I don't see Jobs acting like this little ridiculous sycophant
During an award ceremony with US Ambassador Arthur Gardner, a ceremonial golden telephone was presented to the Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista, in 1957.[3] The instrument is currently on display in Museum of the Revolution, formerly Batista's presidential palace, in Havana.
Steve Jobs is dead, so you don’t see him acting like anything at all. Even if you were in a position to speak for a dead man (you aren’t), Jobs never faced this unprecedented administration or anything like it, so there is no basis for any conjecture as to how he would have responded if he did.
Tim Cook just needs to do what he needs to do to distract our pea brained president, regardless of where the money goes and what for. Trump is like a child. You have to give him candy so he'll sit still and shut the f#ck up.
You hit the nail on the head. A little golden trophy is perfect for him.
Oh... AppleInsider, I really doubt that base is solid 24K gold. First, it would weigh an absolute ton. Second, 24K gold is pretty much never used for anything big, it's too soft. Third, my guess is that it is 24k gold leaf (that's what it looks like), Even Olympic Gold Metals aren't all gold.. of any karat.
The plaque was of course -by law- a gift to the American people. Don’t be surprised, however, when, like the “free” 747 we are about to pay $1bn to retrofit, it ends up going into Trump’s personal collection.
It’s absolutely pathetic. Cook is acquiescing to power, with gifts and million dollar bribes.
Nice to see you on the other side of the fence, for a change. But people who are usually critical of Apple would be fairly lenient on Apple's CEO on this occasion. Apple's CEO is in a very difficult situation (stuck between a rock and a hard place). Whatever he does, he is/will be in a lose-lose situation for another 3.5 years. Nobody would want to be in his shoes right now.
It’s absolutely pathetic. Cook is acquiescing to power, with gifts and million dollar bribes.
Nice to see you on the other side of the fence, for a change. But people who are usually critical of Apple would be fairly lenient on Apple's CEO on this occasion. Apple's CEO is in a very difficult situation (stuck between a rock and a hard place). Whatever he does, he is/will be in a lose-lose situation for another 3.5 years. Nobody would want to be in his shoes right now.
For the right pay, I’d be willing to be in his shoes. The fact that I have zero qualifications for the job of running Apple … wait. On second thought, I’m not sure there’s any timeline where I could survive the projectile nausea that would hit me after handing a trophy to that degenerate fool. Tim has nerves of steel to smile and do this service for his company and stockholders.
My hunch is that Apple's board of directors discreetly employs a high-level government relations consultant who provides suitable guidance in how Apple handles the current administration. I doubt if Tim himself (or anyone else in the senior management team) came up with the idea of this particular plaque and presentation.
Nah, we already know that most Fortune 500 companies have government relations teams. I'm talking about a high-level protocol specialist that is intimately acquainted with POTUS 47's specific interests, proclivities, etc. All heads of state and monarches have teams who do things like event planning, menu selection, gift selection, letter writing, etc.
Apple is employing someone who knows the current president's tastes and will say, "Tim should gift him ____ because it will be well received by the standing Chief Executive." Note that different gifts would be chosen for the Canadian president, previous POTUSes, the King of England, Emperor of Japan, Chinese president, Prince of Monaco, Dalai Lama, etc. Someone like an appointment manager from the POTUS 45 term. A high-end butler basically.
If Tim were to meet Emperor Naruhito of Japan, a different person would have to be consulted rather than some executive in Apple Japan. Same with someone like the Pope. A gift to Pope Leo XIV might be different than what would have been given to Pope Francis (the former considers tradition vastly more important than the latter). All the minute details are extremely important. The wording of the note that accompanies the gift, how it is wrapped, etc.
Apple already has a government relations team that knows how to navigate the DC business circles, grease palms, etc. That team knows what to do to get the GAO to approve the purchase order for ___ iPhones for the US Navy. That's different than physically addressing POTUS.
It’s absolutely pathetic. Cook is acquiescing to power, with gifts and million dollar bribes.
Nice to see you on the other side of the fence, for a change. But people who are usually critical of Apple would be fairly lenient on Apple's CEO on this occasion. Apple's CEO is in a very difficult situation (stuck between a rock and a hard place). Whatever he does, he is/will be in a lose-lose situation for another 3.5 years. Nobody would want to be in his shoes right now.
Other side of the fence? Being a fan of Apple products and services compared to (most of) the competition is not the demarcation point — not being fan of fascism and corruption is the line in the sand, and StrangeDays has been very clear on which side of that line he's on.
It’s absolutely pathetic. Cook is acquiescing to power, with gifts and million dollar bribes.
Nice to see you on the other side of the fence, for a change. But people who are usually critical of Apple would be fairly lenient on Apple's CEO on this occasion. Apple's CEO is in a very difficult situation (stuck between a rock and a hard place). Whatever he does, he is/will be in a lose-lose situation for another 3.5 years. Nobody would want to be in his shoes right now.
Other side of the fence? Being a fan of Apple products and services compared to (most of) the competition is not the demarcation point — not being fan of fascism and corruption is the line in the sand, and StrangeDays has been very clear on which side of that line he's on.
Well, when you put it this way - "not being fan of fascism and corruption is the line in the sand", it is easy for people like us (you, me, StrangeDays etc) to be against corruption and fascism while commenting in a discussion forum. It is a simple world with just 2 dimensions to consider for us.
But for Apple's CEO, the reality is that it is a multi-dimensional world that he has to deal with. And it is not a black and white scale that he gets to choose while taking decisions. There are lot of grey areas involved and multiple dimensions to deal with, not as straightforward as you guys make it out to be.
Edit - When I mentioned "other side of the fence" in my initial post, I was talking about "posts critical of Apple" as the line. I have rarely seen posts critical of Apple from StrangeDays (if any). He usually posts ultra-aggressive responses to posts even mildly critical of Apple. He used to belong to "Protect Apple's image at ANY cost" group of posters in AppleInsider for many years (not in the last couple of years though).
It’s absolutely pathetic. Cook is acquiescing to power, with gifts and million dollar bribes.
Nice to see you on the other side of the fence, for a change. But people who are usually critical of Apple would be fairly lenient on Apple's CEO on this occasion. Apple's CEO is in a very difficult situation (stuck between a rock and a hard place). Whatever he does, he is/will be in a lose-lose situation for another 3.5 years. Nobody would want to be in his shoes right now.
For the right pay, I’d be willing to be in his shoes. The fact that I have zero qualifications for the job of running Apple … wait. On second thought, I’m not sure there’s any timeline where I could survive the projectile nausea that would hit me after handing a trophy to that degenerate fool. Tim has nerves of steel to smile and do this service for his company and stockholders.
That is the point, right? It would be extremely difficult for anyone to do that, in the interest of Apple and its shareholders.
It’s absolutely pathetic. Cook is acquiescing to power, with gifts and million dollar bribes.
Nice to see you on the other side of the fence, for a change. But people who are usually critical of Apple would be fairly lenient on Apple's CEO on this occasion. Apple's CEO is in a very difficult situation (stuck between a rock and a hard place). Whatever he does, he is/will be in a lose-lose situation for another 3.5 years. Nobody would want to be in his shoes right now.
Other side of the fence? Being a fan of Apple products and services compared to (most of) the competition is not the demarcation point — not being fan of fascism and corruption is the line in the sand, and StrangeDays has been very clear on which side of that line he's on.
Well, when you put it this way - "not being fan of fascism and corruption is the line in the sand", it is easy for people like us (you, me, StrangeDays etc) to be against corruption and fascism while commenting in a discussion forum. It is a simple world with just 2 dimensions to consider for us.
But for Apple's CEO, the reality is that it is a multi-dimensional world that he has to deal with. And it is not a black and white scale that he gets to choose while taking decisions. There are lot of grey areas involved and multiple dimensions to deal with, not as straightforward as you guys make it out to be.
Edit - When I mentioned "other side of the fence" in my initial post, I was talking about "posts critical of Apple" as the line. I have rarely seen posts critical of Apple from StrangeDays (if any). He usually posts ultra-aggressive responses to posts even mildly critical of Apple. He used to belong to "Protect Apple's image at ANY cost" group of posters in AppleInsider for many years (not in the last couple of years though).
I would also vehemently disagree with the "protect Apple's image at ANY cost" categorization. I would even say that having a preference for Apple products (which I certainly do, as well) clearly does lead to a bias, but that's not inherently a bad thing and I can say with certainty that we all have a bias towards things we like. But that bias doesn't lead me to defend Apple at all costs because, as you note, "there are lot of grey areas involved and multiple dimensions to deal with," and while I don't have other specific examples of StrangeDays posts to use as reference I am certain that he's made disparaging remarks about Apple in the past when he feels they've been out of line for either ethical reasons or simply because he thinks they've released a poor product or made a poor business decision in some other way.
Personally, this current move by Cook has me considering whether I want to upgrade anything from Apple this year. I can't reasonably disconnect and I don't care for other options available, but I can vote with my wallet by simply not buying new products from Apple (but that will only last so long). I'd also like to quite Amazon and never shop at Home Depot, but the best I can do is to make them last resort options which unfortunately is the best option far too often.
If Tim Cook and the Apple BOD are as smart as I hope they are (as a shareholder), they'll see this as a wakeup call to at least draw up emergency plans to move some major manufacturing back to the United States. In the event of an emergency, such as China invading Taiwan, we need to have more capability here. It will take billions (perhaps trillions) of investment but the safest long-term solution (other than that thug, Xi Jinping stepping down and the CCP reforming itself) is to find a way to bring more of their manufacturing closer to home. India is a good start (because it generally hews closer to the values of Western democracies with obvious exceptions) but more needs to be done. Unfortunately, I believe this $600 billion is mostly window-dressing; it's a start but it's not good enough. Yes, I realize the fix Apple is in and that there will be a dramatic increase in cost for any products made or assembled here, but it still needs to be done. It's not only an Apple issue but a national security issue. And honestly, Apple should have seen these problems with China and tariffs coming a long time ago.
After watching the press conference, I don't know how Tim Cook could remain in the White House with the president. The POTUS was behaving like a 1st grader. It must have been awful for TC to remain silent..
If Tim Cook and the Apple BOD are as smart as I hope they are (as a shareholder), they'll see this as a wakeup call to at least draw up emergency plans to move some major manufacturing back to the United States. In the event of an emergency, such as China invading Taiwan, we need to have more capability here. It will take billions (perhaps trillions) of investment but the safest long-term solution (other than that thug, Xi Jinping stepping down and the CCP reforming itself) is to find a way to bring more of their manufacturing closer to home. India is a good start (because it generally hews closer to the values of Western democracies with obvious exceptions) but more needs to be done. Unfortunately, I believe this $600 billion is mostly window-dressing; it's a start but it's not good enough. Yes, I realize the fix Apple is in and that there will be a dramatic increase in cost for any products made or assembled here, but it still needs to be done. It's not only an Apple issue but a national security issue. And honestly, Apple should have seen these problems with China and tariffs coming a long time ago.
I'm curious how you think this "emergency plan" could possibly work? How much would this cost? How much benefit would there be? What could not reasonably be manufactured in the US? What percentage more are you willing to pay for a product (you can round to the nearest hundred)? What features are you willing to lose from a given product because the component manufacturing can't be done in the US?
After watching the press conference, I don't know how Tim Cook could remain in the White House with the president. The POTUS was behaving like a 1st grader. It must have been awful for TC to remain silent..
There are professionals who provide advice. Just like pro athletes working with sports psychologists, there are specialists who work with CEOs on difficult situations. These are not the run-of-the-mill psychologists that you might meet at your clinic.
Remember that POTUS 47 was also POTUS 45 and that Tim Cook periodically engaged with POTUS 45. He already had a good clue as to how the Chief Executive behaves based on multiple prior interactions.
As for dealing with a child having a temper tantrum, I've seen A LOT of parents who handle their own offspring extremely poorly. Once Tim departs the White House, he's rid of POTUS for a while. Parents are stuck with their kids.
Not sure Steve Jobs had the type of personality that would handle the current administration better than Tim. Tim is -- compared to most CEOs -- a better diplomat, probably just due to his personality and maturity. We've seen at least one egomaniacal CEO not do quite as well (*cough*).
My hunch is that Apple's board of directors discreetly employs a high-level government relations consultant who provides suitable guidance in how Apple handles the current administration.
"A consultant"? They aren't some trucking company in the midwest. They're a multi-trillion dollar behemoth with many moving parts that intersect with various policymaking apparatus around the globe. They have a huge government relations team, as they should.
Tim has to play a game of theatre with Trump. Tim has a responsibility for shareholders and to keep them invested for the long term. We know Tim hates Trump and Trump hates gay people of which Tim is. But he’s got to pretend to be cordial and nice and play the long game and hope next president makes better decisions for the American people.
My hunch is that Apple's board of directors discreetly employs a high-level government relations consultant who provides suitable guidance in how Apple handles the current administration.
"A consultant"? They aren't some trucking company in the midwest. They're a multi-trillion dollar behemoth with many moving parts that intersect with various policymaking apparatus around the globe. They have a huge government relations team, as they should.
All of Apple's government relations team have specialized knowledge about dealing with bureaucracy of many forms but the people who know the intricacies of dealing with the GAO aren't going to be the same people who know the most about dealing with the Chinese bureaucracy, Japanese government, Taiwanese, Koreans, EU officials, etc. And remember that most of those officials do the same work for decades.
Heads of state are another animal. You are dealing with individuals. The current Japanese prime minister is much different than the last 7-8.
This is precisely why Apple's BOD probably uses a specialist in Tim's interacts with the current Chief Executive. They probably used someone else with the prior administration (not that Tim had much interaction with POTUS 46). But for sure, no Apple staffer is going to claim to be the expert on working with POTUS 47 unless they were a former and fairly recent aide.
There's no reason for Apple to employ this protocol specialist full time. That consultant would likely be working with the CEOs of a number of other companies. It's not like Tim is seeing POTUS 47 a couple of times a week. In the same way, if your marriage is on the rocks, you don't ask your marriage counselor to move into the spare bedroom at your house. A freelance consultant would be able to make far more money and have far more flexibility than punching a clock at one employer.
Apple's government relations team would still be very much involved in the details of the investment deals, etc. but we're not talking about that. The subject of this article is specifically about the gift. This is about accurately reading people's personalities, just like someone should know what sort of gift mom would appreciate.
And it is probable that people from the Apple government relations team knows their limitations. If even you're good, sometimes very good, occasionally there will be situations where you'd say, "Hey, you need a specialist for this."
If you run an NFL team you won't have an orthopedic surgeon on staff. But if one of your players wrecks their ACL or Achilles, you'll have some numbers in your Rolodex.
In Europe such gifts would be considered unethical or even illegal as they’ll be considered infringements of our bribery and anti-corruption rules, worsened by the fact a political person is involved. The more I learn about the USA these months, the more I despise the country and the more I like Europe - even though it’s far from perfect.
In Europe such gifts would be considered unethical or even illegal as they’ll be considered infringements of our bribery and anti-corruption rules, worsened by the fact a political person is involved. The more I learn about the USA these months, the more I despise the country and the more I like Europe - even though it’s far from perfect.
A personal gift would be illegal in the United States, as well. This is a gift to the office of the PotUS, and it belongs to the American people.
Surely this is an episode of South Park we’re talking about?
Wouldn’t the CEO of one of the world’s largest companies giving the president a ‘plaque’ which happens to be attached to a solid gold bar be considered a very indiscreet bribe?
Comments
The plaque was of course -by law- a gift to the American people. Don’t be surprised, however, when, like the “free” 747 we are about to pay $1bn to retrofit, it ends up going into Trump’s personal collection.
Apple is employing someone who knows the current president's tastes and will say, "Tim should gift him ____ because it will be well received by the standing Chief Executive." Note that different gifts would be chosen for the Canadian president, previous POTUSes, the King of England, Emperor of Japan, Chinese president, Prince of Monaco, Dalai Lama, etc. Someone like an appointment manager from the POTUS 45 term. A high-end butler basically.
If Tim were to meet Emperor Naruhito of Japan, a different person would have to be consulted rather than some executive in Apple Japan. Same with someone like the Pope. A gift to Pope Leo XIV might be different than what would have been given to Pope Francis (the former considers tradition vastly more important than the latter). All the minute details are extremely important. The wording of the note that accompanies the gift, how it is wrapped, etc.
Apple already has a government relations team that knows how to navigate the DC business circles, grease palms, etc. That team knows what to do to get the GAO to approve the purchase order for ___ iPhones for the US Navy. That's different than physically addressing POTUS.
But for Apple's CEO, the reality is that it is a multi-dimensional world that he has to deal with. And it is not a black and white scale that he gets to choose while taking decisions. There are lot of grey areas involved and multiple dimensions to deal with, not as straightforward as you guys make it out to be.
Edit - When I mentioned "other side of the fence" in my initial post, I was talking about "posts critical of Apple" as the line. I have rarely seen posts critical of Apple from StrangeDays (if any). He usually posts ultra-aggressive responses to posts even mildly critical of Apple. He used to belong to "Protect Apple's image at ANY cost" group of posters in AppleInsider for many years (not in the last couple of years though).
Personally, this current move by Cook has me considering whether I want to upgrade anything from Apple this year. I can't reasonably disconnect and I don't care for other options available, but I can vote with my wallet by simply not buying new products from Apple (but that will only last so long). I'd also like to quite Amazon and never shop at Home Depot, but the best I can do is to make them last resort options which unfortunately is the best option far too often.
Remember that POTUS 47 was also POTUS 45 and that Tim Cook periodically engaged with POTUS 45. He already had a good clue as to how the Chief Executive behaves based on multiple prior interactions.
As for dealing with a child having a temper tantrum, I've seen A LOT of parents who handle their own offspring extremely poorly. Once Tim departs the White House, he's rid of POTUS for a while. Parents are stuck with their kids.
Not sure Steve Jobs had the type of personality that would handle the current administration better than Tim. Tim is -- compared to most CEOs -- a better diplomat, probably just due to his personality and maturity. We've seen at least one egomaniacal CEO not do quite as well (*cough*).
Heads of state are another animal. You are dealing with individuals. The current Japanese prime minister is much different than the last 7-8.
This is precisely why Apple's BOD probably uses a specialist in Tim's interacts with the current Chief Executive. They probably used someone else with the prior administration (not that Tim had much interaction with POTUS 46). But for sure, no Apple staffer is going to claim to be the expert on working with POTUS 47 unless they were a former and fairly recent aide.
There's no reason for Apple to employ this protocol specialist full time. That consultant would likely be working with the CEOs of a number of other companies. It's not like Tim is seeing POTUS 47 a couple of times a week. In the same way, if your marriage is on the rocks, you don't ask your marriage counselor to move into the spare bedroom at your house. A freelance consultant would be able to make far more money and have far more flexibility than punching a clock at one employer.
Apple's government relations team would still be very much involved in the details of the investment deals, etc. but we're not talking about that. The subject of this article is specifically about the gift. This is about accurately reading people's personalities, just like someone should know what sort of gift mom would appreciate.
And it is probable that people from the Apple government relations team knows their limitations. If even you're good, sometimes very good, occasionally there will be situations where you'd say, "Hey, you need a specialist for this."
If you run an NFL team you won't have an orthopedic surgeon on staff. But if one of your players wrecks their ACL or Achilles, you'll have some numbers in your Rolodex.