{"id":27601,"date":"2019-12-17T17:06:15","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T22:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=27601"},"modified":"2019-12-17T21:55:18","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T02:55:18","slug":"tim-cooks-apple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/17\/tim-cooks-apple\/","title":{"rendered":"Tim Cook’s Apple"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walt Mossberg<\/a> (via John Gruber<\/a>):<\/p>\n

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How do you replace a legend like Steve Jobs and, at the same time, adapt to the slow decline of your most important, most iconic product? Those were the twin challenges Apple faced in the 2010s. Under CEO Tim Cook, the company has found some answers and flourished financially, but it hasn’t been without a few wrong turns and big changes to the very nature of its business.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

But Cook does bear the responsibility for a series of actions that screwed up the Macintosh for years. The beloved mainstream MacBook Air was ignored for five years. At the other end of the scale, the Mac Pro, the mainstay of professional audio, graphics, and video producers, was first neglected then reissued in 2013 in a way that put form so far ahead of function that it enraged its customer base.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I think these, and even the notebook keyboard fiasco, are smaller issues than this decade’s decline in software quality. Even in the best scenario, it would take years to dig out, and so far Apple does not seem to be on that path. Cook is also responsible for the services strategy, still in the early stages, which is infecting the software design by making it AAPL-first rather than customer-first.<\/p>\n\n

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Apple remains what it has been for many years: the single most important consumer tech hardware company, a major force not only in its industry but in society at large. […] But it’s still unclear if it can be anybody’s favorite music provider, TV network, or news service. Or if it can launch another blockbuster device.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

By that he means a new iPhone-scale device, which is an unrealistic expectation. Apple Watch and AirPods are certainly blockbusters.<\/p>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n