“What appears to be missing at Apple these days is what Steve Jobs did better than Cook, better than design honcho Jonny Ive, and possibly better than any technology executive in the history of Silicon Valley,” Kate MacKenzie writes for PixoBebo.
“Despite a few glaring missteps here and there,” MacKenzie writes, “Jobs could see and feel the future because he had a rare mixture of experience and vision that combined with position power and personal power to push the envelope forward with breakthrough after breakthrough.”
MacKenzie writes, “It should be clear to Apple followers and critics that CEO Tim Cook does not have that vision thing, and one can argue that he now has difficulty getting the trains to run on time. Cook has the position power but not the personal power to drive Apple’s monster hit machine the way Jobs did.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote on Wednesday:
“Pipeline Tim.” That sticks until the vaunted pipeline actually delivers.
Until then, Apple has made a number of mistakes, all of which look like laziness from the outside, including:
• No new 4K-capable Apple TV for Christmas 2016 (this would have been so easy, it’s inexplicable and unforgivable not to have this on the market right now)
• No new iMac, Mac Pro, and or Mac mini for far, far too long
• No Apple skinny bundle(s) for Apple TV while other companies ink deals and announce launches – these customers will be tough for Apple to get back once lost, if they ever get the deals signed. (Perhaps, Tim, you need to hire better negotiator(s) who can get the ink? Or make an acquisition that reshapes the industry, causing them to line up to work with you?)
• Flagship iPhone launches without its flagship feature (Portrait mode) and is currently still only in “beta” (seriously?)
• Apple TV remote looks to have been “designed” by Steve Ballmer himself (If Steve wasn’t already dead, the Apple TV Remote would have killed him; he would’ve had an aneurysm the second the mockup was handed to him)
• No new iPads for Christmas 2016 (Even simply “refreshed” with current A-series processors would have created more sales)
These are a few of the reasons why Apple fans and investors are and should be concerned.
On occasion, Steve Jobs teased the product pipeline, too. The difference is that Steve Jobs repeatedly delivered.
SEE ALSO:
Apple CEO Tim Cook still hasn’t introduced a mega-hit and investors are growing impatient – November 23, 2016
I’m not a fan of Tim Cook, but I think it’s really unfair to compare anybody to Steve Jobs he was a once in 100 years type of person, if that often.
I agree. People debate this as if Apple has a choice on another Steve Jobs or made a mistake losing him. Or for Tim Cook to BE another Steve Jobs.
Steve died. There isn’t another one and won’t be for a generation or three. The competition doesn’t have one either. Tim is, like everyone else, not him.
They need to find ways to replace things he gave them and you can debate how that is best done. But endless ‘Steve wouldn’t do that’ or ‘he would have done this’ or the sublimely fatuous ‘you can tell he’s not there anymore’ achieve nothing.
I’m not expecting another Steve Jobs — I’ve said for about two decades that Steve Jobs’ greatest talent, bar none, was when he was presented with a new concept or piece of hardware he knew better than anyone before or since whether that item would be the future or not. He wasn’t a great inventor of things, but when someone else showed him something he could tell if it would be “the next big thing” better than anyone else, maybe better than anyone else in the last 200 years or more.
I’m not expecting Tim Cook to be another Steve Jobs. What I am expecting is for Tim Cook to keep moving Apple forward — and at the very least NOT move it backward with regard to its competitors. In some areas, competitors have caught Apple and surpassed it. (And as an historical Apple supporter dating back decades, that was extremely difficult for me to type.)
Apple’s faithful sustained it through its dark days. We survived Sculley. We survived Spindler. We survived Amelio. We may even survive Cook. But, there is very little to make us believe that Cook is anything other than another Sculley. The Apple faithful are losing confidence (and many already have lost confidence) in Tim Cook.
People talk about the Apple Watch as if it were the Tim Cook great thing with extremely little (if any) input from Steve Jobs. I have to wonder if it is just Tim Cook’s Newton.
Tim Cook isn’t taking any real risks at all. The Apple Watch wasn’t a real risk. MacBooks (including the Pros) re just evolutions based on technology that had already been out (in some cases up to a year prior to Apple shipping something). In many cases Apple’s products are well behind the leading edge (Apple TV is a perfect example). Plus, turning a Pro machine into an appliance by making it impossible to self configure or upgrade is truly asinine. And, on top of it all, Apple has missed production schedules *repeatedly* since 2013.
Dip Tim in LSD and send him to India for a few months.
Worked for Steve.
Cook is lazier than a comatose person. People in 24-hour lockdown do more than this activist.
If he wasn’t so greedy, someone would have to check his pulse to make sure he’s still breathing.
Cook is an embarrassment to Apple, their consumers, and everyone who initially gave this incompetent the benefit of the doubt.
Because all you identities have 5-stars and everyone else has less than 2-stars.
ATTENTION MDN:
The poster known has pertblood71, KingMel, spyintheskyuk, herself… and many others, HAS BEEN HACKING THE MDN RATING SYSTEM FOR YEARS IN HIS FAVOR!
Complete falsehood and typical point-the-finger tactics of the guilty. Peterblood71 is registered on this forum, as am I. And I can assure you that I am not spy, herself, or anyone else on this forum. I do not have any idea if a rating hack even exists for MDN, and I would not use one if it existed. Besides, if you have a coupon life, you would see that most of my posts get three stars or less. I have a strong negative following from the alt right polititards on this forum, including Fwhatever, botty, etc.
Now *you*, on the other hand, are an anonymous poster of drivel who changes names like socks. You are able to post anonymously Only because MDN loves posts, any posts at all not matter how inane, because volume drives up ad revenue. That is why MDN regularly posts politically charged articles that have little specifically to do with Apple. MDN seldom censors posts as afar as I can tell, and I seriously doubt that MDN cares about the star ratings. So you get to post your crap and other peoplle get to vote their crap and that is the way that it is.
I am humored that you care so much about a stupid star rating that you are whining to MDN. But your post is just a pile of frustrated lies – I have only one vote per post.
Melvin, you need to contribute some more dough to Jill Stein…she’s only up to $5.7m in four days. Soros needs your help.
“It’s for democracy.”
Totally fair to compare Cook to Jobs. It must be done. First, this is business. Shareholders and customers are looking at whether Apple is viable for a number of valid reasons.
Second, this must be done: Jobs founded and built the whole thing. If a person doesn’t think about whether Jobs is replaceable they’re an idiot.
I know what will happen. I’ve been saying this for years: Jobs isn’t replaceable, Cook will ride his coattails, then run out of steam.
Other competitive comapnies will come along and Apple will never be the same, or may eventuallu disappear.
If you don’t compare a leader to his predecessor, how do you document a company’s rise and fall?
Tim’s done a great job.
What do these pundits expect – desktop cold fusion?
well, write him a note and tell him:
Pipeline Timmy
CEO, Apple Inc.
One Infinite Circle Jerk
Cupertino, CA 95014
Typo, botty. You mixed in your street address.
Psycho, Melvin. You mixed in your Purina Unicorn Chow.
Damn, botty, your retorts are getting weaker by the day. Your decline into senility is quite sad to witness…and at such a young age. Toddlers should not have to deal with dementia.
309-232….toddle that, marxist.
Actually, Eugene Botvinnik’s last name is taken from me. We don’t really know who his father is but it likely is someone who crawled up from under a bridge and forced me.
By the way, Eugene hates his first name.
“What do these pundits expect – desktop cold fusion?”
Exactly. Do they suppose we’ll give up iPhones for some other device?
An iPad-like device was shown in an Apple video in 1987. (Knowledge Navigator). It took 23 years till that came to be. The appearance of the iPhone and iPad was a huge transformation for society. We are not likely to see something like this for some time.
MDN, I fixed the Apple Remote upside down problem! I dropped it and the glass at the bottom was broken, so I put some duct tape on it. Now I never have the upside down. A remote made of glass, genius! Ive knew this upside down problem would be solved automatically!
Johnny Ives left mundane design to others. He’s now interested in fashion in other esoteric items. Tim Cook has no vision. The rest of the team is all about milking maximum number of bucks out of what Jobs left behind
Like Steve Ballmer’s Microsoft, Apple will make money for a long time. Don’t expect too much else
right on, such is the problem of outlandish performance wealth incentives, works if your pushing farm machinery but not if your mission is to “change the world”. jobs biggest mistake was the visionless, risk avoidance people he left in charge while politically tying the hands of BOD until it becomes painfully obvious.
I just bought a 55′ UHD 4K television. This new TV uses up-sampling to crate quasi-4K content from 1080p source material. Frankly, the up-sampling works so well that the current Apple TV looks flawless on my new TV.
Given that there is almost no 4K content to be had via streaming services and given that up-sampling works so well, there is absolutely no need for a 4K Apple TV this year.
That’s right. There is no 4K content. Well, except Netflix, Amazon, VUDU, YouTube, UltraFlix, FandangoNow, GooglePlay, DirectTV, dish and Xfinity.
I’ve got news for you. The reason you don’t have 4K is that you were a dummy and bought AppleTV.
You missed 1 iPhone 4K Video.
While I agree with everything said above, could the Apple watch be considered an exception? Apple’s last big hit, the iPhone, was not the first smartphone; Apple redefined the smartphone. Could it not be said that Apple did the same thing for smart watches, showing at least some vision?
whether someone likes Cook or not depends on a few things:
1) has the person been a long time Apple user or new to the eco system i.e does the person remember how things used to be under Jobs.
2) whether the person’s own pet product has been affected to Tim Cook. People who just own an iPhone or people who have invested tens of thousands on Mac Pro system with software etc and watch it languish.
3) whether you own Apple stock and for how long.
If you are not a high end user and don’t own Apple stock you couldn’t give a rat’s azz whether Cook has updated the Mac Pro or not or whether a Mac Pro even exists and might be very happy with things, if you depend on pro Apple devices for work or an investor who realizes that if aapl had the PE of Goog/alphabet the stock would be 300 you’ll be grinding your teeth
( watching old Jobs videos and seeing old pix is instructive).
Yes, if the only Apple product a person owns is an iPhone, he or she really does not care about the job Cook is doing. Each recent iteration of the iPhone is just enough better to keep sales from tanking.
Yet those of us who have more from Apple (iPhones, Macs, iPods, Airports, etc.) and maybe AAPL stock see a bigger picture. For the last two to three years that picture has NOT been pretty. It’s only getting worse.
The quote from Jobs that you show *is* the job of the CEO. It’s actually the job of every manager and above. Tim Cook seems to have a very different philosophy.
yes.
I’ll to add too that from past history people who aren’t very invested into Apple’s total ecosystem aren’t very loyal.
In the dark days practically everyone abandoned Apple and Mac for cheaper PCs except for pros (like graphics professionals) who realize the higher prices were worth it for the greater productivity + their great investments in software etc.
(note also that people abandoned Macs built in USA — most in Fremont and Elk Grove California I believe — for cheaper made in Asia PCs. NEXT computers were also built in USA and were so expensive that government won’t even buy them. when he returned Jobs hired Cook — Compaq/IBM — to fix the supply chain and the China expansion began)
not keeping up the whole eco system but depending on one hit iPhone a year is (besides bad for consumers) a dangerous business policy.
“We have exciting things in the pipeline.” – T.Cook 2012
“We have exciting things in the pipeline.” – T.Cook 2013
“We have exciting things in the pipeline.” – T.Cook 2014
“We have exciting things in the pipeline.” – T.Cook 2015
“We have exciting things in the pipeline.” – T.Cook 2016
How can you complain about Tim, he’s been the model of consistency? With that Jobs guy, you never knew what the hell he was gonna do next!
Apple has a very long pipeline. All those new products are taking a good while to get to the end and spill out.
Even if some good products come, don’t expect any mega-hits. There’s nothing Apple can do that hasn’t already been done. What could possibly come after the iPhone that would interest consumers as much? Any product Apple can build, any halfway competent manufacturer can build for less money.
It’s a shame. Apple isn’t even taking advantage of its A-series ARM chips in products. Apple doesn’t have a gaming console to match the PS4 or XBox One. All Apple has is a relatively weak AppleTV with the older A8-series processor. No 4K support despite most other companies supporting that resolution. Are Sony and Microsoft too much for Apple to take on as competition? I just find it strange how Apple is actually not trying to compete with other companies. It’s like they really don’t care if they lose market share to anyone.
What a sad list of bullet points.
No 4K TV? Go buy one from your local department store.
No iPad refresh? Doesn’t Apple get criticised for releasing them too often hence the lagging sales?
Apple TV remote. Don’t drop it. Same advice you give to someone and their iPhone. Yeesh.
No portrait mode? Oh well. I guess all the 7s are crap then.
Apple TV bundles? Perhaps Apple doesn’t have the clout that we all assume they have or demand they should have.
I grant you the complaints about the iMac et al but the others are ill thought out nit pickings.
what are you talking about?
MDN: ” No new 4K-capable Apple TV ”
YOU : “No 4K TV? Go buy one from your local department store.”
do you even know what an Apple TV is?
” releasing them too often hence the lagging sales?
shouldn’t that be the REVERSED, don’t upgrade enough causes lagging sales?
sheesh.
I find it funny that they can be “forward/future” thinking about the macbook pro and that is the reason for the usb c only ports, leaving many to have to buy dongles, yet with the apple tv, they cant be forward thinking enough and have it 4k.
I’m sorry but Cook has had several major hits. iPhone 6,6Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone SE, MacBook Pro Touchbar. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have made staggering amounts of money for Apple. Far beyond what Jobs could even imagine. If Apple had no hits it wouldn’t be making record profits now would it. Spoiled anal-ists just are never satisfied no matter what Apple puts out. That was also the case when Steve Jobs was around as well. Nothing was great enough ever. Apple TV is hindered by the networks and movie studios that won’t give Apple a fair deal for there content.
Tim Cook: Un-charismatic, stiff, and boring on stage.
I think the worst mistake Apple has made is that iMac, Mac Pro, and Mac mini have not been updated far too long and a lot of Mac users’ expectations have been raised extremely high along the way.. thinking that something grand was surely cooking.
the real troubling thing about this is that updating these Macs shouldn’t be very hard.
like they could just make a Tower for the Pro (Hackintosh folks build faster machines than the cylinder in their basements). They even have a template with the Cheese grater MP if they needed it, just update the guts. The C.G MP was a great design : so easy to upgrade drives, RAM, GPUs, PCI cards etc.
Upgrading these things are not like building ‘The Car’ or even the iPhone. Just build those Macs with Standard user upgradable parts inside. The RAM in the Mini should be upgradable like in the past (slightly bigger makes no difference in DESKTOP — enough of the ‘thin’ fetish )
etc.
(for flamers I don’t want to list down in detail all the facts etc why Macs are important but the gist is they make money: more money than iPads. IPads sales have stalled, dropping from 80 million a year to about half today. Macs are important for the ECO SYSTEM . You can’t even write Apple software or design Apple hardware without Macs )
Not upgrading Macs is
NOT technical
NOT lack of resources (Ive is designing coffee table books, Christmas trees and helping in Fashion Shows like the Apple sponsored Met Gala etc)
NOT lack of demand (Microsoft has shipped 300 million Win 10 copies and aiming for 1 billion)
etc
it’s just neglect and a bone headed lack of focus.
Hey Apple Management : making that ‘sex filled romp of Dr Dre’s life’ as Apple’s original mini series is NOT more important than Macs.
—–
(Mac Pros, MBP , 12.9 iPad Pro , Aapl investor )
Tim Cook, head of adapter innovation and credited with stellar business growth of the dongle category. Applause.
Apple continues to deeply disappoint me. Under Cook they’ve rendered iTunes into a hopeless mess, screwed up AirPlay (only mirroring is available as an option now), Apple TV still doesn’t support all of my streaming services — notably Amazon Video — and the remote looks like something someone designed on drugs (hint, Tim Cook: go on a journey and ingest acid there, not on the job). My iMac is seriously dragging now, and I don’t have any upgrade options. And now Apple’s going to dump its wifi routers? What happened to the “ecosystem”? And I’m still pissef at the for dropping the headphone jack. Consequently, I’m holding out on my 6s for a long time. I’m glad I’m not a shareholder, especially with the money they’re dumping into the Ring in Cupertino. I’ll be looking at breaking away from the ecosystem in pieces, and eventually free myself from my self-induced dependency on Apple.
Apple Watch is the #2 selling watch IN THE WORLD.
MacDailyNews is the #1 whiny bitch in the world.