would have a market cap of ONLY $100M USD ! ... yet AAPL is once again approaching $1T USD.
The Downside Risk Under Cook is SIGNIFICANT.
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I was thinking exactly the same thing.
Jeffrey Skilling was an uber genius going by this title.
Cook will have managed to coast by and ignore it all because it will be sitting on a coast somewhere drinking a beer or expensive mineral water with several billion dollars in his bank account. All the other stuff you mentioned really doesn't matter to him. You think he cares that he didn't build Apple's loyal base? You think he's going to care what happens to Apple in a few years when he retires and cashes in all that stock?
Don't get me wrong, I agree with everything you said. I just don't think Tim Cook cares, and frankly, he shouldn't as long as people are still foolish enough to shovel money into Apple. Declining sales? Just raise the prices to cover the loss. That's the new Apple way.
