Tim Cook Remembers Steve Jobs on 8th Anniversary of His Death

[Techmaestro]

Thank you Steve for all of the wonderful memories and great products. You were a visionary for the ages and I consider myself privileged to have witness your greatness. In a world of fakes and phonies you are, and will always be, a reminder that TRUE luminaries do exist.

 

[farmboy]

It did. The guy invented iPhone, iPad, Mac. What did Tim do? Innovation has been stale at Apple ever since his death.

Jobs didn’t invent those things alone (he is listed as an inventor on some of those patents for some of those things), but he shaped and focused those who did. Cook is not an inventor, so what the hell are you talking about?

 

[Labeno]

Perhaps. But it is also a fact that I have bought many more Apple products under Tim Cook’s stewardship (which anyone here can attest to if they have been following my responses for any amount of time), and am enjoying them very much.

You can argue that many of them were iterations of products that were released under Steve Jobs. Maybe. I don’t really care. Suffice to say that I really have little issues with the current direction and trajectory that the Apple of today is headed in.

This was a surprise to read. Under Tim Cook, I have bought so very few Apple products, and I'm a huge Apple fan. Under SJ, I bought almost every iteration of products because there were valuable feature improvements. Under Tim, it seems more like fashion based updates, but lack of staying ahead of the competitors, and even reduction like getting rid of the MagSafe concept... 3rd party companies can make USB C MagSafe connectors, but Tim knows removing MagSafe means more tripping over cords and breaking laptops which equates to expensive repairs and more share holder profit. I'm trying to be sincere here... please let me know where my logic is flawed with the MagSafe concept.

 

[Abazigal]

This was a surprise to read. Under Tim Cook, I have bought so very few Apple products, and I'm a huge Apple fan. Under SJ, I bought almost every iteration of products because there were valuable feature improvements. Under Tim, it seems more like fashion based updates, but lack of staying ahead of the competitors, and even reduction like getting rid of the MagSafe concept... 3rd party companies can make USB C MagSafe connectors, but Tim knows removing MagSafe means more tripping over cords and breaking laptops which equates to expensive repairs and more share holder profit. I'm trying to be sincere here... please let me know where my logic is flawed with the MagSafe concept.

First off, I think it’s an extremely ridiculous assertion to make that Apple deliberately removed MagSafe with the express intention of hoping that users would send their laptops crashing to the ground more often, in turn forcing them to upgrade.

For the simple reason that if this were indeed the case, my next laptop most assuredly would not have been the exact same product that caused me so much problems and frustration in the first place.

My theory is a much simpler one. Thunderbolt 3 is easily the most versatile port ever shipped, and they are likely the most powerful as well. By doubling down on Thunderbolt 3 in one of the best-selling notebooks available, Apple is essentially forcing the hand of manufacturers and consumers everywhere to adopt and support it. Essentially solving the classic “chicken and egg” problem of each side waiting for the other party to make the first move before committing.

Sure, this “usb-c purity” mentality means no sd-card slot, no MagSafe, no hdmi, and no usb-A ports. And I say good riddance to all of them, even as I confess to loving MagSafe, and still using usb-A on a regular basis.

The new i/o selection in the MacBooks is a lesson in long-term gain for short term pain. In the short term, we are disadvantaged by having to carrying adaptors everywhere we go (though I maintain that this issue has been largely overblown). In the long term, we can look forward to more usb-c peripherals and support.

Think about it. With usb-c, there is potential to run a 5k display, connect multiple usb 3 external drives, connect to the internet via Ethernet, charge your laptop, and link external GPU modules all through a single cable! In fact, you can already do all this right now with a LG 5k display and a thunderbolt dock.

The future looks so very bright for thunderbolt 3, and I can’t wait to see the potential it unlocks. And if MagSafe had to go in exchange for this, then so be it.

 

[brenton289]

RIP Steve 1955-2011
RIP Apple 1976-2011

 

[polbit]

Steve was an inspiring visionary, driven to pursue perfection in design and ideas. Tim is an accountant driven to pursue profits and shareholder value. Steve created that as a by-product, Tim simply doesn't know any better. I'm glad my Apple stock has done so well, but at the same time I have moved from a user to an investor. When Microsoft keynotes are more inspiring that Apple ones, you know something is wrong...

 

[CosmoCopus]

I know one thing, the MacBook Pro has gone down hill since Jobs passed away.

 

[MacCurry]

It's been 8 years since Steve Jobs has passed. Many of us were Apple fans since the early 1980s, but left due to the Windows PC revolution of the late 1980s and 1990s. We didn't come back until Apple's embrace of the Intel architecture in 2005/2006.

Steve Jobs always craved simplicity in the product lineup so product selection would be simple and it would simply work without hassles. If he were here today, Apple would have a smaller number of SKUs and we would see more attention to creativity. We wouldn't see segmentation of the iPhone as three different models with each having different configurations. We wouldn't see the square Apple Watch. We would see Apple continue its support for video and photo production with Final Cut Pro and Aperture rivaling Adobe. We would see a very different Apple TV. There would be more attention to the Mac lineup as it was the basis for Steve Job's coming up and he viewed it as his baby. He saw Apple products like the Beatles, where each of them is better together rather than individually.

Today Apple is a technology company no better than Microsoft and Google who also have very capable leaders comparable to Tim Cook and none have the vision of Steve Jobs. A true American who was the late 20th century Thomas Edison.

 

[PlayUltimate]

With a 7.9", 10.2", 10.5", 11", and 12.9" iPad lineup!? Respectfully, I doubt it. Steve fixed Apple's bloated lineup when he came back to Apple in the '90s to make it is what it is today. While much of Steve undoubtably lives on in the company, Apple was not prepared to loose such an influenctial individual prematurely.

This is a silly comment. SJ had the iBook 12" and 14". And despite the difference in size, they had the same screen resolution. And at the same time Apple was still selling 2 sizes of MacBook Pro. That is 4 different sized laptop computers. Makes no sense to complain about 5 different sized iPads that serve different markets.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I remember Steve's keynotes for how natural and fairly down-to-earth they were.

truth! Such as “branched-chain predictions, what does that mean, well I don’t know but it’s a GOOD thing!” Lol was a LOT of fun hearing him on stage ... more than Apple store lineups the early days.

As Steve himself pointed out lifting your arm up to point at the screen of an iMac or MacBook is tiring for long periods of time and terribly unergonomic.
If you’re only going to do it a few times an hour you may as well not bother at all.

LMAO! Steve said this in a time where Microsoft still used the original Ink and no other competition had multitouch recognition. He also said this when he was beginning to get quit weak (1st operation).

like something said much earlier, with every iPad commercial you see someone lifting their arm to touch a more vertically oriented iPad screen. Hmmm. The iPad was 20yrs in the making despite what you all believe (proof):

Apple Navigator concept (look this up!)
Apple’s head of UI of The Newton returned when the first iPad Pro was launched (he’s also responsible of the now gone yet beautiful animated “Poof” from the Newton PDA and OSX when you deleted text / removed an app icon from the dock (respectively).

Thats a terrible explanation if you're going to put out an iPad Pro with keyboard which creates exactly the same situation.

Like the big phone thing Jobs was wrong on this.

When Steve Jobs was running Apple:

• He’s an arrogant jerk.
• He berated employees and is difficult to work with.
• He abandoned his daughter.
• He takes credit for others work.

When Steve Jobs passed away and Cook took over:

• He was a visionary.
• He understood where technology was going.
• Apple wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Steve.

The only thing consistent is the ability for people to always look for the negative. As long as they can somehow bash Apple.
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Funny Jobs’ arrogance wasn’t totalitarian he did adapt if you could confident rebuttal with good points that trumped his as we’ve seen on the iPhone development. His arrogance and mean attitude PUSHED great engineers to do insanely great things!!! They MADE the iPhone live up beyond Jobs expectations and to this day we all here love it!

 

[PlayUltimate]

Jobs came back when Apple was in the dumps and turned it around. Key was cancelling contracts that allowed other manufacturers to manufacture clone computers that ran MacOS. Jobs also paired down its own product offerings; smart due to Apple's poor health.

Despite giving customers more choices today, Apple is extremely successful, likely far beyond Jobs' dreams, and far far from a company that's failing.

Just because a strategy worked to partially help turn a failing Apple around in the mid-1990s, does not mean that Apple today with more product choices at a range of price points to attract a wider audience, is a bad thing.

Fully agree. Probably the most important thing was to get Microsoft to agree to continue making Office for Mac for 5 years. (I know, it was part of the lawsuit settlement.)

 

[DeepIn2U]

Tim's done better than most could in his situation, and the company is still doing well. One can't help but think though how things might've been different had Jobs lived a little longer.

to be honest I think many here are givingTimCookfar too much credit for the companies riches when thatshould be attributed to Mr Meastra the current and soon outgoing CFO!

 

[DeepIn2U]

Apple is growing in ways now that they just couldn't under Jobs. They are also losing in areas they would never if Jobs were still around. Is it a push? That's the question.

sorry Apple’s major rise began in 2008 after the launch of the Al_Unibody MBP. Then the Al_imac that was the big push.

 

[iMi]

The bottom line is...without Steve the world wouldn't be the same. He will go down in history as one of the greatest inventors of all time. He transformed so many industries and so many lives. That smartphone we all enjoy in our pocket would not have been the same without Steve. The iPhone may be the single greatest invention of our generation. He laid the foundation for Apple, and the team has continued to build upon Steve's successes. You can't expect Apple to innovate or operate the way Steve did when he was alive because a personality and genius like Steve is rare. His legacy will live on forever.

Funny... he didn’t invent a single thing. This isn’t to say he wasn’t a visionary but certainly not an inventor.

 

[gijoeinla]

I don't think many people here think Tim is doing a bad job, but the "vibe" around Apple had changed.. and many agree that this changed Apple is not for the better.

See miniroll32's post a few posts above. That describes it nicely IMHO.

Um the “vibe” of technology in general has changed - dramatically - and Centris to our lives - Tim Cook isn’t the visionary. But that’s ok. Steve Jobs - as great and as talented as he was - was No Tim Cook - and could never - never have steered Apple to produce 250 million of anything a year. It’s a tremendous feat to have developed supply chains and customer support for now over a BILLION devices made by Apple on this earth. Steve chose Tim for the right reasons. A person with the skill and talent to grow the company to heights not even he could have envisioned.

 

[Abazigal]

With a 7.9", 10.2", 10.5", 11", and 12.9" iPad lineup!? Respectfully, I doubt it. Steve fixed Apple's bloated lineup when he came back to Apple in the '90s to make it is what it is today. While much of Steve undoubtably lives on in the company, Apple was not prepared to loose such an influenctial individual prematurely.

Steve Jobs did what was appropriate for a company teetering on the brink of bankruptcy then (streamline their product lineup to cut development and production costs), just as Tim Cook is doing what is best for Apple right now (offer multiple versions of the same product at different price points to capture as much of the market as possible).

Times change, Apple’s business strategy too has changed to reflect the fact that it is no longer a struggling upstart) and that’s how she goes.

 

[kissmo]

Funny... he didn’t invent a single thing. This isn’t to say he wasn’t a visionary but certainly not an inventor.

- He was part of the process.

- He knew when and to what to say NO - including half baked concepts.

- He saw the direction where the products should head towards.

Ideas were not his, but selecting them and building a product out of them - were all him.
To some extent, this is being a form of inventor.

 

[coolfactor]

Steve always had products "Available Today", and surprised us with "One More Thing...". I miss those days.

And Steve, nobody can ever match your powerful presence in a room, or the world. Thank you for your gifts and pulling the world along with you.
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It did. The guy invented iPhone, iPad, Mac. What did Tim do? Innovation has been stale at Apple ever since his death.

The Watch deserves a mention. It's a true feat of engineering.
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sorry Apple’s major rise began in 2008 after the launch of the Al_Unibody MBP. Then the Al_imac that was the big push.

Apple's major rise began with the introduction of the iMac in 1997, followed by the iPod in 2001. And it kept growing. I don't recall the Unibody MacBook Pro being a significant moment in time. The MacBook Air was a page turner, ahead of its time, and set the stage for what we have today.

 

[newyorksole]

Steve was an inspiring visionary, driven to pursue perfection in design and ideas. Tim is an accountant driven to pursue profits and shareholder value. Steve created that as a by-product, Tim simply doesn't know any better. I'm glad my Apple stock has done so well, but at the same time I have moved from a user to an investor. When Microsoft keynotes are more inspiring that Apple ones, you know something is wrong...

You do realize that this is the direction the company would’ve went towards anyway right?

When Steve was alive he improved upon things that already existed. We get a stellar smartphone and a great tablet in his later years. The updates to the hardware were slow. The 4S was just speed, Siri and like 1 other thing. Now look at today... the iPhone lineup and iPad lineup are amazing. A slow build to get to where we are today, but Tim got the company here.

You think iPhones would’ve stayed 4” big if Steve were still alive and that he wouldn’t adapt? Yeah right. Apple is adapting and also improving on technology that is already out there, just as they did when Steve was alive.

 

[shahr04360]

RIP Myriad Pro & Lucida Grande font...

 

[newyorksole]

- He was part of the process.

- He knew when and to what to say NO - including half baked concepts.

- He saw the direction where the products should head towards.

Ideas were not his, but selecting them and building a product out of them - were all him.
To some extent, this is being a form of inventor.

Yeah hmmm plenty of half baked things came out when Steve was alive. You guys have to stop acting like Steve and the company were perfect. 2011 is like a century ago when it comes to technology.What existing product what Steve have revolutionized if he were alive? What devices to people use Or wear all the time besides their smartphone, computer, tablet or watch? Exactly.

At this point it’s hard to make a new product category. I mean, Steve didn’t even make a new category. He just revolutionized existing ones just as Apple did with the Watch.

Now we hear rumors of smart glasses and smart cars. It’s Apple’s logical next step...

 

[cosmichobo]

Would Steve have released Apple Watch V1?

Or would he have said to the applicable team/s - come back to me with a finished product..?

 

[Codpeace]

The bottom line is...without Steve the world wouldn't be the same. He will go down in history as one of the greatest inventors of all time. He transformed so many industries and so many lives. That smartphone we all enjoy in our pocket would not have been the same without Steve. The iPhone may be the single greatest invention of our generation. He laid the foundation for Apple, and the team has continued to build upon Steve's successes. You can't expect Apple to innovate or operate the way Steve did when he was alive because a personality and genius like Steve is rare. His legacy will live on forever.

And I’m pretty sure he told himself — truthfully — that it (whatever it in question) could have been better.
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It would be about where it is today.

Exactly — with poor, benighted Tim at his right hand.

 

[ani4ani]

I was not really a big fan of Steve Jobs, but Apple back then, was a company I rooted for; the underdog that made truly aspirational products and seemed to have decent values; todays Apple is far away from that Apple. I have more Apple products now but I really don’t like the company or it’s values any more.

 

[Bin Cook]

I was not really a big fan of Steve Jobs, but Apple back then, was a company I rooted for; the underdog that made truly aspirational products and seemed to have decent values; todays Apple is far away from that Apple. I have more Apple products now but I really don’t like the company or it’s values any more.

this. I’ve still got Apple products as Android world remains a total cluster fudge and MS managed to ruin their potentially superb mobile platform.

However, each purchase is now almost a regretful one; I’m looking for reasons to not upgrade etc because I fundamentally dislike the company and the charlatan running things.

I’m also a little bit sick inside when he rolls out his platitudes for Steve when Jobs would be spinning in his grave at how Cook is going about a lot of things.