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Why Tim Cook Is Steve Ballmer and Why He Still Has His Job at Apple

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Re: Why Tim Cook Is Steve Ballmer and Why He Still Has His Job at Apple

#161

Post by alex- »

Certhas wrote: post #64
bad_user wrote: post #12

The article is short on details why he thinks Tim Cook is like Steve Ballmer, except for saying that Apple is slowly missing the boat on AI. I don't know what Amazon does for AI, I haven't seen anything convincing from them, but I'll trust the author that they are working on it. However it's tough to beat Google in this space, because AI and machine learning is what Google has focused on since their beginnings . Goog…

Azure seems to be doing well and some people expect it to overtake AWS sooner rather than later in market share. The talk that Microsoft is irrelevant is a bit hilarious, given that they beat google on revenue and income last year. They have morphed from a company that is front and center to one that provides the infrastructure for the digital side of non-tech business. Microsoft Office is absolutely pervasive, and i…

The author called out, specifically, how Azure was in his opinion keeping Microsoft relevant

"Nadella got Microsoft organized around mobile and the cloud (Azure), freed the Office and Azure teams from Windows, killed the phone business and got a major release of Windows out without the usual trauma. And is moving the company into augmented reality and conversational AI. While they’ll likely never regain the market dominance they had in the 20th century, (their business model continues to be extremely profitable) Nadella likely saved Microsoft from irrelevance."

Re: Why Tim Cook Is Steve Ballmer and Why He Still Has His Job at Apple

#162

Post by MaysonL »

Tepix wrote: post #70
IBM wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this were true Apple shouldn't be able to sell computers for a premium, and yet they do. 40 years should have been enough for commodification to take effect.

What if they are merely still selling computers at a premium because they merely used to be better and are slowly falling behind?

So who's making better mobile chips than their A series of processors? Or even chips as good?

Re: Why Tim Cook Is Steve Ballmer and Why He Still Has His Job at Apple

#163

Post by itomato »

Bud wrote: post #79
LaSombra wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it did, but the second iteration happened under Cook. The original one uses AA batteries while the second iteration, pictured above, uses an integrated battery that needs recharge using the Lightning cable. As you can see, there was no redesign to accommodate this new requirement besides slapping the charge port under the mouse, making it impossible to use while charging.

Which doesn't matter, at all, because the device charges in a few minutes. As everyone who actually uses one knows. BTW, there WAS a redesign...it's just that you don't like the redesign, which is different. Some of us like the fact that the Lightning port is hidden and not sticking out the side of the device in some ugly way. This is a vast improvement which saves all the waste and inconvenience of throw-away batter…

Is there some unsolvable engineering dilemma related to port position, or was it cost-motivated?

This is the point. If an engineer had shown this piece of work to Steve, do you think they'd still work at Apple?

Re: Why Tim Cook Is Steve Ballmer and Why He Still Has His Job at Apple

#164

Post by jasonsync »

alexpersian wrote: post #154
jasonsync wrote: post #147

Apple does appear to be losing focus. For example: Apple has devalued the PRO moniker under Tim Cook's guidance. By trying to ram it's Mobile OS into a PRO product (iPad PRO). I mean the UI grid is still 4 x 5 on a massive 12 inch display. Nobody noticed it feels more like Fisher Price? And the iPad "PRO" apps are all dumbed down, feature limited versions of actual pro desktop apps. Then, by stagnating a once well re…

The Mac Pro and MacBook Pro are still very capable, solid, and focused machines. Go into any dev shop on the planet and you will see that's true. The only point your comment is right on is the Pro moniker being attached to an iPad.

I'm one of those devs and I'm sure every dev shop has been itching for a significant Macbook update for quite some time. Macbook PRO hasn't seen a significant update since 2012. Just minor speed bumps and force touch in 2015.

So we're getting one next week - but why not sooner? That was one of the takeaways from this article. Pace of innovation has slowed under Tim Cook.

Re: Why Tim Cook Is Steve Ballmer and Why He Still Has His Job at Apple

#165

Post by usaphp »

I noticed that Apple lost track of usability since Cook came after their release of a new keyboard at first, new arrows buttons on it are completely unusable, on older keyboards they had spacing between the left/right and buttons on top, now they extended left/right buttons and it makes it incredibly hard to "feel" where they are, and the fact that MacBooks pros still have an old layout makes it a night mare to switch between desktop and laptop programming.

Another one is a new lock screen on iOS 10, sometimes the fingerprint does not work or the finger is dirty and i know I want to unlock it with a pin, before I used to be able to just swipe right away and type the pin, now it won't let me and I have to repeatatly press the home button until it figures out that the fingerprint won't work and it has to show me the pin enter screen.

Might be little things but it's what used to separate Apple from the crowd, I don't want them to lose focus on those. And don't get me started on the new OS X, which makes my maxed out 2014 rMBP look like slow PC from 2000.

Re: Why Tim Cook Is Steve Ballmer and Why He Still Has His Job at Apple

#166

Post by j1vms »

ufmace wrote: post #120
bnegreve wrote: post #47

Luck is generally involved in success. So maybe this is just regression toward the mean and hasn't that much to do with whoever is the CEO. In other words, every very successful company is bound to be less successful later. Nothing really exciting about this.

That's what I tend to wonder about these visionary types - how much of it is really a skill or talent that they have, and how much is just picking the right thing at the right time. If Bill Gates had stayed in charge, would he have forseen how the industry would change and gotten out ahead of it in time, or be blindsided like everybody else? If Steve Jobs was still alive, would he keep churning out industry-changers,…

> If Steve Jobs was still alive, would he keep churning out industry-changers

If he were alive and well, I think so. With the exception of iPad (which wasn't subpar by industry standards but certainly signaled a descent into mediocrity for Apple, and which I would attribute to Jobs' slowly disengaging with the company due to his health issues), Jobs was on an unbelievable streak between his return in the late 90s and about 2009/2010. In the span of about 10 years, his company did several outstanding feats in holistic hardware/software design, and it can't be a coincidence that the man was then largely healthy and in command.

I do think that would have probably continued until the mid to latter part of this decade had he continued in better health.

Re: Why Tim Cook Is Steve Ballmer and Why He Still Has His Job at Apple

#167

Post by Eric_WVGG »

roymurdock wrote: post #144
bad_user wrote: post #12

The article is short on details why he thinks Tim Cook is like Steve Ballmer, except for saying that Apple is slowly missing the boat on AI. I don't know what Amazon does for AI, I haven't seen anything convincing from them, but I'll trust the author that they are working on it. However it's tough to beat Google in this space, because AI and machine learning is what Google has focused on since their beginnings . Goog…

> I don't know what Amazon does for AI The Alexa/echo ecosystem. > However it's tough to beat Google in this space...they also have a lot of data on users... Agreed, the amount of data is key. This is where Apple will struggle when looking to upgrade Siri/AI capabilities in coming years. > Tim Cook's Apple is making a stand for privacy and security, which is actually quite rare to witness in this day and age. He's a…

I disagree. Apple's stance on privacy has everything to do with the personality and life experiences of Tim Cook.

Stop for a moment to imagine what being a homosexual teenager in 1970's Alabama was like. Also it's well known that his career at IBM was torpedoed over a gay "glass ceiling."

Tim Cook is a man who understands that privacy is a human right.

Re: Why Tim Cook Is Steve Ballmer and Why He Still Has His Job at Apple

#168

Post by Fej »

rayiner wrote: post #132
the_watcher wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, they have. I know there is a lot of institutional hatred for Microsoft from the tech sector that will take a while to overcome. But you'll be able to call changes "skin deep" forever if you choose to explain anything positive away as marketing only.

They haven't managed to release a flagship Windows phone for more than a year, Windows 10 is still a disaster, and Surface Book's execution was incredibly botched. Yeah, there is some good stuff for developers, but their consumer-facing segment is still in shambles.

Surface Book is a fantastic device. What was botched?

Re: Why Tim Cook Is Steve Ballmer and Why He Still Has His Job at Apple

#170

Post by WayneBro »

rayiner wrote: post #132
the_watcher wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, they have. I know there is a lot of institutional hatred for Microsoft from the tech sector that will take a while to overcome. But you'll be able to call changes "skin deep" forever if you choose to explain anything positive away as marketing only.

They haven't managed to release a flagship Windows phone for more than a year, Windows 10 is still a disaster, and Surface Book's execution was incredibly botched. Yeah, there is some good stuff for developers, but their consumer-facing segment is still in shambles.

Windows 10 is not a disaster and never has been.

There's great stuff for everybody. It's the same rock-solid OS that every business depends on, that is still able to run all the software from 20 years ago, yet it also offers a ton of new functionality.

What other desktop OS can you say that about? IMO, there isn't a better desktop OS out there.

Just last night I was actually running some games from 1995 on my 5 year old PC running Windows 10 that is plugged into my brand new 4k smart tv.

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