That is interesting, to hear what he says to investors. Salesmanship, but interesting.
Off topic, but last spring on my way back from Silicon Valley I happened to sit next to the guy who ran a parts plant in China making components for Apple. I have very narrow interests (programming, hiking, writing/reading, and cooking) so it was neat to get talk to someone who is in a very different kind of business than I am in, and was in a much higher pressure job.
>"Well, you know, that’s all part of the magic of Apple. And I don’t want to let anybody know our magic, because I don’t want anybody copying it."
That's the difference between Jobs running Apple and Cook running Apple in a nutshell. The perception has been that other companies cannot copy Apple because Jobs' skill set is unique. But under Cook the possibility of being copied seems more likely.
And the article bears it out. Cook is a logistics guy and the interview is full of facts and numbers and accomplishments. It's Wall Street speak. There's nothing visionary in it. There's nothing about design or aesthetics. Nothing about revolution. When it talks about the future, it's only in terms of increasing market share in commodity markets.
And here's my favourite cherry-picked line out of context:
we are all very happy with product pipeline, and the team here has an unparalleled breadth and depth of talent and a culture of innovation that Steve has driven in the company, and excellence has become a habit. And so we feel very, very confident about the future of the company.
There is no insider figure that is linked to their products in as personal a way as Jobs - except Jonathon Ives.
There is nobody inside with the product and business clout to take over, so it will either be a faceless VP suit that gets promoted, or they will hire an outside.
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[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 23.1 ms ] threadOff topic, but last spring on my way back from Silicon Valley I happened to sit next to the guy who ran a parts plant in China making components for Apple. I have very narrow interests (programming, hiking, writing/reading, and cooking) so it was neat to get talk to someone who is in a very different kind of business than I am in, and was in a much higher pressure job.
>"Well, you know, that’s all part of the magic of Apple. And I don’t want to let anybody know our magic, because I don’t want anybody copying it."
That's the difference between Jobs running Apple and Cook running Apple in a nutshell. The perception has been that other companies cannot copy Apple because Jobs' skill set is unique. But under Cook the possibility of being copied seems more likely.
And the article bears it out. Cook is a logistics guy and the interview is full of facts and numbers and accomplishments. It's Wall Street speak. There's nothing visionary in it. There's nothing about design or aesthetics. Nothing about revolution. When it talks about the future, it's only in terms of increasing market share in commodity markets.
Edited highlights:
We are doing crap in the PC business (that we went into when we didn't have Jobs)
We are doing great in the mobile business - that Jobs got us into.
So don't worry about an Apple without Jobs!
we are all very happy with product pipeline, and the team here has an unparalleled breadth and depth of talent and a culture of innovation that Steve has driven in the company, and excellence has become a habit. And so we feel very, very confident about the future of the company.
There is nobody inside with the product and business clout to take over, so it will either be a faceless VP suit that gets promoted, or they will hire an outside.
Who is CEO of Pepsi these days?
Who was CEO of Pepsi ever? Honestly, I'm not sure if that says more about Pepsi or my ignorance.