Apple's Tim Cook profiled as "most powerful gay man in Silicon Valley" - Page 4

+1. Agreed. I do not visit AI to read about the sexual orientation of individuals.

Except being black or a woman isn't a matter of privacy. If true, cook deserves the choice to out himself, not have it done for him by gossip columns

Except it's not news. It's gossip sourced from two anonymous and Unverified sources.

+10000 WTF? I care about the products, not who the COO wants to screw in his free time. What is wrong with people?

Apple is a technology company and not about promoting a gay culture. So why deal with a controversial subject that will only distract from what Apple is doing? Please stick to the fundamentals and leave out extraneous personal political orientation.

(sorry if this has been stated I did not read all of the comments already posted)

It seems wrong to me to have a headline proclaiming Tim Cook as the most powerful gay man in tech (or however you want to say it) - suggesting by the title that it is an established fact - and then half way down the article to say - well, that's what someone told me. No matter how reliable the sources. And then to put in at the end a story of entirely different person who has personally stated that they are gay - and to include a quote that is not explicitly attributed to anyone - leaving the possibility that the reader could interpret that as being a statement made by Tim rather than by the other person described in the article.

So ignoring any and all issues regarding sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, political leanings, or current facebook status - as a piece of what is allegedly journalism - I have a number of problems with this article and would classify it more along the lines of a Weekly World News story about the boy werewolf - with a headline and photo proclaiming proof positive that Jo-Jo the dog faced boy is really a werewolf - and then an article explaining how in fact he is just a boy with a genetic mutation that results in excessive hair growth (or maybe the weekly world news would not be that truthful in the article) - and then add anecdotal evidence that someone once told someone I know that they heard there really was a werewolf.


A better headline would be more like - Tim Cook now the most powerful person in the tech industry, if only temporarily until the return of Jobs (actually that is a bit long for a headline). With possibly a mention that there have been rumors that he might be gay.

Personally I do not care if he is or is not - or dresses up as a Nazi to reenact World War II - provided it does not affect his job performance.

(and no dressing up as a Nazi is to reenact WWII is NOT a bad thing - just as dressing up as a Red Coat to reenact the Revolutionary War would be a bad thing - in any reenactment - somebody's got to be the bad guy - provided you are not promoting or celebrating the atrocities committed - I see no problem with it. And DO NOT get me started on conspiracy theories about the death camps, or the moon landings, or who shot JFK.

um what were we talking about again? oh yeah, GO APPLE! GO TIM! and GET WELL STEVE!

I think it's cool Tim Cook is gay and is being profiled for being so. I had no idea, but it makes total sense. Gay people have always pushed culture forward. Apple has has always been used by industries that have pushed culture forward. Apple itself is a company that has used technology and it's image to push our culture forward.

My guess is that Tim Cook isn't a closeted gay man, living in fear of being outed (like so many of our politicians). Frankly, I would like to see more profiles of successful, intelligent, and forward thinking gay people in business. Those who are uncomfortable with gay people would prefer that they go away, they exchange in the currency of silence and separation. The only way to remove the stigma in our society of any marginalized group is to lift the veil of silence and expose our commonalities.

Gay kids and gay people should have successful role models in all areas of business and society. Tim Cook is certainly that. It's not irrelevant, it's inspiring.

For the guy who posted that gay people are "defective by definition"
Really man? it's 2011, evolve dude. I mean, come on. Really?

(Bah, removed)

Regardless of the facts in this case - I agree with you - but the very fact that there are still lots of people with that attitude is why being publicly known to be gay is still a problem in many places.

Throughout history anyone viewed as "other" has been automatically classified as less worthy or defective or not even human - and you don't have to look very far afield or back in time to see those attitudes clearly emblazoned across our own landscape.

That's why we need things to be discussed honestly but also not for things to be taken too seriously.

As humankind we have come a long way but homophobia is still widespread.

I don't know what the solution is.

Certainly in professional sports and the military being openly gay can be challenging.

At the same time I do sense some people that feel they have to be camp, flamboyant and over-the-top just to "be gay"... When there are a lot of bisexual or gay men that are quite straight-acting.

Always something to ponder.

A big issue is for same sex marriages to be allowed. Someone explained it to me (a straight girl)... Do you know how many advantages there are to being married in terms of legal, financial, property, and tax benefits? Particularly in Asia.

And I'm in a country where being gay is still technically illegal in civil law. Not to mention sharia law.

Some comments here are saying "what's the big deal" well the more gay men and women are seen as someone you wish was your boss, son, friend or neighbor the less discrimination, hate and fear will exist in this world. Unlike African Americans who could not hide who they are during the long battle for equal rights in this country, Gay Americans for the most part needed to. Black Americans made big strides towards equality in the past few decades but remember many of the battles won by this group are still being fought for gay Americans. Being accepted and respected by the majority is important and unless you are on the outside looking in you will not know how this affects you.

Expect to hear more show tunes in Apple's ads...

Agreed.. And nicely said..

I've always known Tim Cook was gay, but never realized so many others didn't.. It has been mentioned before, quite a bit recently in with all the debates regarding the "Manhattan declaration" ordeal (props to Apple on that one!)

Anyway, yes, Tim Cook is gay, and Apple is a very gay-friendly company.. They've supported gay rights issues and they've financially backed California's NO on 8 campaign.. They've even banned gay-haters (Manhattan declaration) from the app store..

For those who don't like it, or feel that they can't support a company that is now being run by a gay man, there is always Dell, HP and many others waiting to sell you their devices.. Although, i'd be wiling to bet that there are gay people working at those companies as well..

You do know that being legally married is a tax penalty, right? I'm going to end up paying about 2,500 more in taxes this year than last simply because I'm getting married...

(There's no tax benefit to being married now matter how you slice it because at best the pay scales for a married couple are 2x a single but once you get above 100k total you become subject to higher tax rates than your single friends who are living together). I'm not saying anything about the rest of your argument but simply pointing out there is no "tax benefit" to being married.

We also need at least Drag Addict Pride Parades and Alcoholic Pride Parades. Alcoholics and drag addicts, look at gays, nobody should even think about "helping" you - you must be proud of yourself!

I was thinking that getting divorced would have some benefits for me since my income is so much higher than my wife's then she could qualify for more government entitlements and help to increase the national debt.

You do realize that "Drag" Addict is what the Pride Parade is all about... right??!!

(yes... I realize it's a spelling error)

This issue has touched me on a very deep level.

I made a video about it that I hope expresses these feelings in a way that everyone can understand.

Please show your support by watching it.

I found this article to be inappropriate. I hope AI doesn't publish such articles again that encourage a debate on the sexual orientation of Apple's management. Totally unnecessary!

Great piece of Journalism by Dilger.

Why? Because it gives credit where credit is due.

Those magnificent pieces of software and hardware engineering, those beautifully designed objects of communication between fellow human beings of all creeds, colors, and sexual orientations, Apple's genius to be succinct was built from the ground up on inclusiveness and genial conviviality.

Look at an iPhone... ! It just wouldn't be the epochal phone we love, were it not in part gay, and latino, and muslim, and you, and me... I wish the inclusiveness of commoditized beauty could be extended to all and sundry. It already has affected the Military in an outgrowth of civil debate with the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell". Perhaps a gentle remainder of Apple's secular creed would push the boundary of differential humanity further up the scale of unquestionable normality.

Again, I give full credit for Apple's creative streak to our common humanity. It is foremost not the coming out of a man, but the outing of circumstantial evidence in a trial of insularity.*

Well he doesn't LOOK gay...






It's 2011 for goodness sake why should it matter. If nothing else at least we know he'll have his mind on the job and won't be spending loads of time running after the kids. He's obviously earned his right to be in the position and has a track record that would let him walk into any tech company. I think we should leave it at that.

Gay shmay. Who cares? What does sexual orientation have to do with anything?

AI should be fu**ing embarassed.

All phones lose some signal when held in the wrong location. The iPhone 4 is even better than those because it shows you right on the side where not to touch it because there's a black line there!

Don't touch the lines. Problem solved!

It's such a big deal to homophobes that it requires an entire article. Look he's gay and successful!

I gasped out loud, stopped short, and spilled my coffee this morning when I saw the headline AI actually published. Absolutely f'ing shameful!

If you take everything about the sexual orientation of the guy out of the story, there is actually some good information here.

From what I gather from the story, Tim Cook is a good leader and business man. He gets things done, knows how a business works and plans for the future. Very good things for a leader of a big business. That's definitely one thing Steve is, a good leader and business man.

But, from the article, it seems Tim Cook lacks one thing that Steve also has, product design. Which wouldn't make him a bad leader or CEO of Apple. He would just need a good advisor on the product design side. That would probably be Jonathan Ives.

Looks like we got Steve Jobs succession plan covered by two or three good people.

Oh, and AppleInsider needs some editors. Reading that article was atrocious. Too many grammar and spelling mistakes.

amen.

It's also a very big deal to those who are gay. It wasn't just published as "look all you homophobes, you're stupid", it was also published from the stance "see, we're just as good as the rest of you."

Let's not pretend that every article about MLK is published with the singular purpose to tell racists they are stupid - it's also to make blacks proud. Actually, I think this article wasn't written with any purpose of it being such a big deal to homophobes - I think it was written because it's such a big deal to gays but either way it serves to makes gays proud and those who don't approve of being gay (or what you call "homophobe" which, IMO, is lazy because there are plenty of people who aren't afraid of gays as the name would imply but simply do not approve of their lifestyle, you can still call them archaic and discriminatory but saying they are afraid of gays isn't really an accurate term: off soap box now) annoyed or outraged dependent upon how much they really care.

Agreed. In AppleInsider's defence, it seems that for some bizarre f*cked up reason, Valleywag chose to publicly out Cook.

After that, it's "Apple news" of a sort and AI is right to talk about it in that everyone is already going to be talking about it anyway. I don't know why anyone cares about this crap anymore anyway it's not like it's still the 1950's.

I'm a "religious conservative" & I think the article was BS too. This "gayness" is not a factor in the quality of his job, which at this point appears superb.

There... fixed that for you.

what's next AI, you going to sit outside Jobs' house to see what you can find out about his leave?

we need to know even less about this than the fact that Jobs is taking time off for a while.

Daniel... if you want to get the click rate even higher why don't you start a rumour that Tim Cook has been seen dating Eric Schmidt... hence Schmidt's departure...

Are you implying that AI and/or DED published this article from a gay perspective, to say: "see, we're just as good as the rest of you."?

Tabloid journalism hits Apple.

I think it was written from a click rate perspective... now if they could have just added flash in there somewhere...

Are you kidding me? As good as the rest of WHO? This is the type of attitude that's a problem, where people stupidly pretend that gay people are "different", and need to be pedestalized. It's more insulting than you even realize. A nice little head pat to say, "aww good for you little gay man. You're almost like a regular human being"

Absolutely sick. Has this been taken down yet, AI? Christ even Macrumors has the decency to ignore this gossip swill drivel.

Is Jonny Ive gay?
If so, isn't he really the "most powerful gay man in Silicon Valley"?

I think you guys are missing my point - from what I can tell the original article was written from the gay perspective - ie a gay man wrote it. Yes, if a straight guy comes along and gives you a pat on the head and says, "oh hey, maybe you are just as good" that is insulting but, at least in this PC day in age, if it's a member of that group pointing out "we're just as good as you" it's a push for equality.

Obama, this is pretty much without question, rode into the White House on the wave of saying a black man can do just as good as a white man - do you consider that insulting? Most black people I've ever talked to consider it empowering - it's all about your perspective....

He's gay?

So what?

I'm hetero.

Why should anyone care?