Executive leading HealthKit, other software platforms leaves Apple

Posted:
in General Discussion
An executive hired to lead teams responsible for HealthKit, CareKit, and ResearchKit -- as well as related machine learning algorithms -- has left Apple after just a few months on the job, a report said on Friday.




Yoky Matsuoka was only hired in May and reported to Jeff Williams, the company's COO and its head of teams for the Apple Watch and various health initiatives, Bloomberg explained. The reason for the departure is unknown, as Apple has refused to comment and Matsuoka herself has stayed silent.

The executive is veteran of the technology industry though, with accomplishments like co-founding Google X, and helping to invent a robotic hand. Most recently she was a VP at Alphabet's Nest Labs, where she developed the technology that lets the Nest Thermostat automatically adapt to habits and conditions.

Apple has been building up its health teams for years, initially with the Apple Watch in mind, but more recently to expand its "Kit" platforms and embark in new directions. Earlier this year the company met with U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials to discuss things like "two possible (and related) products in the cardiac space" and a project involving Parkinson's disease.

Diagnosis is also thought to be a major interest of the company moving forward, with CEO Tim Cook suggesting that there should be a human equivalent of the "check oil" light on a car. Matsuoka may have been hired to help with these efforts.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 96
    That sucks.  Probably part of the AirPort staffing shakeout \s
    SoliStrangeDays
  • Reply 2 of 96
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,936member
    Irrespective of your skills, many times your style doesn't fit the culture of a company so either you leave to go find your place outside or company invite you to leave..
    edited December 2016 jay-tStrangeDaysindyfxration aldysamoria
  • Reply 3 of 96
    Probably enjoyed too much data freedom at her previous employers and clashed with Apple's privacy protocol...
    macplusplusstarwarswatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 96
    spice-boyspice-boy Posts: 1,450member
    sog35 said:
    Do I blame her? 

    HELL NO.

    why? Because of Tim Cook's dumb ass  privacy crusade she has one hand tied behind her back.

    How the hell can she do here job if Cook refuses to use the data from hundreds of millions of Apple users?

    Tim Cook needs to resign. His dumb ass social, policital, and privacy crusades are hurting the company.

    Apple has 500 million of the most valuable customers on the planet. Yet Cook refuses to use the data from these customers to open more revenue streams.

    Cook preaches privacy, yet Google is still the default search on iOS.
    Cook preaches privacy, yet 80-90% of iOS users use Facebook or Google or both.

    Its beyond pathetic that Apple's competitors attack Apple's main revenue streams by bringing out hardware products.
    Yet Apple refuses to fight back with their own search, social, and AI platforms. 

    If Cook had half a brain Apple would have developed and released a Google search competitor by now. Or a Facebook competitor. But because of Cooks dumb ass privacy crusade we see neither. And Amazon, Samsung, Microsoft, ect continue to make inroads into Apple's hardware business.


    The day Apple uses my data for their profit is the day I quit using Apple products. If you want a major corporation to use your data please switch over to anything Google or Facebook. 
    randominternetpersonwelshdogpropoddreyfus2londormwhitedick applebaumtmayrobertwalterjay-t
  • Reply 5 of 96
    I care. Together with Tim. 
    Solilondormwhitedick applebaumtmayrobertwalterjay-tmacbear01damn_its_hotbaconstang
  • Reply 6 of 96
    Perhaps there's a difference between sharing what you had for lunch or what bands you like and sharing your detailed health data.  Thinking... thinking...  Nah, people "don't care about privacy."
    king editor the grateSolirusswlondordick applebaummark fearingspice-boyrobertwalterjay-tdysamoria
  • Reply 7 of 96
    sog35 said:
    spice-boy said:
    sog35 said:
    Do I blame her? 

    HELL NO.

    why? Because of Tim Cook's dumb ass  privacy crusade she has one hand tied behind her back.

    How the hell can she do here job if Cook refuses to use the data from hundreds of millions of Apple users?

    Tim Cook needs to resign. His dumb ass social, policital, and privacy crusades are hurting the company.

    Apple has 500 million of the most valuable customers on the planet. Yet Cook refuses to use the data from these customers to open more revenue streams.

    Cook preaches privacy, yet Google is still the default search on iOS.
    Cook preaches privacy, yet 80-90% of iOS users use Facebook or Google or both.

    Its beyond pathetic that Apple's competitors attack Apple's main revenue streams by bringing out hardware products.
    Yet Apple refuses to fight back with their own search, social, and AI platforms. 

    If Cook had half a brain Apple would have developed and released a Google search competitor by now. Or a Facebook competitor. But because of Cooks dumb ass privacy crusade we see neither. And Amazon, Samsung, Microsoft, ect continue to make inroads into Apple's hardware business.


    The day Apple uses my data for their profit is the day I quit using Apple products. If you want a major corporation to use your data please switch over to anything Google or Facebook. 
    And yet 80-90% of iOS users use Facebook or Google or both.

    Close to 99% use Facebook or Google or Amazon or Netflix. All of these companies use your data.

    No one cares. Especially not the majority of Apple customers.

    The only one who cares is Tim Cook. 

    Your rants and drivel continue to get more and more outlandish. This really shouldn't need to be said but you are either to daft to understand or choose to look like a moron. The issue of privacy does not change for Apple at the end of the day if a user uses Facebook or Gooole that is ultimately the end users choice but should not be used as a product direction for the product as a whole. Just because a group of people don't value something as much as they should does not mean that it should be thrown out completely. 
    propodSolidreyfus2londordick applebaum2old4fundsdspice-boyjay-tStrangeDays
  • Reply 8 of 96
    I just laugh at everyone that says they will stop using Apple if they start utilizing customers data. Get out of the stone ages. 99% of companies use your data already. Most of you don't have any data that is worth a shit by itself so what are you worried about. I do agree with Sog that these crusades that Cook goes on are ridiculous.
    anantksundaramBWYS_NWYB
  • Reply 9 of 96
    Why are people ranting about privacy? We don't know why this woman left. Nothing in the Bloomberg report suggests she left because of a disagreement over company privacy policies.
    king editor the grategatorguy2old4funtmayspice-boymike1duervoGeorgeBMacdysamoriabaconstang
  • Reply 10 of 96
    Sounds like a pretty tough job, leading four or five teams.  I'd love that job, but I'd be the first one to tell you I couldn't do it.  Cheers!
  • Reply 11 of 96
    Okay Sog, we hear you!  Point well made.  We don't know if that's why she bailed.  Seems like a major talent though.  I'm sending a resume.  I can open a beer bottle with one hand.  Top that!
    randominternetpersonbaconstangurahara
  • Reply 12 of 96
    williamhwilliamh Posts: 1,045member
    sog35 said:
    Why are people ranting about privacy? We don't know why this woman left. Nothing in the Bloomberg report suggests she left because of a disagreement over company privacy policies.
    Its been reported many times in the last couple years that many AI, health, and research experts are frustrated with Apple's privacy policies. They can get the data they need to do their work.
    ResearchKit?  Researchers have access to data they couldn't dream of a few years ago. 

    The point about privacy is that the individual gets to decide what to share.  Even on Facebook the user can decide. (They still suck though)
    Solicalitmaylondorduervobaconstangurahara
  • Reply 13 of 96
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,038member
    Every fucking thread gets ruined by Sog making some anti-Cook rant.
    nottylerdurdenrbonnermwhitedick applebaumdsdrobertwaltersnype719londormadprof73mike1
  • Reply 14 of 96
    bigpicsbigpics Posts: 1,397member
    I see Cook as the near inevitable transitional post-visionary leader figure in Apple's history as well - it's happened to IBM, to MS, to Ford, etc. - but the fact that the forums have turned into the sog35 turns every article into a referendum on Cook's leadership is making reading them both boring and hard to navigate around his monomania.  

    Maybe AI can just end every article with: "And sog35 will blame every possible negative aspect of this story on Tim Cook."  And let it go without his rants, although, like Trump's tweets, you can't deny he succeeds in making the forum about his agenda.  

    Witness my post here.  I forget as I type what the article was even about for the moment.
    edited December 2016 nottylerdurdencalimwhitespice-boysnype719mazda 3slondorrandominternetpersontechnodysamoria
  • Reply 15 of 96
    I am hoping her previous illness has not returned.
    ration al
  • Reply 16 of 96
    canukstormcanukstorm Posts: 2,741member
    spice-boy said:
    sog35 said:
    Do I blame her? 

    HELL NO.

    why? Because of Tim Cook's dumb ass  privacy crusade she has one hand tied behind her back.

    How the hell can she do here job if Cook refuses to use the data from hundreds of millions of Apple users?

    Tim Cook needs to resign. His dumb ass social, policital, and privacy crusades are hurting the company.

    Apple has 500 million of the most valuable customers on the planet. Yet Cook refuses to use the data from these customers to open more revenue streams.

    Cook preaches privacy, yet Google is still the default search on iOS.
    Cook preaches privacy, yet 80-90% of iOS users use Facebook or Google or both.

    Its beyond pathetic that Apple's competitors attack Apple's main revenue streams by bringing out hardware products.
    Yet Apple refuses to fight back with their own search, social, and AI platforms. 

    If Cook had half a brain Apple would have developed and released a Google search competitor by now. Or a Facebook competitor. But because of Cooks dumb ass privacy crusade we see neither. And Amazon, Samsung, Microsoft, ect continue to make inroads into Apple's hardware business.


    The day Apple uses my data for their profit is the day I quit using Apple products. If you want a major corporation to use your data please switch over to anything Google or Facebook. 

    There's a difference between using my data so that Apple can improve their services to make my life better and / or provide a great user experience vs collecting my data and selling it (ie: advertising).  I want Apple to do the former, not the latter. And high quality / quantity of data is the foundation of any services these days.
    calitmaybaconstangwatto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 96
    spice-boy said:
    sog35 said:
    Do I blame her? 

    HELL NO.

    why? Because of Tim Cook's dumb ass  privacy crusade she has one hand tied behind her back.

    How the hell can she do here job if Cook refuses to use the data from hundreds of millions of Apple users?

    Tim Cook needs to resign. His dumb ass social, policital, and privacy crusades are hurting the company.

    Apple has 500 million of the most valuable customers on the planet. Yet Cook refuses to use the data from these customers to open more revenue streams.

    Cook preaches privacy, yet Google is still the default search on iOS.
    Cook preaches privacy, yet 80-90% of iOS users use Facebook or Google or both.

    Its beyond pathetic that Apple's competitors attack Apple's main revenue streams by bringing out hardware products.
    Yet Apple refuses to fight back with their own search, social, and AI platforms. 

    If Cook had half a brain Apple would have developed and released a Google search competitor by now. Or a Facebook competitor. But because of Cooks dumb ass privacy crusade we see neither. And Amazon, Samsung, Microsoft, ect continue to make inroads into Apple's hardware business.


    The day Apple uses my data for their profit is the day I quit using Apple products. If you want a major corporation to use your data please switch over to anything Google or Facebook. 
    Really? Where would you go? (Serious question).
    cali
  • Reply 18 of 96
    Sog, your post is idiotic. I don't know if you have the slightest clue about HIPPA and working with health data, but privacy is paramount. There is less than zero chance someone working in research kit and health kit would leave based on privacy. Unless maybe they somehow felt it wasn't strong enough. 
    tmaysnype719londorrandominternetpersonGeorgeBMacdysamoriabaconstangpscooter63
  • Reply 19 of 96
    williamh said:
    sog35 said:
    Why are people ranting about privacy? We don't know why this woman left. Nothing in the Bloomberg report suggests she left because of a disagreement over company privacy policies.
    Its been reported many times in the last couple years that many AI, health, and research experts are frustrated with Apple's privacy policies. They can get the data they need to do their work.
    ResearchKit?  Researchers have access to data they couldn't dream of a few years ago. 

    The point about privacy is that the individual gets to decide what to share.  Even on Facebook the user can decide. (They still suck though)
    Facebook has some pretty strong control over your data. There are some rights you hand over to them that are non-negotiable.
    calidysamoria
  • Reply 20 of 96
    Soli said:
    Every fucking thread gets ruined by Sog making some anti-Cook rant.
    I thoroughly disagree. They get ruined by people fucking reacting -- often overreacting -- to @sog35.
    Mikeymikeration al
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