About the rumor (via Re/code) that ex-Obama press secretary Jay Carney is in running to be Apple’s next PR chief, the well-connected Jim Dalrymple says:
Nope.
Tim Cook has never even met Jay Carney.
Via The Loop here.
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Obviously, it would be in Apple’s best interest to have someone in that position with at least some plausible believability.
Whew! What a relief!
Bring back Guy Kawasaki. I always liked him.
He was a great Apple evangelist for a while. I remember reading his articles. But I seem to recall that he split from Apple and sold out.
I was evangelized by him in 1985. Seems like a good fit. PR would give him the variety he seems to need. He is animated, and can say “Insanely Great” with all the conviction of SJ himself!
I’m very happy to hear this. I would no more want to see this man in any significant position in Apple than I would want to see Rush Limbaugh on the board of directors, though Rush is extremely knowledgeable on Apple products, never misses a chance to promote them and is demonstrably technically proficient. The problem is that he’s too polarizing a figure. Apple doesn’t need that. Apple must remain above that.
Clearly Tim Cook has political leanings. Still, I would hope that Apple continues walking the line between youthful political idealism, and the reality of being a successful business. The more he allows the former to intrude upon the latter, the less the latter will be true.
Steve Jobs was good at this. He was a hippy who’d tell you he’s paid enough taxes. He was a social democrat who’s spoken political ideology sounded more like vintage Ayn Rand than Barack Obama. He’d support the collectivist candidates yet cheer the rugged individuals. “Here’s to the crazy ones…” – “… As individuals, people are inherently good. I have a somewhat more pessimistic view of people in groups.” – SJ
Steve could handle that kind of dichotomy, or cognitive dissonance.
Tim Cook speaks of inclusiveness. I wonder if he does it with the typical leftist idea of inclusiveness (i.e. anyone except people who disagree) or if he truly means inclusiveness, like including even engineers who tend to skew Libertarian.
Not an easy job at all.
Good post, TMac. I, too, would prefer for Apple to avoid a politically polarizing hire. But the top criterion in my book is competence. If great competence comes with a little political baggage, then Cook and company can deal with it.
This is not a pitch for Carney. I have no more love for the guy than other people on this forum. He is not the right person for Apple.
Yeh, excellent post, TMac. Our politics don’t totally agree, but, if I may say so, I know I’d enjoy sitting with you and having a stimulating conversation. There is nothing wrong with disagreement when there is thought behind it (compared to the robotically churned out, doctrinaire talking points offered by some people here).
Thoughtful disagreement is the competition of the idea-place. Doctrinaire talking points are the burst pustules of an abscessed brain. 😆
I don’t know that Tim Cook has “political leanings” as in he wants to play in politics, but I think he recognizes better than Steve Jobs that Apple needs to use its power and influence to its advantage rather than keeping out of politics as Jobs did. Companies like Amazon and Google have significant lobbying arms, and we have seen Apple on the short end of the stick of political events (iBookstore anti-trust lawsuit, being called to testify for tax practices, etc.) where companies like Amazon have been given passes (no investigation even with the large bad PR for its latest ebook heavy hand activities).
An awesome and concise piece of writing worthy of Thos. Sowell himself, one of my few favorites.
Would be great to see Apple walk the walk and PRACTICE inclusiveness of all political parties.
The other story someone suggested Dana Perino. She would be perfect. Smart, attractive, articulate, level headed, common sense conservative woman.
Think different … :~)
O
There are Republican apples. They tend to be sour and full of alcohol.
As contrasted with Demtard politicos who are filled with dangerous concoctions of legal and illegal drugs and mysterious truth altering chemicals.
Nicely put. I always liked her image as trying as best possible to be as honest as that job allowed. She also was never an attack dog.
Good points, as well. DP is also no nonsense nice even when discussing tough subjects. Never a firebrand lightning rod and even the folks who may disagree politically, universally respect and like her. I just want to hug her … in a good way. :~)
Whew! Bullet dodged!
It was NEVER in the plan, not like Apple changed their mind reading the panic here on MDN.
Jay Carney is a joke. He has no PR director experience and was, quite frankly, a pretty bad White House Spokesperson.
Carney was handicapped. He had to describe the behavior of Republican lawmakers without ever using the word “asshole.”