Apple Inc. has acquired 26 firms in 15 months while pursuing increased diversity, a confident Tim Co

Posted:
in AAPL Investors edited March 2015
Riding high the day after detailing a series of new products at its Spring Forward event, Apple's chief executive Tim Cook recapped the company's progress at its annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday, with a particular focus on acquisitions, partnerships and achieving the kind of diversity that reflects the company's growing, global audience of employees and customers.

Tim Cook


The formal business side of Apple's shareholder meeting reelected its seven directors and devoted the least attention to political distractions at the event in several years. There were no protests about "iWaste" (Greenpeace now lauds Apple's leading position in environmental issues), and no "silly sideshow" activist lawsuits like one filed by David Einhorn in 2013.

There was only a brief presentation of a "Risk Report" proposal fronted by a right wing group that sought to skewer the company's investments in alternative energy as entirely dependent upon the current U.S. administration's policies and doomed to crisis if the next one goes in the direction imagined by certain U.S. Senate members flouting the Logan Act.

Shareholders overwhelming rejected the proposal with more than 98% of their votes. The rapid conclusion to the corporate business side of the meeting left Cook with more time to devote to things he was actually interested in talking about, as well as questions and comments from shareholders in attendance, which weren't always things Cook wanted to discuss.

Cook reviews 2014

Cook beamed while holding up a print copy of the New York Post emblazoned with the headline "Watch Out!" and featuring a cover festooned with eight screens depicting Apple Watch fitness, friends, phone, faces, social media, texts, flight status and sports features. A subheading blared, "Apple unveils its new do-it-all wrist gismo."

NY Post Watch Out


"Check it out on your iPad," Cook quipped to the audience, "I hope you have one."

He then praised a series of Apple's teams and their leaders, including the "bang up job" of Craig Federighi's software team in delivering iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite; Eddy Cue's iCloud team in successfully deploying Apple Pay during the holiday season when retailers are hesitant to audition new technologies; and the "unbelievable process" that luxury goods expert Angela Ahrendts has brought to Apple Retail.

Cook separately noted the first new retail locations Apple has opened in Brazil and Turkey, the company's 21st store opened in China, and reiterated the company's plans to have 40 stores open in Greater China by the middle of 2016.

Cook then recapped the introduction of Research Kit, noting that it is "not a business model" and that, "for those looking for an ROI [Return on Investment], there's not one."

That line appeared to be directed across the bow of critics who last year demanded (and again this year, in the failed shareholder proposal) that Apple only pursue investments capable of turning a short term profit immediately measurable in dollars.

Instead, Cook referred to Research Kit as a "tool to make a profound difference" in clinical research and healthcare, the beginning of a theme of responsible, ethical and principled corporate leadership that wound through the rest of the shareholder meeting.

Swift, Pay & Continuity

Cook also mentioned Swift, Apple's new programming language, noting in particular that despite relatively little attention from the media, Swift was already being taught in universities around the world, just months after it was introduced last fall. That kind of rapid dissemination into educational channels is virtually unprecedented, Cook noted.

Like Apple Pay, Swift is being adopted faster than even Apple expected it could be. Cook has repeatedly noted that Apple believes Swift "will have a profound effect on our ecosystem."

Cook also reiterated how initiatives from CarPlay to HomeKit to Health create a "seamless extension of iOS" in other aspects of user's lives, and tied in the umbrella technologies of Continuity in iOS and OS X--and soon Apple Watch--as also playing an important role in expanding, enhancing and differentiating Apple's platforms and products for consumers.

Continuity

With $13B in CapEx for 2015, Apple is "reshaping the global supply chain"

After profiling the success of recent product introductions, Cook noted that Apple isn't standing still. The company aims to invest a record $13 billion in capital expenditures during fiscal 2015. So far, the company has reported spending $2.1 billion on CapEx in its fiscal Q1, which includes "product tooling and manufacturing process equipment; data centers; corporate facilities and infrastructure, including information systems hardware, software and enhancements; and retail store facilities."

In fiscal 2014, Apple spent $11 billion on CapEx. Just five years ago, the company was only spending just over $2 billion on annual CapEx in total, outlining a vast increase in the infrastructure, including manufacturing capacity, that Apple is investing in on global scale.

In October 2013, Asymco analyst Horace Dediu astutely noted that Apple's rapidly increasing capital expenditures "has followed very closely their production of iOS devices," after having earlier detailed "how Apple's enormous capital spending is reshaping the global supply chain for the industry."

26 new acquisitions, 100,000 employees


Over the last fifteen months, Apple has acquired 26 other companies, Cook announced, largely for their talent and intellectual property. That's a larger figure than the 24 acquisitions Cook cited last year as having completed in the previous 18 months. Additionally, the identity of 17 of Apple's latest 26 acquisitions remains a mystery.

Only nine of these are publicly known about, including photography developer SnappyLabs, TestFlight maker Burstly, micro-LED maker LuxVue, social search startup Spotsetter, talk radio service Swell, the "Pandora of Books" BookLamp, Beats Electronics, e-magazine publisher Prss and UK media analytics startup Semetric.

Cook noted that the company likes to keep its acquisitions and the strategy behind them as quiet as possible, as reflected in the boilerplate acknowledgements the company's PR team is occasionally forced to make, stating only that "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plan."Apple has now passed the 100,000 employee mark. In 2006, Apple employed just 20,000. Within the last year, Apple has added 20,000 new employees to its global workforce.

That's a very different model than the prominent acquisitions made by other major tech firms, which frequently not only advertise who they are buying but also explain why, noting in some cases that they are buying audiences of active users (as Facebook did with Instagram and WhatsApp), or promoting the idea that they are entering entirely new business (like Google's recent acquisitions of Softcard, Nest, Dropcam and Titan Aerospace).

Cook also noted that Apple has now passed the 100,000 employee mark. Last May, AppleInsider profiled that in 2006, Apple employed just 20,000. Within the last year, Apple has added 20,000 new employees to its global workforce.

Happy with IBM, "no relationship" with Tesla

Cook next addressed Apple's partnership with IBM to build "MobileFirst apps for iOS, saying Apple is happy with IBM and that the "conduit is wide open" for the two companies to collaborate in new arenas. Cook praised IBM's "knowledge of verticals" and its "go to market team," noting that the enterprise is interested in the ease of use and simplicity that Apple offers.

"IBM is not in the business we are in," Cook noted, perhaps an allusion to the series of instances where former partners have turned on Apple as competitors, including Microsoft in the 1990s, Google in the 2000s, and most recently its key supplier Samsung in the 2010s.

Apple + IBM


In response to shareholder questions asking about whether Apple has plans to leverage IBM's Watson and other advanced machine learning technologies, Cook said the two companies' relationship is "so good it would be a surprise if other things don't fall out."

On the other hand, two shareholders hoping for some affirmation of Apple entering into a partnership with (or even acquiring) carmaker Tesla were apparently disappointed to hear Cook flatly say "we don't have a relationship with Tesla."

Cook added that he'd welcome Tesla's adoption of CarPlay (the minor but very visible carmaker is a notable standout in this regard), but Cook didn't entertain any speculation about Apple's reported plans to enter the automotive business as a carmaker itself.

Brand as a reputation, rather than an invented facade

When asked about what Apple is doing to protect and nurture its multibillion dollar brand, Cook answered with a thought he attributed to Steve Jobs, that a brand "can sometimes be viewed as a facade," essentially a false front of invented pretense. Instead, Cook said that Apple sees its brand as standing for something, meaning something and 'expressing who we are.'

Rather than fronting a brand identity, Apple sees its brand as a representation of what the company actually does and is. "We don't try to be a German company in Germany, or a British company in the UK. We are a California company," Cook stated.

That also explains why Apple hasn't sought to create a proliferation of marques to designate low end or luxury model lines (like the old Apple Performa or Centris brands from the 1990s that Jobs canceled) and why it doesn't stretch its reputation thin with brands like Samsung's Galaxy, which includes both high end expensive products down to very low end, basic devices the company internally refers to as "good enough, carrier friendly" models.

Diversity is part of doing the right thing as a business

Cook also addressed a series of other initiatives at Apple, beginning with its pioneering efforts in human rights and worker rights in China, including invitations that brought Chinese Universities into factories as partners in creating an educated, dynamic workforce.

He noted accessibility in Apple's products as an important factor in making the best products possible for everyone who uses them, and noted that Apple had reached its goal from the previous year to achieve 100 percent renewable energy for powering its data centers and other facilities, noting that experts had previously told the company that it would not be able to do this, but it did anyway.

Also addressed were Apple's greater than $100 million backing of the Global Fund's (Product)Red campaign to end HIV transmission in Africa, and its $100 million pledge to the Obama Administration's ConnectED, tasked with enhancing learning and opportunities in disadvantaged schools.

ConnectED


Cook noted that the program has identified that 92 percent of children at schools linked to poverty are members of minorities. That highlights one example of how providing a more level playing field in early opportunities can result in improvements down the line in diversity overall.

Introduced as a special guest, Cook invited the Reverend Jessie Jackson to read prepared comments from the audience addressing the need for continued efforts to support a diverse workforce and to bring more diversity into corporate leadership positions.

Cook has previously acknowledged that Apple's executive team and board--like most American companies--are predominantly made up of white males, although efforts to broaden the board's demographic to better represent the company and its customers has resulted in the appointments of two highly qualified female executives, Andrea Jung and Sue Wagner.

In response to a question about diversity from a shareholder who identified himself as both African American and representing the GLBT community, Cook singled out Lisa Jackson, the former head of the EPA, now leading Apple's environmental initiatives, and Denise Young Smith, who was promoted from running Human Resources in Retail to overseeing all of corporate HR.

But instead of than suggesting that Apple was aiming to improve its diversity numbers through preferential treatment of members of minorities, Cook noted that Jackson was hired "because she was perfect," and stated that Young Smith was promoted because of "what she accomplished at Apple Retail."Cook noted that Lisa Jackson was hired "because she was perfect," and stated that Denise Young Smith was promoted because of "what she accomplished at Apple Retail."


Rather than implementing selective hiring policies resembling Affirmative Action, Apple is instead seeking to increase the number of qualified women and minorities who are working in tech. That includes a new $40 million contribution to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, a non-profit supporting 100 historically black colleges and universities across the U.S.

The TMCF, which is also supported by Walmart and the NBA, will use the money to "create a database of computer science majors at HBCUs, train both students and faculty and offer scholarships," according to a report by Michal Lev-Ram for Fortune.

That report noted that Apple is also setting up a paid internship program for "particularly promising students," as well as donating $10 million to National Center for Women and Information Technology, an organization working to "create a broader pipeline of female technology workers." Google, Microsoft and Symantec have also contributed to fund the NCWIT.

Apple's Young Smith told Fortune that the company is also talking to military leadership to develop ways to 'provide technology training and specialized on boarding programs for veterans,' a population that in the U.S. has historically failed to gain adequate support in finding employment after their service from the nation itself.

"In any of these programs we're really trying to provide focus, impact and a ripple effect-not just on Apple," Young Smith stated.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 101
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,384member
    It's clear that Cook is an insanely intelligent individual, to be able to stay on top of all these disparate concepts that he discussed, and deeply understanding all the aspects and details of the company he runs.

    "Cook also reiterated how initiatives from CarPlay to HomeKit to Health create a "seamless extension of iOS" in other aspects of user's lives, and tied in the umbrella technologies of Continuity in iOS and OS X%u2014and soon Apple Watch%u2014as also playing an important role in expanding, enhancing and differentiating Apple's platforms and products for consumers. "

    Most of the trolls here don't understand this basic concept. They bitch and moan about petty things and individual features, while completely missing the big picture.
  • Reply 2 of 101
    Jessie James? You mean Jesse Jackson?

    And DED, the leftist bent gets a bit old.
  • Reply 3 of 101

    It’s clear that Cook is in the wrong job.

     

    He wants to be a politician; go and be one! We won't miss you at the keynotes. And I don't want to see you wasting my time and other shareholders' time with Jesse Jackson ever again. 

     

    What really stood out for me at the keynote was the fact that Cook didn't demo the Apple Watch. That sums up the feeling one gets from Cook; he's always one stage divorced from the products. It’s such a contrast to Jobs, where you felt that the products Apple made were his baby; he took personal responsibility for their success. He announced the price of the iPad with such aplomb and humour. Then, the other day, we got Cook embarrassingly mumbling the price of the $10,000 Apple Watch Edition. 

     

    Cook wore the watch, yet never used it, once. Not even some quirky little phone call with Ive? No. Instead, a dry, confusing demo from Kevin Lynch.

     

    In short: it’s the lack of focus that is spelling worrying times, from the bug-ridden iOS to the Gadget without a Cause, the Apple Watch.

  • Reply 4 of 101
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    slurpy wrote: »
    It's clear that Cook is an insanely intelligent individual, to be able to stay on top of all these disparate concept that he discussed, and deeply understanding all the aspects and details of the company he runs.

    "Cook also reiterated how initiatives from CarPlay to HomeKit to Health create a "seamless extension of iOS" in other aspects of user's lives, and tied in the umbrella technologies of Continuity in iOS and OS X%u2014and soon Apple Watch%u2014as also playing an important role in expanding, enhancing and differentiating Apple's platforms and products for consumers. "

    Most of the trolls here don't understand this basic concept. They bitch and moan about petty things and individual features, while completely missing the big picture.

    One company in every aspect of your life sounds very Big Brother-ish to me. Funny how you become what you once hated. Just keep staring at the 'big picture'.
  • Reply 5 of 101
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,384member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post





    One company in every aspect of your life sounds very Big Brother-ish to me. Funny how you become what you once hated. Just keep staring at the 'big picture'.

     

    You have any evidence of Apple spying on people?

    Any evidence of them selling your personal info and data?

     

    What the **** is your point? But no, you're right, I should use 10 different operating systems and making sure my Laptop, tablet, phone, and every piece of technology I use is from a different manufacturer and incompatible with everything, making my life more difficult, because of some paranoia. How is taking advantage of continuity features "big brother? How is Carplay "big brother? Apple has earned my trust, more than a bunch of other random tech companies. And I know that if Apple fucks up, they will need to answer for it, and in a big way. 

     

    Yes, I will keep looking at the "big picture" You can continue to mock without saying anything of substance. It's pretty hilarious you seem to have a problem with Apple, when pretty much every single non-iPhone runs the exact same OS, created by an advertising company. Hilarious how you insinuate something, yet don't have the guts to be specific, because your point is entirely non-existent. 

  • Reply 6 of 101
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    Jessie James? You mean Jesse Jackson?

    And DED, the leftist bent gets a bit old.

    Like they say about reality, it has a liberal bias.

    Seriously, the company you are following is way ahead of you here.

    The very least you could do is read a book on Apple's origins instead of watching your next fascist crap Hollywood violent brain-deadening movie. I bet not a single one of you has read John Markoff's What the Dormouse Said. And I bet you're all virgins, in the Steve Jobs sense. By 1970 we had all decided that every single one of the backward "values" you were clinging to then and are still now, 40 years later, are hostile to all human progress. All of us except for example the Young Americans for Freedom who were working for Nixon to savage the Constitution to stop "subversion." Still at it, you are, while you give lip service to your imaginary liberty.
  • Reply 7 of 101
    A great company with a great CEO who is not trying to imitate Steve. He is who he is and moving the company forward in his own way. That takes great strength of character. Apple has always been progressive. This isn't politics, it's reality.
  • Reply 8 of 101
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Flaneur View Post





    Like they say about reality, it has a liberal bias.



    Seriously, the company you are following is way ahead of you and the other retrogrades—I mean conservatives—here. When are you guys planning to evolve, exactly?



    The very least you could do is read a book on Apple's origins instead of watching your next fascist crap Hollywood violent brain-deadening movie. I bet not a single one of you has read John Markoff's What the Dormouse Said. And I bet you're all virgins, in the Steve Jobs sense. By 1970 we had all decided that every single one of the backward "values" you were clinging to then and are still now, 40 years later, are hostile to all human progress. All of us except for example the Young Americans for Freedom who were working for Nixon to savage the Constitution to stop "subversion." Still at it, you are, while you give lip service to your imaginary liberty.

    Okay, you have fun with that. Meanwhile, "your guy" has done more to destroy freedoms and civil liberties than any before him (not that Bush didn't start it). But keep enjoying FantasyLand.

  • Reply 9 of 101
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    dasanman69 wrote: »
    One company in every aspect of your life sounds very Big Brother-ish to me. Funny how you become what you once hated. Just keep staring at the 'big picture'.

    Very cheap shot. Slurpy gave you one of the best slapdowns of his career here.

    I'd just add that Apple isn't forcing anyone to buy into their ecosystem. They're winning customers honestly by making stuff that people want and enjoy.

    Your agenda is showing.
  • Reply 10 of 101
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post





    One company in every aspect of your life sounds very Big Brother-ish to me. Funny how you become what you once hated. Just keep staring at the 'big picture'.

     

    The term Big Brother you refer to would usually apply to a government with omnipotent power and jaded self-interest. I just don't see the parallel with Apple, a single public corporation with minority market-share,  and the initiatives focused on the under-priviledged that were presented at the shareholder meeting. There are plenty of other tech firms to choose products and philosophies from if you wish.

  • Reply 11 of 101
    mac_dogmac_dog Posts: 1,069member
    "There was only a brief presentation of a "Risk Report" proposal fronted by a right wing group that sought to skewer the company's investments in alternative energy as entirely dependent upon the current U.S. administration's policies and doomed to crisis if the next one goes in the direction imagined by certain U.S. Senate members flouting the Logan Act."

    White falcon, Benjamin frost & Dasanman69 are still pissed because they were voted down by 98%.
  • Reply 12 of 101
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,384member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Benjamin Frost View Post

     

    It’s clear that Cook is in the wrong job.

     

    He wants to be a politician; go and be one! We won't miss you at the keynotes. And I don't want to see you wasting my time and other shareholders' time with Jesse Jackson ever again. 

     

    What really stood out for me at the keynote was the fact that Cook didn't demo the Apple Watch. That sums up the feeling one gets from Cook; he's always one stage divorced from the products. It’s such a contrast to Jobs, where you felt that the products Apple made were his baby; he took personal responsibility for their success. He announced the price of the iPad with such aplomb and humour. Then, the other day, we got Cook embarrassingly mumbling the price of the $10,000 Apple Watch Edition. 

     

    Cook wore the watch, yet never used it, once. Not even some quirky little phone call with Ive? No. Instead, a dry, confusing demo from Kevin Lynch.

     

    In short: it’s the lack of focus that is spelling worrying times, from the bug-ridden iOS to the Gadget without a Cause, the Apple Watch.


     

    You don't seem to realize that Steve Jobs is dead, Tim Cook is not Steve Jobs, he has never pretended to be, and does not need to act like him in order to indulge your absurd fantasies. Your biggest jab is that he didn't copy and paste an act that Steve did during the iPhone presentation 8 years ago? You don't seem to realize how constantly claiming that the CEO of the most successful company of the planet, who has brought this company to new, unheard of heights during his tenure- needs to go- and that's sad. Wonder how you would feel if someone constantly berated you for the fact that you don't act and sound like a dead person. 

     

    As an (alleged) shareholder, you also seem strangely ungrateful, since Cook has made you a shitload of money during his time. It's also strange for a "shareholder" like you to constantly fantasize about the company failing, and dragging the company through the mud at every ingle opportunity. How the **** do you still hold shares if you so strongly believe the company is going down the drain? Oh I know- you don't hold any shares.

     

    Tim "wasted your time" with Jesse Jackson? You were at the shareholder's meeting, were you? Jackson had a right to speak during the meeting, just like every other shareholder there. He's not Tim's creation. He didn't bring him there. Your bigotry and shameless lies never, ever end. 

  • Reply 13 of 101
    paul94544paul94544 Posts: 1,027member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slurpy View Post

     

     

    You have any evidence of Apple spying on people?

    Any evidence of them selling your personal info and data?

     

    What the **** is your point? But no, you're right, I should use 10 different operating systems and making sure my Laptop, tablet, phone, and every piece of technology I use is from a different manufacturer and incompatible with everything, making my life more difficult, because of some paranoia. How is taking advantage of continuity features "big brother? How is Carplay "big brother? Apple has earned my trust, more than a bunch of other random tech companies. And I know that if Apple fucks up, they will need to answer for it, and in a big way. 

     

    Yes, I will keep looking at the "big picture" You can continue to mock without saying anything of substance. It's pretty hilarious you seem to have a problem with Apple, when pretty much every single non-iPhone runs the exact same OS, created by an advertising company. Hilarious how you insinuate something, yet don't have the guts to be specific, because your point is entirely non-existent. 


    Well said and I would like to add a truism  which especially  applies to  our honorable friend Ben Frosty:

     

    Ben   "The things we dislike  about others are not the differences, but rather the similarities with ourselves"

     

    Perhaps  you might understand that Ben? but I fear not. But you never know, perhaps one day you might!

    and of course you are beating  off to this silly flame war

  • Reply 14 of 101
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Benjamin Frost View Post

     

    It’s clear that Cook is in the wrong job.

     

    He wants to be a politician; go and be one! We won't miss you at the keynotes. And I don't want to see you wasting my time and other shareholders' time with Jesse Jackson ever again. 

     

    What really stood out for me at the keynote was the fact that Cook didn't demo the Apple Watch. That sums up the feeling one gets from Cook; he's always one stage divorced from the products. It’s such a contrast to Jobs, where you felt that the products Apple made were his baby; he took personal responsibility for their success. He announced the price of the iPad with such aplomb and humour. Then, the other day, we got Cook embarrassingly mumbling the price of the $10,000 Apple Watch Edition. 

     

    Cook wore the watch, yet never used it, once. Not even some quirky little phone call with Ive? No. Instead, a dry, confusing demo from Kevin Lynch.

     

    In short: it’s the lack of focus that is spelling worrying times, from the bug-ridden iOS to the Gadget without a Cause, the Apple Watch.


     

    I can say from experience that not all people have the same strengths and weaknesses. Tim Cook, while no Jobs, is still playing to his own strengths, as Steve did. Jobs was criticized as a poor manager, but praised as a great product guy. Cook has the skills needed to guide an Apple that is many times the size of the one that Jobs led, into a much more diversified future.

  • Reply 15 of 101
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,384member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ration Al View Post

     

     

    I can say from experience that not all people have the same strengths and weaknesses. Tim Cook, while no Jobs, is still playing to his own strengths, as Steve did. Jobs was criticized as a poor manager, but praised as a great product guy. Cook has the skills needed to guide an Apple that is many times the size of the one that Jobs led, into a much more diversified future.

     

    P.S. Thankfully we're not all as blindly hypercritical, and nauseatingly depressing as you seem to be. Must be that English weather.


     

    He claims Cook is a "politician" because Tim apparently has a heart- ie, he cares about social causes. Apparently, Tim is not allowed to be a good person while leading Apple, even though it's an asset to his position. The fact that Tim doesn't share BF's hate towards the human race drives him crazy. 

  • Reply 16 of 101
    paul94544paul94544 Posts: 1,027member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ration Al View Post

     

     

    The term Big Brother you refer to would usually apply to a government with omnipotent power and jaded self-interest. I just don't see the parallel with Apple, a single public corporation with minority market-share,  and the initiatives focused on the under-priviledged that were presented at the shareholder meeting. There are plenty of other tech firms to choose products and philosophies from if you wish.


    Ben lives in London , so we are led to believe. Probably the most Big Brother society on the planet  right now with all its hi def monitoring . Makes sense he would  be so angry about that and tries to take it out on Apple. He hates anything that smells of liberation and  freedom. 

  • Reply 17 of 101
    paul94544paul94544 Posts: 1,027member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ration Al View Post

     

     

    I can say from experience that not all people have the same strengths and weaknesses. Tim Cook, while no Jobs, is still playing to his own strengths, as Steve did. Jobs was criticized as a poor manager, but praised as a great product guy. Cook has the skills needed to guide an Apple that is many times the size of the one that Jobs led, into a much more diversified future.

     

    P.S. Thankfully we're not all as blindly hypercritical, and nauseatingly depressing as you seem to be. Must be that English weather.


    It's sad and pathetic but  somehow makes sense  that  a depressing, critical and jaded Englishman would attack Apple and Tim Cook. After all the Brits are still pissed about having to give away their empire to this upstart USA! I have noticed how some English people have such a pompous. elitist attitude to the world in-bred for 1000's of years. All you have to do is watch certain episodes  of Monty Python  to see how they use  satire to lampoon most of  the typical stereotypes of British society which is probably the most cast ridden - still - in the world! You realize what it must like to be stuck in that class system? Ben obviously hates being stuck in it and  I guess vents his frustration, venom and so forth by  projecting his own "little Englander" prejudices onto anyone, or anything he likes, to make himself feel better. I keep thinking he must be very  similar to  Basil Fawlty in the way he treats people. I bet what few friends  he has, think he is a total  A....  That famous line in "A Fish called Wanda" where John Cleese is saying to Wanda "Do you realize what it is like being English?" - priceless  LOL

  • Reply 18 of 101
    mubailimubaili Posts: 453member
    It’s clear that Cook is in the wrong job.

    He wants to be a politician; go and be one! We won't miss you at the keynotes. And I don't want to see you wasting my time and other shareholders' time with Jesse Jackson ever again. 

    What really stood out for me at the keynote was the fact that Cook didn't demo the Apple Watch. That sums up the feeling one gets from Cook; he's always one stage divorced from the products. It’s such a contrast to Jobs, where you felt that the products Apple made were his baby; he took personal responsibility for their success. He announced the price of the iPad with such aplomb and humour. Then, the other day, we got Cook embarrassingly mumbling the price of the $10,000 Apple Watch Edition. 

    Cook wore the watch, yet never used it, once. Not even some quirky little phone call with Ive? No. Instead, a dry, confusing demo from Kevin Lynch.

    In short: it’s the lack of focus that is spelling worrying times, from the bug-ridden iOS to the Gadget without a Cause, the Apple Watch.
    hmm, I thought Kevin Lynch's demo was very good, telling a rather smooth and compelling story. Cook doesn't have SJ's charisma but did a good job of sharing the limelight with his lieutenants. I do miss Jobs's intensity.
  • Reply 19 of 101
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mubaili View Post





    hmm, I thought Kevin Lynch's demo was very good, telling a rather smooth and compelling story. Cook doesn't have SJ's charisma but did a good job of sharing the limelight with his lieutenants. I do miss Jobs's intensity.



    Honestly, it's not like I hate the guy, but I wish someone besides Schiller introduced new products. I don't like marketers in general, and Phil always just seems like he's reading marketing copy.

  • Reply 20 of 101
    krreagankrreagan Posts: 218member

    I think it must bust the balls of the far right that the most successful company in the world is now a left leaning company that acts with a moral fortitude not seen in the likes of a Walmart, Exxon, Verizon...

     

    Apple has the money to do things with their products while knowing that there will not be a monetary ROI (ResearchKit). But there will be an social ROI unseen by other short sighted companies.

     

    Makes a gazillion on the bottom line and uses his power/influence to actually do good! Maybe that's whats erks the far-right... he is showing them how it should be done. And that how they do it (only bottom line focused) is short sighted and irresponsible. They are pissed because he is showing everyone that the responsibility goes beyond a fiduciary one to the stock holders. They even tried to force that one on Apple but was rebuffed to the tune of 98% of voters!! ... go suck an egg!

     

    Tim Cook is the best CEO that is at the helm of any large US corporation - bar none!

     

    Proud AAPL stock holder.

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