Apple CEO Tim Cook meets with Sen. Orrin Hatch, lunches with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushne...

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2017
As President Donald Trump settles in at the White House, Apple chief Tim Cook this week visited Washington, D.C., to meet with Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and take a dinner with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.


Source: Sen. Orrin Hatch via Twitter.


Details of Friday's closed-door meeting are unknown, but in a statement provided to USA Today, Hatch said he and Cook discussed a number of topics ranging from the wider tech industry to America's economy.

"During today's meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook, we discussed ways to grow the economy and our tech industry, as well as his recent visit with me in Utah," the statement reads. "Given the issues I work on as chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force, it's especially useful to listen to innovators like Tim."

Hatch shared a photo of the meeting in a tweet earlier today.

Cook is no stranger to Washington and has in the past visited Hatch to talk patent reform, net neutrality, immigration and other hot button topics impacting Silicon Valley.

Most recently, Cook in October headlined Hatch's Utah Tech Tour, an event designed to spotlight the state's growing technology community. The Apple chief took part in a Q&A session in where audience members asked for advice on tech startups to the inevitable question about Apple's encryption row with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Though some state actors and agencies cast it in a negative light, encryption is "inherently great," Cook said at the time, adding that society would not thrive without these digital safeguards.

In a separate report, Politico says Cook and Apple VP of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson were seen eating dinner with Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. While Trump's daughter has no official cabinet role, Kushner was recently named a White House special advisor.

Compared to his predecessor, late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, Cook uses his position of power to actively push forward political initiatives. Most efforts revolve around Cook's passion for human rights and the environment, but Apple's actions during last year's DOJ imbroglio put the company front and center in an ongoing debate over encryption.

Most recently, Cook was among a cadre of tech leaders who took part in then President-elect Trump's Tech Summit last month. While the wider tech industry faces potential issues with a Trump presidency, Apple has been singled out for its position on encryption, reliance on overseas manufacturing and tax practices. Trump attacked Apple during his campaign, saying the company should bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., and called for a boycott on Apple products over its refusal to cooperate with law enforcement authorities.

Despite the harsh treatment, Cook showed up at Trump Tower in December. Explaining the decision to employees, Cook said it is better to engage government representatives on contentious issues, whether it be privacy and security, education or human rights.

"There's a large number of those issues, and the way that you advance them is to engage. Personally, I've never found being on the sideline a successful place to be," Cook said. "The way that you influence these issues is to be in the arena."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 30
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,324member
    Glad to see Cook is doing his best to influence government. Now if we could just influence Cook to restore the SD card to the MBP and good looks to LG's display, all would be right with the world! ;-)
    bigpicstokyojimu
  • Reply 2 of 30
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    I hope Orrin hasn't forgotten that it's a series of tubes.
    StrangeDaysSpamSandwich
  • Reply 3 of 30
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    jdw said:
    Glad to see Cook is doing his best to influence government. Now if we could just influence Cook to restore the SD card to the MBP and good looks to LG's display, all would be right with the world! ;-)
    Regarding the looks of the LG display, it is what it is. Expect other vendors to challenge LG for pro Mac users here. A few of possibilities for why Apple hasn't released a new display yet: they are going to pivot and create a new pro computer that's half way between a Mac Pro and a Mac mini and then bring out a beautiful new Thunderbolt 3 Apple display to compliment that computer. They are awaiting the intel chips to undertake such a move. They are trying to get out of the standalone display game because they have plans in the future to release a TV display product and wish for the marketing to coalesce around "Apple's display is a TV".

    It totally sucks that SD got dropped, but it's completely inevitable and without it innovation would stop between the camera and the computer. Yes, people will use readers, but the next step is obviously to eliminate those too over time. Wireless sync is a clear next stage in this evolution. And I'd love to see a pro camera one day in the not too distant future sync with iCloud Photo Library.

    Could someone answer me if it's possible now for a startup to develop an SD card which wirelessly syncs with iCloud Photo Library somehow? Even if through a Mac app middleman; though not ideally. A genuine question from me.
    edited January 2017 buckalecdewme
  • Reply 4 of 30
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    I hope Orrin hasn't forgotten that it's a series of tubes.
    Technically, it is a series of tubes:

    https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-04-20/what-links-global-internet-wires-inside-tubes-no-bigger-garden-hose
    edited January 2017 quadra 610pscooter63
  • Reply 5 of 30
    Apple should make Tim Cook Chairmam and hire a CEO to run the company from a product standpoint. Tim Cook could focus on stuff like government relationships, privacy, environment, manufacturing in new countries etc. clearly stuff he's good at. A lot of big companies have a chairman and CEO or CEO and president. Google does, Microsoft does. Apple could too. I think even Tim Cook supporters would admit he's more of an operations guy than a product guy. A role like this would play to his strengths and the company could stand to have some fresh blood in the on the product side.
    5150iiirazormaidDreid1baconstangbrakkenpalomine
  • Reply 6 of 30
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Apple should make Tim Cook Chairmam and hire a CEO to run the company from a product standpoint. Tim Cook could focus on stuff like government relationships, privacy, environment, manufacturing in new countries etc. clearly stuff he's good at. A lot of big companies have a chairman and CEO or CEO and president. Google does, Microsoft does. Apple could too. I think even Tim Cook supporters would admit he's more of an operations guy than a product guy. A role like this would play to his strengths and the company could stand to have some fresh blood in the on the product side.
    Perhaps not a bad idea, but who then becomes CEO and what affect does this have on company culture? An ultra interesting choice for CEO would be Angela: she has the integrity, plenty of talent and has led from the top before most successfully in her career and has always had a focus on product. It's clear Ive does not want the job. I think Cue probably has served his time. Schiller in charge of App Store has perhaps proven Cue lacks the creativity and personality to get stuff done at Apple. I think he's rich and successful enough now that he has lost the hunger or perhaps other reasons. Jimmy needs to move out of the limelight. He's a deal maker and should stay behind the scenes.

    And I keep saying this but Apple should imo at any cost, buy Netflix. It's the one thing holding back Apple TV and new video content regardless of the genre of the doc should instead be handed to their Netflix team and handled by them.

    And again, two years in rebrand Netflix to Apple TV and offer a special deal for customers who subscribe to both Apple TV & Apple Music; this would put Apple Music on the map. Apple could probably pay any amount for Netflix and eventually recoup the money. It'd put Apple TV at the front of the pack for living room devices and in my opinion it'd stay there. Everyone on the planet would want an Apple TV. Lower the price of the new box, release a very good first party gaming controller, up the processor a bit and boom, they'd own living room gaming to a great degree and the VR they are working on could be added to it over time.

    And top the whole thing off by offering for a 3-year $49 per month contract to Apple TV with a 55" Apple branded flat screen with a high quality soundbar built in. Something like this. And for $59 per month there'd be an option to add in a family plan for Apple Music. For year four prices would drop back to $9.99 per month for ATV and $14.99 for AM family, or $19.99 for both—contract-free. The cherry on top could be they keep the puck around and how it works is any new puck can be physically slid into a slot somewhere on the television which upgrades its brains. Something clever like this. This feature really makes the TV appealing to many people. Or no slot but a service that's marketed alongside the TV introduction that will visit your home and upgrade your television to be on par with each new puck for a non-extortionate fee. TV upgrade service: $149 all-in. Or the best of both worlds. The TV upgrade service is done by the user and an envelope arrives at your home for $149 and inside is a hard case and inside that case is a tiny plastic device which is essentially that year's Apple TV puck SoC and the user removes one coin-screw cover on their TV and pops in the new chip: boom.
    edited January 2017 Macsplosion
  • Reply 7 of 30
    I like where this conversation is headed. Cook being the Chairman but handing off CEO duties is a natural idea that I haven't really heard here before. I think that it works on many levels.
  • Reply 8 of 30
    ireland said:
    Apple should make Tim Cook Chairmam and hire a CEO to run the company from a product standpoint. Tim Cook could focus on stuff like government relationships, privacy, environment, manufacturing in new countries etc. clearly stuff he's good at. A lot of big companies have a chairman and CEO or CEO and president. Google does, Microsoft does. Apple could too. I think even Tim Cook supporters would admit he's more of an operations guy than a product guy. A role like this would play to his strengths and the company could stand to have some fresh blood in the on the product side.
    Perhaps not a bad idea, but who then becomes CEO and what affect does this have on company culture? An ultra interesting choice for CEO would be Angela: she has the integrity, plenty of talent and has led from the top before most successfully in her career and has always had a focus on product. It's clear Ive does not want the job. I think Cue probably has served his time. Schiller in charge of App Store has perhaps proven Cue lacks the creativity and personality to get stuff done at Apple. I think he's rich and successful enough now that he has lost the hunger or perhaps other reasons. Jimmy needs to move out of the limelight. He's a deal maker and should stay behind the scenes.

    And I keep saying this but Apple should imo at any cost, buy Netflix. It's the one thing holding back Apple TV and new video content regardless of the genre of the doc should instead be handed to their Netflix team and handled by them.

    And again, two years in rebrand Netflix to Apple TV and offer a special deal for customers who subscribe to both Apple TV & Apple Music; this would put Apple Music on the map. Apple could probably pay any amount for Netflix and eventually recoup the money. It'd put Apple TV at the front of the pack for living room devices and in my opinion it'd stay there. Everyone on the planet would want an Apple TV. Lower the price of the new box, release a very good first party gaming controller, up the processor a bit and boom, they'd own living room gaming to a great degree and the VR they are working on could be added to it over time.

    And top the whole thing off by offering for a 3-year $49 per month contract to Apple TV with a 55" Apple branded flat screen with a high quality soundbar built in. Something like this. And for $59 per month there'd be an option to add in a family plan for Apple Music. For year four prices would drop back to $9.99 per month for ATV and $14.99 for AM family, or $19.99 for both—contract-free. The cherry on top could be they keep the puck around and how it works is any new puck can be physically slid into a slot somewhere on the television which upgrades its brains. Something clever like this. This feature really makes the TV appealing to many people. Or no slot but a service that's marketed alongside the TV introduction that will visit your home and upgrade your television to be on par with each new puck for a non-extortionate fee. TV upgrade service: $149 all-in. Or the best of both worlds. The TV upgrade service is done by the user and an envelope arrives at your home for $149 and inside is a hard case and inside that case is a tiny plastic device which is essentially that year's Apple TV puck SoC and the user removes one coin-screw cover on their TV and pops in the new chip: boom.
    And I keep saying this but Apple should imo at any cost, buy Netflix. It's the one thing holding back Apple TV and new video content regardless of the genre of the doc should instead be handed to their Netflix team and handled by them. 

    Netflix margins are 2%.  Apple likes to be in high margin businesses.  
  • Reply 9 of 30
    And I keep saying this but Apple should imo at any cost, buy Netflix. It's the one thing holding back Apple TV and new video content regardless of the genre of the doc should instead be handed to their Netflix team and handled by them. 

    Netflix margins are 2%.  Content very expensive.  Apple likes to be in high margin businesses.  
  • Reply 10 of 30
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    ireland said:
    jdw said:
    Glad to see Cook is doing his best to influence government. Now if we could just influence Cook to restore the SD card to the MBP and good looks to LG's display, all would be right with the world! ;-)
    Regarding the looks of the LG display, it is what it is. Expect other vendors to challenge LG for pro Mac users here. A few of possibilities for why Apple hasn't released a new display yet: they are going to pivot and create a new pro computer that's half way between a Mac Pro and a Mac mini and then bring out a beautiful new Thunderbolt 3 Apple display to compliment that computer. They are awaiting the intel chips to undertake such a move. They are trying to get out of the standalone display game because they have plans in the future to release a TV display product and wish for the marketing to coalesce around "Apple's display is a TV".

    It totally sucks that SD got dropped, but it's completely inevitable and without it innovation would stop between the camera and the computer. Yes, people will use readers, but the next step is obviously to eliminate those too over time. Wireless sync is a clear next stage in this evolution. And I'd love to see a pro camera one day in the not too distant future sync with iCloud Photo Library.

    Could someone answer me if it's possible now for a startup to develop an SD card which wirelessly syncs with iCloud Photo Library somehow? Even if through a Mac app middleman; though not ideally. A genuine question from me.
    When needed I use an EyeFi card with the destination folder synced to Google Drive. For those who have pics 16gb or under (I think) Google Photos will work to maintain the original uncompressed photo too. I'd guess Apple Cloud/Photos would work just as well. I shoot either in RAW or RAW+ (and larger than 16gb images)  and have a TB of Google Drive storage so that's where mine go. 
    edited January 2017
  • Reply 11 of 30
    ireland said:
    I hope Orrin hasn't forgotten that it's a series of tubes.
    Technically, it is a series of tubes:

    https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-04-20/what-links-global-internet-wires-inside-tubes-no-bigger-garden-hose
    And nearly every spy agency on the planet has tapped into those tubes. I like Musk's plan (which is still moving forward) for a low-Earth orbit space-based Exonet.
  • Reply 12 of 30
    ireland said:
    Apple should make Tim Cook Chairmam and hire a CEO to run the company from a product standpoint. Tim Cook could focus on stuff like government relationships, privacy, environment, manufacturing in new countries etc. clearly stuff he's good at. A lot of big companies have a chairman and CEO or CEO and president. Google does, Microsoft does. Apple could too. I think even Tim Cook supporters would admit he's more of an operations guy than a product guy. A role like this would play to his strengths and the company could stand to have some fresh blood in the on the product side.
    Perhaps not a bad idea, but who then becomes CEO and what affect does this have on company culture? An ultra interesting choice for CEO would be Angela: she has the integrity, plenty of talent and has led from the top before most successfully in her career and has always had a focus on product. It's clear Ive does not want the job. I think Cue probably has served his time. Schiller in charge of App Store has perhaps proven Cue lacks the creativity and personality to get stuff done at Apple. I think he's rich and successful enough now that he has lost the hunger or perhaps other reasons. Jimmy needs to move out of the limelight. He's a deal maker and should stay behind the scenes.

    And I keep saying this but Apple should imo at any cost, buy Netflix. It's the one thing holding back Apple TV and new video content regardless of the genre of the doc should instead be handed to their Netflix team and handled by them.

    And again, two years in rebrand Netflix to Apple TV and offer a special deal for customers who subscribe to both Apple TV & Apple Music; this would put Apple Music on the map. Apple could probably pay any amount for Netflix and eventually recoup the money. It'd put Apple TV at the front of the pack for living room devices and in my opinion it'd stay there. Everyone on the planet would want an Apple TV. Lower the price of the new box, release a very good first party gaming controller, up the processor a bit and boom, they'd own living room gaming to a great degree and the VR they are working on could be added to it over time.

    And top the whole thing off by offering for a 3-year $49 per month contract to Apple TV with a 55" Apple branded flat screen with a high quality soundbar built in. Something like this. And for $59 per month there'd be an option to add in a family plan for Apple Music. For year four prices would drop back to $9.99 per month for ATV and $14.99 for AM family, or $19.99 for both—contract-free. The cherry on top could be they keep the puck around and how it works is any new puck can be physically slid into a slot somewhere on the television which upgrades its brains. Something clever like this. This feature really makes the TV appealing to many people. Or no slot but a service that's marketed alongside the TV introduction that will visit your home and upgrade your television to be on par with each new puck for a non-extortionate fee. TV upgrade service: $149 all-in. Or the best of both worlds. The TV upgrade service is done by the user and an envelope arrives at your home for $149 and inside is a hard case and inside that case is a tiny plastic device which is essentially that year's Apple TV puck SoC and the user removes one coin-screw cover on their TV and pops in the new chip: boom.
    FYI:  Netflix' deals with their content providers (in other words all of the properties Netflix has not created) would not transfer in the case of a company sale. Netflix is a LOT like MTV in many ways. MTV was completely at the mercy of the music labels until they poured their money into original content.
  • Reply 13 of 30
    I'm almost 100% sure Cook will run for public office at some point. He's doing the right thing for now by making sure Apple's interests are not harmed.
    edited January 2017
  • Reply 14 of 30
    When Tim mingles, it's the wife who gets jealous. Jussayin!
  • Reply 15 of 30
    Angela as CEO?  You are f'ing nuts?  She is about as right for that job as your suggestion is insane.  All she is...is a photo opp.
  • Reply 16 of 30
    5150iii said:
    I like where this conversation is headed. Cook being the Chairman but handing off CEO duties is a natural idea that I haven't really heard here before. I think that it works on many levels.
    If you look at Glassdoor ratings Tim Cook is highly rated as CEO. Clearly he is well liked within the company. I think he's good for the company but not as a product guy, and I think the company needs someone to steer it from a product standpoint. And I think it might be good for it to be someone from the outside who has a fresh perspective and no baggage. 
  • Reply 17 of 30
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    And I keep saying this but Apple should imo at any cost, buy Netflix. It's the one thing holding back Apple TV and new video content regardless of the genre of the doc should instead be handed to their Netflix team and handled by them. 

    Netflix margins are 2%.  Content very expensive.  Apple likes to be in high margin businesses.  
    Apple is planning on launching their own original content to compete with Netflix. Netflix has been very lucky, but those days are numbered, as Amazon, Hulu and now Apple rise to challenge them and vie for creative minds. ATT will soon be in that list too if Trump doesn't shoot down their merger with WB. Strong creative vision and solid business practices will ultimately put Apple in a better position than Netflix which is only now bringing in experienced industry players at premium prices to manage their business. Jimmy Iovine, and other Apple industry players are shopping for exclusive content now. In a year Apple will likely launch their exclusive content as rumored, possibly alongside a new hardware offering, and will be in the game 100%, regardless of early clumsy missteps or the usual Apple birthpangs.
  • Reply 18 of 30
    holyoneholyone Posts: 398member
    And I keep saying this but Apple should imo at any cost, buy Netflix. It's the one thing holding back Apple TV and new video content regardless of the genre of the doc should instead be handed to their Netflix team and handled by them. 

    Netflix margins are 2%.  Content very expensive.  Apple likes to be in high margin businesses.  
    Like Apple Pay ?
  • Reply 19 of 30
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    stanhope said:
    Angela as CEO?  You are f'ing nuts?  She is about as right for that job as your suggestion is insane.  All she is...is a photo opp.
    I'm not saying she is right but please elaborate nonetheless - Why is she so wrong?

    "All she is is a photo op?" That sounds like old school misogyny of the worst kind, but you know, just in case it came out wrong... what the fuck are you talking about?
  • Reply 20 of 30
    anomeanome Posts: 1,533member
    ireland said:
    I hope Orrin hasn't forgotten that it's a series of tubes.
    Technically, it is a series of tubes:

    https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-04-20/what-links-global-internet-wires-inside-tubes-no-bigger-garden-hose
    Round here, they deliver the internet in a big truck - they just dump it on the lawn each morning. It's a real pain if you go away for a few days and forget to cancel it. I came home from a trip once to find cat .GIFs all over the place, and a subreddit that had turned nasty under the porch. Took days to get rid of the smell.
    gatorguybloggerblogpscooter63
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