“Apple CEO Tim Cook is worried – about the protection of personal data, kids’ relationships with their devices, and the amount of time consumers are spending on devices,” Allie Yang and Tess Scott report for ABC News.
“In an exclusive interview, Cook told ABC News’ Diane Sawyer that Apple is working hard to promote increased regulation of the use and storage of consumer data, empower parents to control their kids’ relationship with devices and enable customers to be more aware of how much time they’re spending on their phones,” Yang and Scott report. “The Apple executive said that while growing up, ‘one of the worst things, other than… something like hurting somebody or something, was the Peeping Tom. You know, somebody looking in the window. The people who track on the internet know a lot more about you than if somebody’s looking in your window. A lot more.'”
“Cook said that Apple is an “ally” in that fight to protect consumers’ personal information,” Yang and Scott report. “‘You are not our product,’ he said about the more than a billion consumers who use Apple products. ‘Our products are iPhone and iPads. We treasure your data. We want to help you, keep it private and keep it secure. We’re on your side.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Those who value their privacy choose Apple products and services.
I see privacy as one of the most important issues of the twenty-first century. We’re at a stage now where more information about you is online and on your phone than there is in your house… We [at Apple] take that very seriously. I’m not a pro-regulation kind of person. I believe in the free market. Deeply… [but] I think some level of government regulation is important to come out of that. — Apple CEO Tim Cook, April 23, 2019
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“Our products are iPhone and iPads.”
And Macs are so far removed from his thoughts that he didn’t even mention them. It’s as if they’re just a relic from the past (as most relics are) that uncooperative users keep buying, forcing Apple to keep selling ’em, darnit! Haven’t they got it through their thick skulls that you can do anything on an iPad that you can do on a Mac?! Haven’t we nagged ’em and made it obvious enough yet?!
Sorry ’bout that little fit. I’m off to bed now…
Cook was answering questions about iOS apps that allow parents to monitor their kids’ iPhone and iPad use. Macs weren’t any more relevant to that discussion than AirPods or any other non-iOS product.
Tim Cook in 2019: what’s this I hear about the keyboard, I’ve been using an iPad pro for years?
Phil Schiller: Relax, it’s just fake news. Sales’ll pick up next year, I promise.
Oh… ta!
It’s just that on its own that quote seems to be a pithy summary of Apple’s general attitude to the Mac.
You are not our product.. you are the dopes who buy our broken laptops – and for that, we thank you. So in a way, we’re colossal manipulative d-bags too.
In a way….?
Facebook is easily outperforming Apple in share gains by turning users into their product and those users absolutely love Facebook. Facebook is highly praised for having billions of subscribers. Facebook is worth more than half the value of Apple and they don’t make a single product. You’ll likely never hear anyone saying how Facebook is doomed. Even the Feds are scared of Mark Zuckerberg and the power he wields. Which CEO is more powerful? Tim Cook or Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg is much more powerful.
Tim Cook should just stop worrying about other people’s privacy. Most users don’t even care about privacy and that’s what makes Facebook as popular as it is. I’m willing to bet that more people in the world hate Apple than they hate Facebook.
What this all means is that the wealthiest and most powerful companies on the planet routinely disregard users’ privacy and security and have become highly revered by doing so. Security and privacy isn’t even a worthwhile selling point for Apple iPhones as most of the people in the world are buying Android smartphones and the iPhone is steadily losing market share. The companies that mine personal data are definitely winning.
Wow. So we should all just accept being stupid.
Very well put OP.