Do I believe that Tim Cook is the absolute best person to be CEO of Apple?
No, I do not.
Someone more focused on the actual business at hand (delighting customers) and who has the ability to sell it onstage would be more successful. Likely wildly more successful. In the Apple CEOship as defined by Steve Jobs, Tim Cook is out of his element. He cannot keep products updated. He cannot innovate fast or far enough. He cannot even manage to have adequate supplies on hand at launches, repeatedly. Sometimes, he can’t even and won’t ever ship what he’s promised. To ice his half-baked, lopsided cake, his stultifying keynotes make waiting in line at the DMV seem exciting. Several of his VPs routinely do a far better job onstage than he.
I admire his commitment to privacy. (But, again, if Cook really were fully committed to privacy, we’d all have end-to-end encrypted iCloud data by now, inaccessible to anyone but the users who actually own it.) Certainly, Cook does really seem to care about equality, diversity, and the environment – also highly admirable traits.
However, I do not admire a CEO who lacked the foresight to realize the painfully obvious fact that neglecting the company’s flagship Mac for 5+ years would be a huge issue. An issue that would fester. A wound that would grow and be very difficult, if not impossible, to heal. One that would leave a permanent scar.
How could an Apple CEO not fathom the depth of Mac users’ passion? It’s inexplicable, but by now it’s plainly true that Cook never fully got it, regardless of its obviousness. The untenable Mac Pro situation proves it. I’m not sure Cook gets it even now. And when he finally rolls out a new Mac Pro half a decade too late, he will not be absolved.
Almost anyone could have done a better job with the Mac than Tim Cook. It’s as if Tim Cook said to himself, “Gee, how can I piss away all my goodwill with Apple’s core users as irretrievably as possible?” And then he set about to do just that. Well, mission accomplished! That’s more than I can say for AirPower.
A CEO who really understood the Apple that Steve Jobs built would have known implicitly that Mac users demand state-of-the-art excellence and he would have made sure to always take proper care of them and the Mac product line — hardware and software — regardless of how many asininely-named iPhones he was moving. Yet, Cook failed to properly take care of the Macintosh (of all things!) for many years. He rubber-stamped Jony’s fevered Mac Pro dream. Then he left it to rot for over half a decade. He also approved, tacitly at least, the infamous butterfly keyboard, presumably in the interest of shaving off half a millimeter about which nobody gave a rat’s ass. Aside from the Mac, he trotted out AirPower, promised it would ship last year, then killed it via a late Friday email dump after printing it on new AirPods boxes. No, really. Unfortunately, I could go on and on and on.
He came from Compaq, after all.
After what Steve Jobs built, a chimpanzee could run Apple profitably for many years. (Yes, even Steve Ballmer could do it.) — MacDailyNews, April 10, 2017
Will I shed a tear when Tim Cook finally exits Apple? Take a wild guess.
Let’s face it, Steve Jobs’ track record of picking Apple CEOs was less than stellar.
Hopefully, when the time comes, Sculley II isn’t up next. Yes, it could be worse. Cook fans can bask in whatever solace they can scrape up from the bottom of that sentiment, at least. No, I’m not expecting another Steve Jobs, but I’d settle for someone who’d at least be able to grasp that neglecting the Mac Pro, not to mention for so long, would be an obvious, glaring, reputation-tarnishing mistake.
As you may have gathered by now, I and the rest of the staff at MacDailyNews are not here to blow smoke up Apple Inc.’s C-Suite’s collective ass. We are here for Mac users — and, by extension, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS users — and we demand excellence at all times and in all endeavors.
If you can’t deliver, why are you still here?
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and, when he awakes from Rip Van Winkle-esque slumbers, a contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.
SEE ALSO:
Apple CEO Tim Cook plummets in Glassdoor’s tech CEO rankings – June 20, 2018
Apple CEO Tim Cook plummets 45 spots in employee ratings – June 22, 2017
Apple CEO Tim Cook falls from 1st to 18th in Glassdoor’s tech CEO rankings – March 15, 2013
Ouch!
I’ve been saying Tim isn’t right since day 1. MDN/SteveJack have the kind of character that is arrogant and bipolar. No loyalty. No consistency. No friendship.
One day Apple and Tim are great, the next day the opposite. You have no credibility and an inability to form meaningful relationships or have empathy.
Aside from that, Tim Cook sucks and so does his Apple.
It’s not difficult:
MacDailyNews loves Apple, not Tim Cook.
The only praise I’ve ever seen from MDN for Cook is included above: Privacy, equality, diversity, and the environment.
So, in reality, Apple is great and when it’s not, the buck stops at Tim Cook, the guy Jobs chose because he supposedly could keep the trains running on time, but, as he’s proven repeatedly, cannot actually do so reliably.
“You have no credibility and an inability to form meaningful relationships or have empathy.”
Huh? Where did that come from? Project much?
Several times in the past MDN has avidly praised Tim Cook — and not just for the areas you mention. I wish I had the time to research back and give even a partial list of the times MDN has praised Tim Cook for his “leadership” at Apple.
As I posted recently, MDN has a distinct multiple personality disorder when it comes to both Apple and Tim Cook. The switching back and forth between love and hate of each of them is clear.
I’ve been calling Cook Sully 2.0 for years. It is just recently been so obvious that anyone with two or more fully functioning brain cells can see it too.
Over the years MDN has praised Cook. My description is accurate.
Tim Suck… Apple has nothing new and good after Steve is gone.
In a word, “ouch” says it all. Hate to admit that Stevejack is right, but he nailed it. Any residual Apple success is basically the result of the ripple effect of Steve’s impact on the world… but with time, the ripples of Steve Jobs’ are getting fainter and fainter.
I’ve recommended Apple products for decades. Now, I hesitate more often than I’d like to admit. But I say this in the hope that someone at Apple is listening as if would be a shame if Apple became just another corporation.
Absolute nonsense. Steve never had to deal with a company this big. It was half this value when he passed. Tim isn’t a visionary. But there should be plenty of people who are. Like jony. Who showed things to Steve. What’s he showing to Tim? Is Tim saying no to these amazing objects? Doubtful. Wait for the car
“Absolute nonsense.”
Okay, let’s rate SteveJack’s points TRUE or FALSE:
“Someone more focused on the actual business at hand (delighting customers) and who has the ability to sell it onstage would be more successful. Likely wildly more successful.”
TRUE.
“[Cook] cannot keep products updated.”
TRUE.
“[Cook] cannot innovate fast or far enough.”
TRUE (so far).
“[Cook] cannot even manage to have adequate supplies on hand at launches, repeatedly.”
TRUE.
“Sometimes, he can’t even and won’t ever ship what he’s promised.”
TRUE.
“[Cook’s] stultifying keynotes make waiting in line at the DMV seem exciting. Several of his VPs routinely do a far better job onstage than he.”
TRUE.
“A smart, prepared CEO – or even a mediocre one – would have created and maintained a team dedicated to truly taking care of the Mac – all Macs – and easily avoided a raft of bad feelings and bad publicity…”
TRUE.
“Cook obviously lacked the foresight to do so. It’s an obvious, easy, first-day-on-the-job concept, but Cook utterly blew it.”
TRUE.
“Almost anyone could have done a better job with the Mac than Tim Cook.”
TRUE.
“[Cook] rubber-stamped Jony’s fevered Mac Pro dream. Then he left it to rot for over half a decade.”
TRUE.
“He also approved, tacitly at least, the infamous butterfly keyboard, presumably in the interest of shaving off half a millimeter about which nobody gave a rat’s ass.”
TRUE.
“Aside from the Mac, he trotted out AirPower, promised it would ship last year, then killed it via a late Friday email dump after printing it on new AirPods boxes.”
TRUE.
“[Cook] came from Compaq, after all.”
TRUE.
“Let’s face it, Steve Jobs’ track record of picking Apple CEOs was less than stellar.”
TRUE.
Toothing your own horn? Judge , jury and executioner?
Feel free to actually explain why any of the TRUE statements I’ve outlined above are untrue in your opinion. I look forward to it.
Actually NONE are true…just whinger opinion who doesn’t bother to list one positive about Apple under Tim Cook for balance.
#armchairceo in a basement and business nous free zone.
Ré the article headline…well opinions are free and everyone has one, just like we all have an….in fact MDN regularly uses that same remark many times to get a rise out of some negative Apple coverage they disagree with.
Words like Hoist and Petard come to mind not to mention the total lack of irony.
An entertaining rant granted.
Actually NONE are true…just whinger opinion who doesn’t bother to list one positive about Apple under Tim Cook for balance.”
Balance? This has nothing to do with the liberal dream of the fairness doctrine. This has to do with cold hard facts, sonny boy. Too obvious you can’t handle it like the rest of the fanboys including Jimbo.
In the real world, actually ALL ARE TRUE. The only silly notion of balance I can offer is Cook screwed up so much, Apple has only slowed down in soft decline. Ignoring Mac Pros for over five years and iPhone sales dropping, we shall see. The sooner Cook leaves Apple the better…
Well said.
To those of us steadfast Apple loyalists, through thick and thin since the 1980s, we will NEVER forget.
The decades of highs and lows, the banner front page headline in USA TODAY (#1 circulation) announcing Windows 95 dominance, the clone wars under hapless Amelio, the snide mocking of the Second Coming of Steve by Mikey Dell who famously announced Jobs should sell the company and return money to shareholders.
Think about the following carefully. At the time, the media proclaimed Windows ruled the world and Apple was near death. The board took note, released Amelio and brought back the prodigal son.
In a stroke of sheer genius, bearded Steve stood before the world onstage in 1997 and with mighty moxie served strong notice, with a target graphic on Mikey’s face in the background, we’re coming after you.
The tech world and the mainstream press mocked in disbelief. We all know how that turned out and it feels good to have the last laugh.
Contrast that stage presence with present day pasty CEO Cook, embarrassingly empty and uninspiring. You don’t have the stage moxie, you don’t have the creatives genius, you don’t care for devoted legacy users.
You only care about the bottom line that is not helpful to the bottom line of any Pro. You have let us down for FAR too long. Simply long overdue for a good separation rainbow party in the spaceship and afterwards go quietly in the night…
“Absolute best “. LOL LOL
what the hell is that supposed to mean ? Lol
Anyone who thinks Tim is not the right person as CEO of Apple has to get their head out of their bottoms and start smelling the coffee.
What Apple was at the time of Steve Pales in comparison to juggernaut it is now…. both revinue and profitiblity wise… and Complexity !
And TIM has brought it where it is today…. The most profitable public comp.
From a corporate point of view, it is silly and ludicrous to try and knock him.
His accomplishments at Apple are incredible by any corporate or CEO standards..
Yup some Jobs worshipers cant get over their dogmatic worship.
And some complain there is no iphone se or the mac pro is late.. be it……but that in no way renders TIM as a bad ceo. He has done wonders in the net …. but to see that your mind sets has to go beyond lemonade stands…
” he is not the Absolut best “ lol. … what a ridiculously statement !
I sympathize with your plight. It’s tough to be a Tim Cook sycophant when confronted with so much brutal truth.
There are literally thousands of CEOs or potential CEOs who could do better with Apple Inc. than Tim Cook.
Mark this comment. When Cook finally goes and, if Apple gets even somewhat lucky with the next one, reread my words five years into the next Apple CEO’s reign.
Please Name a few that are availible …..
That’s child’s play. The Second Steve heir apparent Scott Forstall…
‘Tim Is the right person for Apple’.
Who put him there and who’s business is (kind of) running?
You find him ‘the right person’ because … you like him, you say so and… money?
What about products? Results? Quality? Product consistency? Respect a company’s heritage? Forward thinking?
Why don’t you put your head back to its place and smell the coffee. You might realise the mess.
PS: ‘Job worshipers’? Get the F out of here
“What Apple was at the time of Steve Pales in comparison to juggernaut it is now…. both revinue [sic] and profitiblity [sic] wise… and Complexity ! And TIM has brought it where it is today…. ”
Not at all. The vast majority of things at Apple take a few years from concept to shipping product — even next gen iPhones. The first three or more years of Tim Cook’s reign was already in progress when Tim Cook took over. It’s all been downhill (for products and delivering on promises and quality) since those first few years.
Tim Cook has turned from an extremely good operations manager to a bean counter. It’s all about valuation of the company in the market and about pushing profit — at the expense of virtually everything else. Hell, he’s even starting to fail at that. Apple is no longer “[t]he most profitable public company” according to recent reports.
“From a corporate point of view, it is silly and ludicrous to try and knock him.” It’s not silly or ludicrous. Tim is screwing things up. Your not seeing that is either short sighted or delusional.
I’m no Steve Jobs worshiper. Jobs could be (and all too often was) the worlds most arrogant ass. He very rarely invented anything or came up with completely new and independent ideas himself. He mad huge mistakes. But, at least he always pushed the company forward, and he was all about the user experience in an effort to make the best products that customers had not even dreamed they needed until Apple provided it. What product under Tim’s “leadership” can you point to that does that? Apple Watch? No. The trashcan Mac Pro? No. The iMac “Pro”? No. The new services? No. The new Apple Credit Card? No. The list can go on and on.
To top all this off, there’s a brain drain going on at Apple. Tim’s inability to keep (and get) the best and brightest is going to haunt Apple for some time.
“Anyone who thinks Tim is not the right person as CEO of Apple has to get their head out of their bottoms and start smelling the coffee.”
Anyone who thinks Tim is not a disaster needs to get their head out of their arse!
Bring back the prodigal son, ctreative genuis Scott Forstall…
Timmy’s passive aggressive behavior with the Mac can most likely be directly linked back to his Compaq days, and the complete contempt of anything Mac and Mac-users that existed in that company.
Apple’s management team collectively misjudge the importance of keeping the core customer base who collectively carried the company through all the terrible years. A base, which without, the iPhone would never have seen the light of the day.
Unless they are able to get and kindle that spirit, they would be better off farming out the entire Mac business in a new Apple Computer, with focus on exactly that – computers (and not mobile devices).
The monolithic “ouch” as I and many other founding fanboys have been saying for years now — Clueless Cook is so out of his league, out of touch and amassed a dismal record as Apple CEO. Steve Jack take a bow for writing the finest and most accurate opinion piece of all time on this topic… 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I think he is going too easy on TIM COOK. Cook is ruining Apple by giving WALL STREET what they want to see. Iphone sales are down and I bet my allowance that the Imac Pro and Mac Pro ARE NOT SELLING based on the fact that STEVE JOBS tried an APPLE RAID in 2009 for 3500 dollars that never took off. However, APPLE’S STOCK IS WAY UP. WHY? BUY BACKS. Part of the problem is THAT INTEL LIED to STEVE JOBS. They gave him a processor map that went into the future with (I’m assuming 5ghz processors with NO HEAT ISSUES). However, Tim Cook SEEMS TO THINK WOMEN ARE STUPID because he is marketing only to them. With Skinnier almost STILETTO like computers only a slave in China wants to FIX. I tore my 2014 IMac screen because of an ALIGNMENT ISSUE (the screen is like TISSUE). He has bogged down each model series with a complicated MACYS meets MICROSOFT multi TIER STRUCTURE that IS NOT APPLE. He is SOLDERING SSD’S TO THE MOTHERBOARDS of machines under 2000 (what if that drive failes?). Apple is based on a European model. Steve Jobs was A HUGE FAN OF MIELE and other European designed items. His marketing structure WAS SIMPLISTIC AND FOCUSED like an ARMANI chain. Tim Cook has no FOCUS and it shows. His approach harks back to when GAP CEO’s were jealous of TARGET and tried to become TARGET with I kid you not GAP PERFUME AND GAP DOG COLLARS. Confused and tripping over himself. He is also adding 300 to 400 dollar mark up, sometimes more on the Mac Pro line to an INTEL/ASUS build. I just put together an ASUS build of a mac pro with TWO CORES on the motherboard and two INTEL XEON W 28 CORE CHIPS. It only cost 6000 dollars. I hadn’t gotten RAM yet, but I could slowly add my way up. That is the main COST OF THE MACHINE. I studied STEVE JOBS and he only added 100 to anything below 2,000 dollars for an equitable INTEL/ASUS build and he added 200 to anything over 2000 and then you had to factor in the FREE OS SOFTWARE that just works better than WINDOWS. Tim Cook is ruining ALL THAT FOCUS and WORK.
And he didn’t even talk about Iphone’s new keyboard
Tim Cook should quit .
Over the weekend I visited the Apple Store at “Avalon” north of Atlanta. Then I posted this to FB:
I went to an Apple store and asked questions about the new iMac. Answers were not complete and in some cases incorrect.
For the first time I give Apple an “F” for customer service.
====
The question of questions for the new iMac is “will the new i9 processor throttle itself while under full load”? If it did this a lot, there would be little reason to spend money on the top processor.
The case is nearly identical to my 2012 iMac but my i7 draws 77w while the i9 draws 95watts. That is a significant difference. Without more robust cooling, temperatures in the new one will be way higher.
===
….For the first time an “F”….
The sad thing is I WANT TO SPEND $3000 ON A NEW APPLE COMPUTER!!
Ps: I’m not some computer geek but all I want it to know is that I’m getting good value for money. That question remains unanswered. That fact is an indication that something is very, very wrong at HQ.
“If you can’t deliver., why are you still here.?”
Such a stupid question,! . He is here to work for the money.
Actually, “Why are you still here?” is a clever use of Cook’s most famous quote. Most of us got it.
Apple popularized the notion of the Personal Computer, and Apple killed it. And it was Jobs, not Cook that did so.
The PC was liberating, so are smartphones, but smartphones come with an IT department. Jobs did that. Cook simply sacrificed even more features to streamline the supply chain.
Listen, Apple cares for Apple. That some of you fans are only now waking up to it remember this…. your loyalty and obedience contributed to this.
What you don’t realize is for many of us Apple is a religion. It has a history of struggle and survival, it has relics, its has sacred sites, it has a pantheon of Saints and most importantly and unlike every other religion is actually delivers something of value! Apple is not just a corporation it is something special.
Enjoy your MacPro.
Oh I will.
You’re adorable. And also part of the problem. Letting them slide the way you do.
2013 called, they said thank you.
All religion is BS and your idea Apple is a religion is even bigger BS. Jobs is dead – DEAD – for quite some time now. He was singular and unique. You and people like you are stuck in something that doesn’t exist anymore and was gone a long time ago.
JHFC, get over yourself. Apple is a business that has delivered very well for its owners over a very long time. It’s evolved and changed.
You say we’re talking about “something that doesn’t exist anymore” like it’s some foregone conclusion.
If it truly doesn’t exist anymore, it’s because of concrete steps the leaders of the company have taken (or not taken). There’s no reason to just accept that this is the new normal.
Ages ago I always disliked when people spoke about Apple as a religion or the “Apple Faithful”–but Apple was always more than a company. It was an enterprise started by Human Beings with an unmistakable “soul”. The end result was a company always more interested in delighting customers with things they didn’t know they wanted, then with market share or stock price. Delighting customers first and foremost always seemed to take care of the company’s financials, at least enough for them to keep doing what they seemed to love.
That “feeling” sure seems to have disappeared–and is attributable to decisions being made at the top of the house.
Tim Cook, find something else to do–’cause you sure don’t seem passionate about the company you’re running, or who you’re making these products for.
Change the preset definition to past and your on point.
Not ‘is’ but ‘was’
Over 20 years of great service always rated top or close great products that highly selective the creative professionals in particular chose as fundamentally superior for their needs, unmatched reliability (5 machines since 1988 & 5 days without one working all that time) all these and more make a mockery of your delusional twaddle. Apple users and fans helped create and indeed re-create a great company, it’s just sad that Cook isn’t up to the job of progressing it. But it’s Cook’s lack of respect for that viral public driving force that’s caused problems, not that driving force ie the customer’s loyalty itself. He runs Apple like any other company, which is why he is in danger of reducing it to the relatively mundane reputation of most of those other companies, that’s the real loss, the uniqueness that made its users feel unique too.
Hate to bring this up to you, but you had nothing to do with it beyond your wallet.
… that if you’re bucking for the “Asshole Of The Year” award you are on track to win it.
Not running for office, countering bullshit.
That’s funny given your post is pure bullshit.
That’s why it’s not Apple Computer any longer…. But i’m BSing.
I would suggest some ppl need to read Leander Kahney’s new book Tim Cook “The genius who took Apple to the Next level”. Tim has done an amazing job of an impossible task – follow in Steve Jobs footsteps. I would suggest a lot of this hate for him is actually homophobic!
Tim Cook is a “genius” who didn’t grasp that neglecting the Mac Pro for half a decade would be an issue.
Tim Cook’s real “genius” was in telling Jobs he could have a portion of his liver, knowing that Jobs would never take it, but that he’d get the CEO position by doing so.
The vast, vast, vast majority of Apple customers don’t know what “Mac Pro” means and don’t care. This one item is not the measure of whether he is a good CEO or not.
re “we demand excellence at all times”
– Then you must be very unhappy with Steve Jobs.
– Name any current computer or phone company CEO who is markedly better than Tim Cook.
“The vast, vast, vast majority of Apple customers don’t know what “Mac Pro” means and don’t care.”
Right, a very small number of Apple Pros exist compared to the average customer. But not interested in your B🐂S💩 opinion speaking for other “Apple customers.”
Apple Pros have kept the company afloat through thick and thin from the beginning. So tell me Sean, as a liberal do Apple minorities matter to you, hmm?
Answer, no. When it comes to Apple Pros you proudly diss and discriminate. Not a surprise, par for the course.
“This one item is not the measure of whether he is a good CEO or not.”
Ahhhhhh, no! This one item as you dismiss it is what BUILT APPLE. What part of that do you not understand?
“Name any current computer or phone company CEO who is markedly better than Tim Cook.”
All of them. Cook has a Rose Gold coach seat cluelessly riding the iPhone gravy train for years in the house Steve Jobs BUILT.
Get a grip, fanboy…
He didn’t design it into a thermal corner. Or the MacBook Pro keyboard. All the god Ive. Who no one wants to critics. He has no more ideas. He puts out shit. Cook is handling something twice the size Jibs ever had to. He’s no jobs. Not a visionary. He’s an actual CEO.
Yes, those of us who think Apple isn’t run as well as it could be run are “homophobic.” Just like those of us who disagreed with Obama administration policies and actions were “racists.”
This is what Dem/Lib/Progs do when they can’t refute a position, they attack the messenger as “homophobic” or “racist” or whatever in an effort to dilute the irrefutable content of the message that they don’t want others to hear.
But you are so refutable…
You are one who applauded Bill Clinton while he was raping women right and left and Hillary was siccing goons on them to shut them up.
Rape?!
I assume you have solid conspiratorial evidence.
Worry about your p-grabber as well.
wow, you are an idiot. No wait you are entitled to your opinion. You know opinions are like a-holes, eve4ryone has one. here’s mine. Tim Cook has turned Apple into the most valuable company in the world. So SteveJack are you homophobic?
Yes, those of us who think Apple isn’t run as well as it could be run are “homophobic.” Just like those of us who disagreed with Obama administration policies and actions were “racists.”
Answer the question you homophope
What part of SteveJack’s article is “homophobic,” exactly?
By the way, I’m a lesbian.
Your best friend 2014 is the one who brought up homophobia, Clintons and Obama. Do you two clowns have any idea how transparent you are?
Did “2014” really bring up “homophobia?” Or the “Clintons?” Or “Obama?”
No, no, and no.
Try again.
Nope, Tim Cook isn’t the best person but there’s plenty of others in the company that need to go too. Today’s Apple is proof that you get too big and you can’t manage look at all the rest of them over the years Apple will ultimately fall.
He’s the operations-matrix guy. The numbers person. The mathematician. He figures—and the Board accepts—that if Apple makes boku bucks in profits he’s doing a great job. Thus all the attention on iPhone.
I say bump Federigi or maybe even call Forestall (assuming his time in the desert has wisened him). Call me crazy but Angela Aherens was a terrible hire who took apple stores to new levels of mediocrity. Thank God she’s out of the picture for CEO.
The thing is, when you start to look beyond the trains (sort of) running on time you begin to see a deep rot in Apple that could take a decade or more to be visible from the surface. Ticking off the pros. Killing Aperture. Letting designs languish. Promising products that defy logic and the laws of physics (AirPower). Plus the reliance on sickening hyperbole in the keynotes that is Trumpian in its own way. Plus the issues rehearsed above (lots of trains are not running on time). Plus what’s-his-name open shirt guy who does God knows what…
It goes on and on.
There’s trouble in river city. I’d like to see a new vision and new leadership. Bet lots of people would.
Are we willing to risk $80 Billion a year in profits? Well ask yourself. Aren’t we risking that anyway by leaving Tim at the helm?
Great take. My worst fear with Cook is that he seems to be totally self obsessed but without any of the underlying excentricities of that mental state. Who does he actually listen to, anyone?
It’s almost like the continuous criticism of the man is never seen by him, let alone shrugged off as he sits in his ivory tower contemplating who knows what. No sign of any attempt to strengthen the creative side of top management as I’ve goes increasing awol and unreliable. Worse still no sign whatsoever of a potential successor being groomed, it’s like a paranoid leader trying to keep everything suppressed, risk averse indecisive and the more he tries to preclude mistakes the more that seem to breach the barriers he builds. And not one moment that’s obvious to outsiders where he just might hint that he recognises he had a good 4 years or so post Jobs by keeping everything stable despite negative pressure from doomsayers and analysts alike predicting disaster and during that time building an eventual leadership to smoothly take over and reinvigorate the business with vision and innovation which he must surely recognise he does not posess but the company always needed in the post iPhone revolution.
He seems increasingly out of touch and singularly bloody minded about change, like some desperate hated and increasing failing and deluded dictator holding onto power for fear of the result of letting go. Worryingly he seems to tnink he is doing right by the company rather than himself.
You can add Eddy Cue to that list
oh paaa-leease…So who’s gonna do it..? You SteveJack? What I hate about critics in any field is that they have no talent or ability to create anything useful in the world, except their inexperienced criticisms… pick up a broom and do something constructive with your life.
Defensive sycophants however do it all… /s
A great choice for the next CEO would be Ed Breen, former CEO of Dow and Dupont Chemical. Breen is an organizational expert. He is also an expert at creating organizational structures that help maximize company performance and stock performance. Apple currently has NO rational organizational structure. That is how the Mac Pro is neglected for five years. It is a project oriented company. There are no product divisions with clear P&L responsibilities tied to each product line. The current structure made sense to Steve Jobs with his Buddhist Zen ideas. Apple was a lot smaller then and even struggling to survive. Now Apple is the largest manufacturing company in the world with a broad range of products and services. It needs a real organizational structure to bring discipline that Apple lacks. Breen has the sense to bring the expertise he has in putting organizations together that produce maximum value. He would add huge value by making each line produce to its maximum potential. And not coming from inside Apple he would bring some needed new ideas, while still having the common sense to preserve the DNA that Steve Jobs injected into Apple.
Apple needs someone who knows how to run a large complex business and who is not afraid to make changes where needed to set the stage for big growth. Apple also needs someone not captive to the political correctness that can lead to wasted money and time in investments and bad policy – like alienating all your conservative customers by constantly promoting Democrat agenda items. This political motivation in Cook has led to huge losses in electric cars which are not in demand and in practicing censorship on the App Store and iTunes where freedom of expression is far more in line with Steve Jobs vision.
I say hire Ed Breen. He needs some sunshine. He should be done in New Jersey.
Ed Breen, might be ok for investors.
What users want is someone who:
Understands information technology
Will keep quality high (service, software, hardware)
Products up to date
Push the technology envelope
Investor’s need to remember, it all start with users. If they aren’t happy neither will be the investors.
I’d suggest Jeff Wilke from Amazon.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/jeff-wilke-the-amazon-chief-who-obsesses-over-consumers-1507627802
Ed Breen has been in tech. He is a far better man to build the company than anyone from Amazon. He would put the right people in charge of the tech areas and give them what they need to do better. He might shut down some things like a huge car project that is destined to fail. Breen has the smarts to get Apple growing mostly with people it has who are being underutilized. And each product would shine because it would have an organization behind it making certain it stayed in front of the competition. Most of the hires made by Tim Cook have been awful. Angela Ahrendts – give me a break. Keeping Eddie Cue. Lisa Jackson – very creative hiring an Obama groupie.
Apple needs executive leadership. And it needs some discipline that Cook has failed to provide and only the massive cash input from iPhones has saved Cook thus far.
An essay like this is not credible without naming a person who by experience, training and past performance would clearly and definitely be a better person to run Apple. I can’t think of any; maybe you can.
Granted, Jobs had superior vision but, relevant to all the Apple investors in MDN’s audience, It was and is Cook who made and currently still makes the money. When Jobs was alive prior to Cook, Apple was lauded for its visionary products and accomplishments but never made very much money. As soon as Cook arrived the cash started piling up and the size of Apple ballooned. There were snafus under Jobs like not making enough macs to satisfy demand, not putting a DVD player in the original iMac, the Cube Mac and lack of a promised white iPhone model for 6 months. All similar to more recent occurrences under Cook and which I view as inevitable for a company as large and complex as Apple.
It is clear from the presentation when Apple executives announced the development of a new modular Mac Pro that they were very surprised their current carefully planned and thought out cylinder Mac Pro had not worked out. They admitted their mistake and said they were correcting it. Let all of you out there who have never made a mistake be the first to criticize.
Running a company as large and complex as Apple is a job for which there is no training available. Cook became an adept CEO candidate during OJT that is not available at an equivalent standard today. I disagree that there is anyone better available to run Apple.
The essay isn’t credible because it doesn’t offer a solution? There’s many problems in today’s world that might not have ready solutions–but that doesn’t make the problems or discussion of them any less credible.
Apple was never a company that would push less-than-stellar products onto an accepting populace. They seem to be moving that way now. Great, the stock is up. It’ll be a sad day in the Universe when Apple becomes “just another large tech company” with no real rudder.
F off MDN. There is absolutely no one who can replace Tim Cook and he was absolutely the right person to lead the Apple after Steve Jobs died. Steve himself had been working with Tim Cook for years so he knew everything about Tim Cook and how he was and is dedicated to the Apple. I own my small part of Apple and I will make sure that he gets my vote of confidence every time when some yahoo is trying to oust him.
“There is absolutely no one who can replace Tim Cook.”
M’kay. Your debate skills need even more work than AirPower.
Yeah, and who is this SteveJack anyway? He acts like he basically described the iPhone five years before Apple debuted it or something!
(Brought to you by Carl’s jr.)
Pure Psychobabble… stevejack needs to see what real talented people are doing with Macs old and new. Other than writing Opinions in the Notes App.
Actually take out the word ‘New’ as we all seem to be stuck with “pro gear” Thats frustratingly OLD
and its now about showing how Mac users are being so creative with old gear we need to be able to use the newest gear not be hindered by Apples inept update process of really important hardware for their creative users!
Tim Cook is managing a huge company that did not exist during the age of Steve Jobs. I believe we will see extraordinary innovation in the next few years that will redefine our use and concepts of phones, computers, and likely automobiles. I believe Apple is skating where that puck will be, while everyone else is concerned about where it is now.
Brought in a one year old iMac yesterday because it would not connect to WPA 2 networks. It will connect to unprotected networks but not to password protected ones.
The issue occurred suddenly and without warning.
The issue exists in:
Internet Recovery (Before the OS loads)
Mac side – MacOS 10.14.4
Windows 10 (Bootcamp) with the latest updates and drivers
Reset the SMC, PRAM
Reinstalled both MacOS 10.14.4 and Windows 10
Nothing has solved the issue.
It is not a location issue. Four other Mac’s, two iPads and four iPhones are within 3 to 25 feet of the problem iMac. They all work correctly.
I specifically asked Apple to look into the WPA 2 issue.
Apple tested the iMac with unprotected network and declared it fine. Even after taking extensive notes on the issue!
Come on Apple I expect better than this from you. If this is the new AppleCare experience – forget it!
Whoever is responsible for hiring Apple techs is NOT doing their job. They act disinterested and bored. Unfortunately, they don’t appear knowledgeable either. What a disappointment.
You’re lucky they didn’t first check it for water damage and refuse service, as they did with my iPhone after a bad OS update.
They lost a $53 million class action over that and I got $304 which I put towards a Note 4.
let’s face it, APPLE thinks the iMac PRO is the Mac Pro.. that’s their pro version of a pro computer, which is obvious. They feel that you can upgrade it all you want, all the way to a $16,999.00 machine, right off their website. I find the new iMacs pretty damn cool and powerful. That said, the user serviceable version isn’t going to happen I feel without new leadership if ever.
I’ll add this last bit, Apple I feel lost the most market share with their best product, iPhones when they refused to make a big screen phone from 2010 to the 6plus release. Now Apple, as with everything they innovate, see their products take the smaller market share position, as with Windows, desk top Macs vs PC, and killer app software. Its so sad. Smaller and Thinner killed their momentum.
Now, with this MDN open letter, you can only hope Apple reads this and learns a few things, but what Apple knows is that consumers aren’t even buying home PCs anymore, What APPLE I hope comes up with is an interface that adds keyboard connectivity to big screen connectivity right off the phone, where you can do some serious work. Believe me, kids are doing entire music recording projects AND music videos within their iphones. They do their entire business plans, contracts and payments all mobile, So Apple probably knows their isn’t much of a market for Pro Desktops. We’ll see.
What we should be hoping for is an entirely new device,,, I got it, They should make a thing that from one drop of blood, can diagnose thousands of diseases, and have that info all from a portable little hand held box,,,,,,,,,,, Nah..
Interesting reading the opinions posted here. Two camps appear prominent – customers and investors.
Investors for the most part love Cook. Users not so much.
More and more unhappy Apple users. Not a lot yet, fortunately, but worth keeping an eye on.
I’ve been seeing several people asking for possible names.
Ok, just for discussion sake: Jeff Wilde
From the Wall Street Journal:
No matter how hard he works, Amazon.com Inc.’s chief executive of world-wide consumer is only the second most important “Jeff” at the company.
Still, Jeff Wilke’s supervision now spans many of the Seattle-based company’s core businesses, including retail, operations, technology and its marketplace and accompanying seller services. Part of the 18-year Amazon veteran’s role is to obsess about the wants and needs of the retailer’s customers.
Near the beginning of his career there, Mr. Wilke used his manufacturing expertise to help create a more efficient way of running Amazon’s warehouses that made its two-day Prime shipping service possible. Mr. Wilke, who graduated with a degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also has molded the leadership principles which guide employee behavior.
They’re blowing it. But with such a huge juggernaut as iPhone has become, it’ll be 100 yrs. before their demise. Mature business ebb and flow, so I get it. But the sheer lack of repeated execution at all levels is staggering considering their run with S. Jobs at the helm. Cook’s no “task master” like his predecessor S. Jobs and that probably bodes well for the working folks at Apple. With over 120k employees you gotta be able to ship. Ship on time and with volume. Any number cruncher knows that.
When we look back at Apple in another 30+ years, what will stand out is what a great job S. Jobs did. Some times there’s only one guy and just one guy that can do it. And when they leave, it’s never the same, again.
Well said Mtnmnm, I think you nailed it here.
MDN wrote a powerful letter to the Board summarizing the consensus frustration and hope for a better future felt by most patrons to MDN.
Yes, Apple shut down or discontinued a lot of things that were an integral part of the Apple network. MacPro certainly was the flagship because it spotlighted Apple’s tech prowess. It was deprecated prematurely before Star Trek’s iPad future could step in to take its place which it can’t for now. The Aperture shut down surprised me. SJWism should be regarded as the cherry on top, not a co-equal to product delight. It looks like an investor mentality permeating Apple weakens its ability to innovate as well as to ship when promised.
I smell a lack of central authority to spearhead the vision which I detected in the last Keynote in which too many people took to the stage. I sense that Cook is afraid of Ive’s influence and considers him an equal which leads to confusion. Perhaps blame SJ on this. Apple does not need to replace Cook by anyone from a typical company structure such as Amazon, nor does it need another supply chain or investor focused replacement because they falsely think that efficiency in production and pleasing investors creates good products which should be the focus. The internal school that Jobs set up should hammer that lesson into each SE and the CEO.
TC may be suffering from the Obama syndrome; Both did well at first but then, once on top, they started diverting their attention, not delivering on their promises. Obama gave up on the only solution to the failed health care system which was and still is Single Payer while Cook gave up on various superb technologies by pushing for the compromised solutions. The ACA is as compromised as iPad and MacBook.
Would Steve Wozniak still have the chops or did it mostly belong to Jobs? Could Federighi make for a driving, visionary CEO material? He certainly has the upbeat personality. I hope for a SJ theophany. I am not asking too much.
As a long-term Apple user (1992) and a non-investor I’ve basically given up on the company. I’m not upgrading anymore because:
What Apple now brings out is either overpriced and/or
underpowered.
it doesn’t suit my needs.
Just one example might suffice. In Australia I’d have to pay almost $AUS3100 for the Retina 5K display
3.1GHz 6-Core Processor (with Turbo Boost up to 4.3GHz
1TB Storage), and that’s without any upgrades. For a i5 processor? That’s highway robbery.
I won’t even get into the price of iPhones as they’re way past exorbitant in price. So I’m sticking with my 2015 iMac and my iPhone 6s Plus.
My wife still uses her 2010 MacBook Pro and my hand-me down 2007 iMac for telecommuting and then there’s the iPod Touches and old iPods from yesteryear that still keep on working (and her iPhone 6s Plus as well).
From time to time I’ll read stories about what Apple used to be rather than what Apple has become…a voracious money grabbing company that doesn’t even provide value for money.
A final message to Apple: It was a long time coming but this household has moved on and it’ll take a complete company makeover for us to return to the fold and frankly and I don’t think it’s going to happen.
anyone wanna listen to steve jobs interview 2013 on youtube entitled ‘Post PC Era’?
jobs said personal computers would give way to more mobile devices. he also said it would make lots of people uncomfortable but that’s what he sees.
so tim cook should be replaced cuz he’s following SJ’s vision?
you guys are nuts…
“steve jobs interview 2013”
steve jobs died on Oct 5, 2011.
thx…my bad…it was posted on youtube 2013…
i shouldn’t rush these things…
good catch muchacho…
Isn’t Mr Cook the guy who kicked out Mr Forestal (the guy who, along Mr Jobs made iPhone a reality) because of … Apple Maps? (Seriously Mr Cook? Mr Forestal should be in your place)
Yet years later, of degrading quality, bad design, rising prices and no direction for the future, no one is to blame?
Mr SteveJack, your article is too kind.