Tim Cook talks Apple values, Steve Jobs, more at Salesforce conference

Posted:
in General Discussion edited February 2020
Apple CEO Tim Cook took part in a fireside chat with Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff at the latter's annual Dreamforce conference on Tuesday, where the pair discussed a range of well-trod topics ranging from Apple's values to human rights issues.

Cook Dreamforce
Source: Tim Cook via Twitter


During the casual one-on-one, Cook touted Apple's commitment to enterprise customers, an area of increased interest for the company as it branches out from mass success in the consumer market.

Of note, iPhone, iPad and Mac is now in use by all Fortune 500 companies, Cook said. How those firms leverage Apple's hardware and software package varies. Some use off-the-shelf solutions, others roll their own specialized apps and APIs, while a healthy number use products born of Apple's partnership with Salesforce.

Beyond Salesforce, Apple's venture to notch out a foothold in enterprise includes a 2014 partnership with IBM, a linkup with Cisco a year later and, more recently, a joint project with SAP in 2016. Apple's iOS is at the core of its push into the enterprise, with partners often bringing cloud computing assets, SDKs and other first-party technology to the table.

Cook and Benioff briefly touched on the Apple and Salesforce partnership, which was bolstered last year with Siri integration for Salesforce's Einstein AI platform. For 2019, the companies announced revised Salesforce Mobile apps for iOS and iPadOS, as well as an iOS-only Trailhead Go education app.

Like most talks involving Cook, the half hour chat in Los Angeles mostly revolved around Apple, with the CEO discussing the usual assortment of environmental initiatives, corporate values, wider human rights issues and more.

On the environment, Cook talked up Apple's pledge to shift its entire operation to 100% renewable energy, a heady goal that was achieved in April 2018. The company is now pushing suppliers, as well as market competitors, to follow in its footsteps.

"We stretch ourselves well beyond what we're currently able do to and we want to leave the world better than we found it," Cook said.

Apple has made privacy a keystone feature of its major product lines over the past couple years. Cook noted such protections are not easy to implement, but pay dividends to end users.

"You don't bolt on privacy," Cook said. "You think about it in the development process of products. You can see what happens when companies wake up one day and decide they're going to do something privacy-wise. You just can't do it, you have to design it in."

The Apple chief went on to discuss immigration reform, same sex marriage and other hot-button issues.

Cook also touched late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who cultivated the company's core values. The executive said Jobs' ethos of making products of the highest quality available is still alive and well at Apple, adding that the company is out to make the best, not the most. "Think Different" is also still a guiding light, and Apple is committed to innovating while staying true to its values, Cook said.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    Cook has lost too much credibility the way that he sucks up to both Trump and China.
    dewmeexsanguslmac
  • Reply 2 of 27
    JinTechJinTech Posts: 1,020member
    svanstrom said:
    Cook has lost too much credibility the way that he sucks up to both Trump and China.
    Would you prefer tariffs imposed on all your Apple goods?
    edited November 2019 pacificfilmuraharalolliverjony0
  • Reply 3 of 27

    Cook also touched late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs
    Oh?
    cornchipmobirdGeorgeBMacStrangeDayslolliver
  • Reply 4 of 27
    svanstrom said:
    Cook has lost too much credibility the way that he sucks up to both Trump and China.
    Lost credibility with who? China? Apple customers? General public? I"m not agreeing with the administrations use of tariffs at all, but Cook has to navigate whatever waters we are in, and they're pretty choppy right now

    fastasleepradarthekatchasmroundaboutnowuraharaStrangeDaysrandominternetpersonlolliverjony0
  • Reply 5 of 27
    svanstrom said:
    Cook has lost too much credibility the way that he sucks up to both Trump and China.
    When you're put in the position Apple has been put into you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. It's really easy for you to sit in your easy recliner and make these comments...aka armchair CEO. It's not so easy when you have a multi-billion company to run with investors constantly breathing down your back, the media just looking for something negative to report to the masses for days on end, and keep it running efficiently and the way you want to do business. 

    Frankly, I don't envy the position of Tim Cook as far as this topic goes. 
    edited November 2019 fastasleepradarthekaturaharaStrangeDayslolliverjony0
  • Reply 6 of 27
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    svanstrom said:
    Cook has lost too much credibility the way that he sucks up to both Trump and China.
    Cook said it, to those who were listening.  More progress can be made through engaging with those with whom you disagree than by simply taking your ball and bat and heading home.  Not his exact words, but his exact message.  I'd like to hear your argument suggesting he's not correct.  And please address in your argument your views on rope manufacturers who sell their product in China.  Should they take their ball and bat and go home too?  Because if you argue that Apple should exit China rather than allow their products to be used to spy on Chinese citizens (a simplistic view in itself) then you'd also have to argue that makers of climbing rope, for example, should exit rather than allow the potential that their product might be used to hang a dissident.  Once you've thought the matter through, you'll hopefully see that its the person holding the tool, not the tool itself, that bears the full blame.

    And... go!
    edited November 2019 StrangeDaysrandominternetpersonlolliverjony0
  • Reply 7 of 27
    DRBDRB Posts: 34member
    svanstrom said:
    Cook has lost too much credibility the way that he sucks up to both Trump and China.
    He's trying to get rid of tariffs on Apple products, which is part of Tim's job. Unfortunately, he has to work with a President with questionable objectives, but he's the one Cook has to deal with.
    uraharaStrangeDayslolliverjony0
  • Reply 8 of 27
    kevin keekevin kee Posts: 1,289member
    svanstrom said:
    Cook has lost too much credibility the way that he sucks up to both Trump and China.
    Huh! Cook's credibility just up a notch by the way he has to deal with that two not by choice but so that you can still afford the next iPhone.
    uraharalolliverjony0
  • Reply 9 of 27
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member

    Cook also touched late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs
    Oh?
    And there’s a perfect example of why proof-reading is important. 
    fastasleep
  • Reply 10 of 27

    Great guy and the perfect person to run Apple currently.

    If they ever make a biopic on Tim, I think Robert Patrick would look pretty good as the older Tim. Of course, he's probably older than Tim!



  • Reply 11 of 27
    I would put my reply to all you disagreeing with me like this…

    I think we can all agree that there exists lines that we won't allow to be crossed without us feeling absolutely forced to act; even if the action that we take is a fairly mild one, like how we sometimes stop buying at certain stores because we don't want our money to trickle down to whatever political donations the store owners do.

    And even if we in principle disagree with how military force has been used in the past, we do know that there exists situations where military forced sometimes must be used; like we wouldn't say "let's only talk" if a foreign force invaded and started killing our friends and family. We wouldn't just accept that happening to our friends and families because it's good for the stock market, or because it lowers the taxes levied on some of our favourite products.

    There just exists certain lines where we must act, and words aren't enough.

    If you don't mind supporting the communist party of China using their money to buy the world silent on certain issues, then you've chosen to draw certain lines way differently than me.
    cat52
  • Reply 12 of 27
    cat52 said:
    Once you've thought the matter through, you'll hopefully see that its the person holding the tool, not the tool itself, that bears the full blame.
    Wise words to bear in mind in light of the ongoing 2nd Amendment debates, as well.
    Nobody is actually debating the second amendment.
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 13 of 27
    svanstrom said:
    I would put my reply to all you disagreeing with me like this…

    I think we can all agree that there exists lines that we won't allow to be crossed without us feeling absolutely forced to act; even if the action that we take is a fairly mild one, like how we sometimes stop buying at certain stores because we don't want our money to trickle down to whatever political donations the store owners do.

    And even if we in principle disagree with how military force has been used in the past, we do know that there exists situations where military forced sometimes must be used; like we wouldn't say "let's only talk" if a foreign force invaded and started killing our friends and family. We wouldn't just accept that happening to our friends and families because it's good for the stock market, or because it lowers the taxes levied on some of our favourite products.

    There just exists certain lines where we must act, and words aren't enough.

    If you don't mind supporting the communist party of China using their money to buy the world silent on certain issues, then you've chosen to draw certain lines way differently than me.
    Onion headline: Armchair CEO has thoughts about running the biggest company in the world
    StrangeDayslolliverFileMakerFeller
  • Reply 14 of 27
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    I would love to see Apple expand in a meaningful way into both business and education.

    But, so far they have mostly failed because they take their consumer mentality approach and expect businesses and schools to adapt their ways to fit whatever products Apple decides to make available to them.  They will get some business that way (mostly slop over from the consumer side) but will not become a meaningful force that way.

    Businesses and schools want products that fit into their overall scheme of cost, maintainability, security, oversight, etc...

    Take the MacBook Pro as an example:   If anything breaks on it after a year, they have to buy a replacement because it is non-repairable.   A responsible business won't tolerate that for long.  That is:   they can buy a business class machine for less than half the cost of the MacBook -- and then repair it as  needed and run it for 5 or more years.  The fact that the MacBook is thinner and lighter won't mean much to the CTO or CIO when the cost savings come into play:  A responsible business is concerned about shipping product not the thickness of its laptops.

    In the case of schools, iPads are great.  But schools want laptops as well as the software needed to help them deliver their product:  education.   Apple has not delivered either.
  • Reply 15 of 27
    Take the MacBook Pro as an example:   If anything breaks on it after a year, they have to buy a replacement because it is non-repairable.   A responsible business won't tolerate that for long.  That is:   they can buy a business class machine for less than half the cost of the MacBook -- and then repair it as  needed and run it for 5 or more years.  The fact that the MacBook is thinner and lighter won't mean much to the CTO or CIO when the cost savings come into play:  A responsible business is concerned about shipping product not the thickness of its laptops. 

    In the case of schools, iPads are great.  But schools want laptops as well as the software needed to help them deliver their product:  education.   Apple has not delivered either.
    Wrong. Again: not-user-servicable != non-repairable. You can certainly have a broken MBP serviced.
    randominternetpersonsvanstromlolliverfastasleep
  • Reply 16 of 27
    I would love to see Apple expand in a meaningful way into both business and education.

    But, so far they have mostly failed because they take their consumer mentality approach and expect businesses and schools to adapt their ways to fit whatever products Apple decides to make available to them.  They will get some business that way (mostly slop over from the consumer side) but will not become a meaningful force that way.

    Yeah it's a real shame to see Apple failing.

    On the plus side Apple is the cause and beneficiary of the "consumerization of IT" that started a decade ago with the iPhone.  My company provides us all with a Dell laptop.  In every meeting I go to at least one or two people are taking notes on their MacBook and 80% of people are checking their calendars on their iPhones.  Apple is doing just fine in the workplace.
    lolliver
  • Reply 17 of 27
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    Take the MacBook Pro as an example:   If anything breaks on it after a year, they have to buy a replacement because it is non-repairable.   A responsible business won't tolerate that for long.  That is:   they can buy a business class machine for less than half the cost of the MacBook -- and then repair it as  needed and run it for 5 or more years.  The fact that the MacBook is thinner and lighter won't mean much to the CTO or CIO when the cost savings come into play:  A responsible business is concerned about shipping product not the thickness of its laptops. 

    In the case of schools, iPads are great.  But schools want laptops as well as the software needed to help them deliver their product:  education.   Apple has not delivered either.
    Wrong. Again: not-user-servicable != non-repairable. You can certainly have a broken MBP serviced.
    ROFL...   Go ahead, take it to an Apple Store and tell them to unsolder the SSD or unrivet the keyboard and solder / rivet a new one on...   Let me know how that goes...
  • Reply 18 of 27
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    I would love to see Apple expand in a meaningful way into both business and education.

    But, so far they have mostly failed because they take their consumer mentality approach and expect businesses and schools to adapt their ways to fit whatever products Apple decides to make available to them.  They will get some business that way (mostly slop over from the consumer side) but will not become a meaningful force that way.

    Yeah it's a real shame to see Apple failing.

    On the plus side Apple is the cause and beneficiary of the "consumerization of IT" that started a decade ago with the iPhone.  My company provides us all with a Dell laptop.  In every meeting I go to at least one or two people are taking notes on their MacBook and 80% of people are checking their calendars on their iPhones.  Apple is doing just fine in the workplace.
    LOL...   "Apple is failing"   Really?  Why did you say that?  I thought they were very profitable.   

    As for your point that Apple has already penetrated the corporate IT market, you kind of undermined it when you said:  " My company provides us all with a Dell laptop"  
  • Reply 19 of 27
    Take the MacBook Pro as an example:   If anything breaks on it after a year, they have to buy a replacement because it is non-repairable.   A responsible business won't tolerate that for long.  That is:   they can buy a business class machine for less than half the cost of the MacBook -- and then repair it as  needed and run it for 5 or more years.  The fact that the MacBook is thinner and lighter won't mean much to the CTO or CIO when the cost savings come into play:  A responsible business is concerned about shipping product not the thickness of its laptops. 

    In the case of schools, iPads are great.  But schools want laptops as well as the software needed to help them deliver their product:  education.   Apple has not delivered either.
    Wrong. Again: not-user-servicable != non-repairable. You can certainly have a broken MBP serviced.
    ROFL...   Go ahead, take it to an Apple Store and tell them to unsolder the SSD or unrivet the keyboard and solder / rivet a new one on...   Let me know how that goes...
    Go ahead, take your business laptop to your company's IT department and tell them to perform a particular fix for you. Most of the IT departments in companies large enough to have one will simply hand you a replacement machine that gets configured to your user profile, then perform their own diagnosis of the issue and apply the most cost-effective fix to the device. You might never get the original device back, but you have a solution with a quick turn-around time.

    Why is it problematic for a similar (not identical) approach to be tried by another provider?
    svanstrom
  • Reply 20 of 27

    I would love to see Apple expand in a meaningful way into both business and education.

    But, so far they have mostly failed because they take their consumer mentality approach and expect businesses and schools to adapt their ways to fit whatever products Apple decides to make available to them.  They will get some business that way (mostly slop over from the consumer side) but will not become a meaningful force that way.

    Yeah it's a real shame to see Apple failing.

    On the plus side Apple is the cause and beneficiary of the "consumerization of IT" that started a decade ago with the iPhone.  My company provides us all with a Dell laptop.  In every meeting I go to at least one or two people are taking notes on their MacBook and 80% of people are checking their calendars on their iPhones.  Apple is doing just fine in the workplace.
    LOL...   "Apple is failing"   Really?  Why did you say that?  I thought they were very profitable.   

    As for your point that Apple has already penetrated the corporate IT market, you kind of undermined it when you said:  " My company provides us all with a Dell laptop"  
    So, despite being provided with a Dell laptop by the company, people are choosing to make use of Apple products that they have to source and probably support through their own efforts. How does that undermine the point that Apple has made inroads into corporate activity?

    You and I have different detectors/filters for sarcasm.
    edited November 2019 svanstrom
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