Why didn't he come out 10-15 years ago? Why now when it's about the safest time ever to come out? Most people will see this in their news feed and yawn as everybody is coming out these days. It's not a big deal anymore and most people don't care as evidenced by how many states now support gay marriage.
Good question. 15 years ago when Cook was new at Apple, we were still in the age were "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was considered to be liberal policy on LGBT participation in the military, if not other parts of daily living. At the same time when Ellen Degeneres came out (1997), she had a successful sitcom ("Ellen") and the news of her orientation caused a backlash, effectively killing the show. Fast forward to 2003 and the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" is the most popular daytime TV show and everyone's cool with her now. The transition was remarkably fast, but it hasn't be even. The entertainment industry has been the forward spear on this, despite the fact that being gay was a career killer prior to the Ellen coming out days.
I would question that it is "safe" to come out. It's certainly "safer", but not completely "safe". We're still dealing with professional athletes being gay as significant news since many sports fans and players consider this a problem. Many parts of our society are still dealing with the transition to not actively discriminating against LGBT people right now. Religious organizations (Catholic Church, Southern Baptists) are actively debating this. This is a process over time. We shouldn't be that surprised by the timing of some to come out.
If you cannot handle Apple's leader is openly gay, then you don't know nor never have known Apple and its founding principles.
Steve Jobs was a life long Liberal that built the most successful Corporation on the Planet. Bill Gates is also Liberal. Both are life long Democrats. Deal with it.
He also did so quietly. He didn't hold a press conference or publish stories about support. And if you look at his political donations, they were all small, and none happened past 2004. He also donated to a Republican at one point.
One thing I admired about Steve was his focus. Jony Ive said he was "The most remarkably focused person I have ever met in my life". I'd like to see more of that from Tim. All this other stuff is just distractions. And there are areas where Apple needs greater focus. iOS 8 still needs a lot of work. There's still question marks around Apple's vision for iPad. Same with ?TV. Cook keeps saying it's an area of interest yet ?TV continues to languish while competitors are coming out with better products. Amazon just announced a Chromecast like USB stick for their Fire TV. Where is an ?TV USB stick? Cook says TV interfaces are stuck in the 70s. Well where is the updated ?TV interface that isn't just row upon row of apps? Siri, maps, AppStore discovery, there's so many areas where Apple can be much better. I'd like to see Tim laser focused on all that.
Yep. He's becoming a bit of a distraction lately, Steve was bigger than Apple because of all the tech stuff he'd done. If he spoke out, it was on a technical issue like Flash or DRM. Tim seems to see Apple as some sort of political engine.
You are right, Steve talked about making great product and the technology behind it. Tim appears to be using his position at Apple and the over all Apple success to push some sort of political social agenda. Yes, companies are part of the overall community and have some level of responsibility to the social aspects of the community. But Tim should be doing those things on his time not on Apple's. He should be talking about where technology is heading.
Nice to see him TAKING A STAND on social issues, and issues which in this case are very much at the forefront of public and legal discourse in the United States.
I'm Canadian, and we've long since resolved these issues, so Tim might not have reason to speak out up here. But down south, social justice tends to move forward at a much slower rate, which calls for greater awareness.
He also did so quietly. He didn't hold a press conference or publish stories about support. And if you look at his political donations, they were all small, and none happened past 2004. He also donated to a Republican at one point.
One thing I admired about Steve was his focus. Jony Ive said he was "The most remarkably focused person I have ever met in my life". I'd like to see more of that from Tim. All this other stuff is just distractions. And there are areas where Apple needs greater focus. iOS 8 still needs a lot of work. There's still question marks around Apple's vision for iPad. Same with ?TV. Cook keeps saying it's an area of interest yet ?TV continues to languish while competitors are coming out with better products. Amazon just announced a Chromecast like USB stick for their Fire TV. Where is an ?TV USB stick? Cook says TV interfaces are stuck in the 70s. Well where is the updated ?TV interface that isn't just row upon row of apps? Siri, maps, AppStore discovery, there's so many areas where Apple can be much better. I'd like to see Tim laser focused on all that.
I truly wish you'd get off this silliness of creating a false trade-off -- between his social views and his product focus -- or explain why you think such a trade-off exists.
If you cannot handle Apple's leader is openly gay, then you don't know nor never have known Apple and its founding principles.
Steve Jobs was a life long Liberal that built the most successful Corporation on the Planet. Bill Gates is also Liberal. Both are life long Democrats. Deal with it.
Gates contributes to both parties, but mostly to Democrats.
If you cannot handle Apple's leader is openly gay, then you don't know nor never have known Apple and its founding principles.
Steve Jobs was a life long Liberal that built the most successful Corporation on the Planet. Bill Gates is also Liberal. Both are life long Democrats. Deal with it.
Here's a quote from Steve Jobs from a Wired interview in the early/mid 90s:
"I have a very optimistic view of individuals. As individuals, people are inherently good. I have a somewhat more pessimistic view of people in groups."
In that same interview he railed against the education system, specifically calling out teachers unions as a big part of the problem. I don't think Steve was as dogmatically liberal as some would suggest. His focus was on making great products, not what someone's sexual orientation is.
One thing I admired about Steve was his focus. Jony Ive said he was "The most remarkably focused person I have ever met in my life". I'd like to see more of that from Tim. All this other stuff is just distractions. And there are areas where Apple needs greater focus. iOS 8 still needs a lot of work. There's still question marks around Apple's vision for iPad. Same with ?TV. Cook keeps saying it's an area of interest yet ?TV continues to languish while competitors are coming out with better products. Amazon just announced a Chromecast like USB stick for their Fire TV. Where is an ?TV USB stick? Cook says TV interfaces are stuck in the 70s. Well where is the updated ?TV interface that isn't just row upon row of apps? Siri, maps, AppStore discovery, there's so many areas where Apple can be much better. I'd like to see Tim laser focused on all that.
I have serious doubts about the future of the iPad at the moment. I think Apple's completely dropped the ball on it since Steve died. There are still a LOT of people who say "I don't get the need for a tablet". And we haven't seen any new software for it from Apple since 2011. As much as Tim bashes on Android tablets for just having blown up phone apps, the majority of iPad apps are just that.
Sure, there are some very good iPad apps. But they're far and few between, third party developer support is focused on the iPhone, not iPad. They're letting the iPad become a niche product, just like the Mac. This is a case where I can also say "this is something Steve wouldn't have done". His vision was about changing personal computing, Tim's vision is becoming clearer, that it's about societal change. Not sure I'm comfortable with that.
Here's a quote from Steve Jobs from a Wired interview in the early/mid 90s:
In that same interview he railed against the education system, specifically calling out teachers unions as a big part of the problem. I don't think Steve was as dogmatically liberal as some would suggest. His focus was on making great products, not what someone's sexual orientation is.
When I read that Wired interview I was shocked to see how much we agreed on. The guy was a libertarian, if anything (like much of Silicon Valley).
I truly wish you'd get off this silliness of creating a false trade-off -- between his social views and his product focus -- or explain why you think such a trade-off exists.
Otherwise, please shut up about this.
I don't think its a false trade off. I think these things are a distraction and not necessary. We don't need to be talking about Cook's personal life or sexual orientation. And we wouldn't be has he not chosen to make it public.
Tim Cook is in a highly visible position. That he would be open and be an example for decency, integrity, class, speaks well for him, and in effect for Apple. It is consistent. The kind of values that would make me support Apple more, not less.
I have serious doubts about the future of the iPad at the moment. I think Apple's completely dropped the ball on it since Steve died. There are still a LOT of people who say "I don't get the need for a tablet". And we haven't seen any new software for it from Apple since 2011. As much as Tim bashes on Android tablets for just having blown up phone apps, the majority of iPad apps are just that.
Sure, there are some very good iPad apps. But they're far and few between, third party developer support is focused on the iPhone, not iPad. They're letting the iPad become a niche product, just like the Mac. This is a case where I can also say "this is something Steve wouldn't have done". His vision was about changing personal computing, Tim's vision is becoming clearer, that it's about societal change. Not sure I'm comfortable with that.
Yep. You can see it with the latest iPad release when Tim Cook asks what they can do to make the best tablet better and then proceeds to show off an image of the device getting 18% thinner.
I'm actually a bit sad about iPad. I think it's a fantastic product that could be so much more. I'd love to see a reimagine of iPad software. But iOS 8 is still unpolished enough that I'm sure all their time is spent on fixing bugs. Sigh. Here's hoping that next spring we see the next chapter for iPad. At some point it will be impossible to make it any thinner so then what?
Comments
Why didn't he come out 10-15 years ago? Why now when it's about the safest time ever to come out? Most people will see this in their news feed and yawn as everybody is coming out these days. It's not a big deal anymore and most people don't care as evidenced by how many states now support gay marriage.
Good question. 15 years ago when Cook was new at Apple, we were still in the age were "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was considered to be liberal policy on LGBT participation in the military, if not other parts of daily living. At the same time when Ellen Degeneres came out (1997), she had a successful sitcom ("Ellen") and the news of her orientation caused a backlash, effectively killing the show. Fast forward to 2003 and the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" is the most popular daytime TV show and everyone's cool with her now. The transition was remarkably fast, but it hasn't be even. The entertainment industry has been the forward spear on this, despite the fact that being gay was a career killer prior to the Ellen coming out days.
I would question that it is "safe" to come out. It's certainly "safer", but not completely "safe". We're still dealing with professional athletes being gay as significant news since many sports fans and players consider this a problem. Many parts of our society are still dealing with the transition to not actively discriminating against LGBT people right now. Religious organizations (Catholic Church, Southern Baptists) are actively debating this. This is a process over time. We shouldn't be that surprised by the timing of some to come out.
Steve Jobs was a life long Liberal that built the most successful Corporation on the Planet. Bill Gates is also Liberal. Both are life long Democrats. Deal with it.
One thing I admired about Steve was his focus. Jony Ive said he was "The most remarkably focused person I have ever met in my life". I'd like to see more of that from Tim. All this other stuff is just distractions. And there are areas where Apple needs greater focus. iOS 8 still needs a lot of work. There's still question marks around Apple's vision for iPad. Same with ?TV. Cook keeps saying it's an area of interest yet ?TV continues to languish while competitors are coming out with better products. Amazon just announced a Chromecast like USB stick for their Fire TV. Where is an ?TV USB stick? Cook says TV interfaces are stuck in the 70s. Well where is the updated ?TV interface that isn't just row upon row of apps? Siri, maps, AppStore discovery, there's so many areas where Apple can be much better. I'd like to see Tim laser focused on all that.
Yep. He's becoming a bit of a distraction lately, Steve was bigger than Apple because of all the tech stuff he'd done. If he spoke out, it was on a technical issue like Flash or DRM. Tim seems to see Apple as some sort of political engine.
You are right, Steve talked about making great product and the technology behind it. Tim appears to be using his position at Apple and the over all Apple success to push some sort of political social agenda. Yes, companies are part of the overall community and have some level of responsibility to the social aspects of the community. But Tim should be doing those things on his time not on Apple's. He should be talking about where technology is heading.
Plus, this won't help in Apple's attempts to sell in the Middle East or to those whose religious views will now dictate they not buy Apple products.
If that turns out to be the case, it's their loss. I think Apple's finances and stock price can survive that. And eventually, they'll come around.
Nice to see him TAKING A STAND on social issues, and issues which in this case are very much at the forefront of public and legal discourse in the United States.
I'm Canadian, and we've long since resolved these issues, so Tim might not have reason to speak out up here. But down south, social justice tends to move forward at a much slower rate, which calls for greater awareness.
He also did so quietly. He didn't hold a press conference or publish stories about support. And if you look at his political donations, they were all small, and none happened past 2004. He also donated to a Republican at one point.
One thing I admired about Steve was his focus. Jony Ive said he was "The most remarkably focused person I have ever met in my life". I'd like to see more of that from Tim. All this other stuff is just distractions. And there are areas where Apple needs greater focus. iOS 8 still needs a lot of work. There's still question marks around Apple's vision for iPad. Same with ?TV. Cook keeps saying it's an area of interest yet ?TV continues to languish while competitors are coming out with better products. Amazon just announced a Chromecast like USB stick for their Fire TV. Where is an ?TV USB stick? Cook says TV interfaces are stuck in the 70s. Well where is the updated ?TV interface that isn't just row upon row of apps? Siri, maps, AppStore discovery, there's so many areas where Apple can be much better. I'd like to see Tim laser focused on all that.
I truly wish you'd get off this silliness of creating a false trade-off -- between his social views and his product focus -- or explain why you think such a trade-off exists.
Otherwise, please shut up about this.
Can one be 'proud' of, say, brown eyes? One can be pleased with one's eyes, but one doesn't achieve them.
Just examining Tim's cumbersome logic in this announcement. Otherwise he seems to be running a pretty tight ship, now he can be proud of that!
Gates contributes to both parties, but mostly to Democrats.
Here's a quote from Steve Jobs from a Wired interview in the early/mid 90s:
In that same interview he railed against the education system, specifically calling out teachers unions as a big part of the problem. I don't think Steve was as dogmatically liberal as some would suggest. His focus was on making great products, not what someone's sexual orientation is.
I have serious doubts about the future of the iPad at the moment. I think Apple's completely dropped the ball on it since Steve died. There are still a LOT of people who say "I don't get the need for a tablet". And we haven't seen any new software for it from Apple since 2011. As much as Tim bashes on Android tablets for just having blown up phone apps, the majority of iPad apps are just that.
Sure, there are some very good iPad apps. But they're far and few between, third party developer support is focused on the iPhone, not iPad. They're letting the iPad become a niche product, just like the Mac. This is a case where I can also say "this is something Steve wouldn't have done". His vision was about changing personal computing, Tim's vision is becoming clearer, that it's about societal change. Not sure I'm comfortable with that.
Came here, saw this, and wondered:
How come this fucking piece of shit is still online? This deserves a permanent ban, IMO.
When I read that Wired interview I was shocked to see how much we agreed on. The guy was a libertarian, if anything (like much of Silicon Valley).
I don't think its a false trade off. I think these things are a distraction and not necessary. We don't need to be talking about Cook's personal life or sexual orientation. And we wouldn't be has he not chosen to make it public.
Well said.
Agreed.
I agree. Saying gay people are pedophiles is inflammatory, hateful and wrong.
Yep. You can see it with the latest iPad release when Tim Cook asks what they can do to make the best tablet better and then proceeds to show off an image of the device getting 18% thinner.
I'm actually a bit sad about iPad. I think it's a fantastic product that could be so much more. I'd love to see a reimagine of iPad software. But iOS 8 is still unpolished enough that I'm sure all their time is spent on fixing bugs. Sigh. Here's hoping that next spring we see the next chapter for iPad. At some point it will be impossible to make it any thinner so then what?
I am proud to be heterosexual.