We’ve talked a few times about Apple this year and the direction we think it’s headed. I’ve made it pretty clear that I don’t think Tim Cook is the man for the CEO position. This weekend, after 5 years in charge, Cook revealed a lot in a long interview with The Washington Post. He revealed that running Apple is actually a lonely job filled with long hours, tough decisions, and a lot of weight on your shoulders.
Just weeks before Apple unveils its biggest product of the year, the iPhone 7, CEO Time Cook opened up about a lot. He discussed some of the biggest changes at Apple:
The obvious things are we have more employees in the company. The company is four times larger [by revenue since 2010]. We’ve broadened the iPhone lineup. That was a really key decision, and I think a good one. We’ve gone into the Apple Watch business, which has gotten us into wellness and in health. We keep pulling that string to see where that takes us. Lots of core technology work has been done.
He also touched on Steve Jobs:
To me, Steve’s not replaceable. By anyone. [Voice softens] He was an original of a species. I never viewed that was my role. I think it would have been a treacherous thing if I would have tried to do it. When I first took the job as CEO, I actually thought that Steve would be here for a long time. Because he was going to be chairman, work a bit less after he came back up the health curve. So I went into it with one thought, and then weeks later — six weeks later, whatever —It was very quickly. [The day he died] was sort of the worst day ever. I just — I had really convinced myself. I know this sounds probably bizarre at this point, but I had convinced myself that he would bounce, because he always did.
It was refreshing to hear Cook talk about the Apple Maps debacle and admit it as one of Apple’s biggest failures under his leadership. He goes into a little more detail about why it failed and what wasn’t a great fit.
Cook also discusses Augmented Reality (AR):
I think AR [augmented reality] is extremely interesting and sort of a core technology. So, yes, it’s something we’re doing a lot of things on behind that curtain that we talked about. [Laughs.]
You can read the whole interview from Tim Cook on Apple: HERE
For those that read it –what were your thoughts? What are your thoughts on Tim Cook as the CEO in general? What changes would you like to see made? What are you glad that he touched on or what were you left wishing he had discussed? Comment below!
