Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tim Cook, the interview: Running Apple ‘is sort of a lonely job’

washingtonpost.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 178 posts

Re: Tim Cook, the interview: Running Apple ‘is sort of a lonely job’

#21

Post by technofiend »

Animats wrote: post #13
icpmacdo wrote: post #2

PG talked about this in his talk 'before the startup' "Larry Page may seem to have an enviable life, but there are aspects of it that are unenviable. Basically at 25 he started running as fast as he could and it must seem to him that he hasn't stopped to catch his breath since. Every day new shit happens in the Google empire that only the CEO can deal with, and he, as CEO, has to deal with it. If he goes on vacation…

Google is in some ways easier, because there's no real threat to their cash cow, search ads. Apple has to stay ahead of competition in phones. That competition is now quite good, and usually cheaper. As CEO of Apple, Cook is expected to deliver the Next Big Thing. So far, he hasn't, and he's running out of time. (Cars? Tough, low-margin business. VR? Niche market. Watches? Tried that. Robots? Not ready yet. Voice AI?…

Apple has a huge amount of brand loyalty. It's stunning to watch people explain away Apple's failure to refresh their hardware line sooner. They get a lot of latitude from their very loyal customers. Combined with their high margins and practices to protect same (soldered on memory and storage, license restrictions for non-apple hardware, killing their clone market) I'm literally not a buyer. Which is decidedly a minority opinion here on HN.

Re: Tim Cook, the interview: Running Apple ‘is sort of a lonely job’

#22

Post by apozem »

helloworld wrote: post #18

In Tim Cook, it's interesting to see a leadership style that's so different from the Jobs/Ellison mold. Cook seems to have a very humble manner, and he emphasizes listening to and learning from people both inside and outside Apple. In the startup world, I wonder whether founders can find success in emulating Cook -- or whether a harder-edged, harder-driving style is required.

Cook has his edges. He's supposed to be a demanding, logical boss.

> One day back then, he convened a meeting with his team, and the discussion turned to a particular problem in Asia. “This is really bad,” Cook told the group. “Someone should be in China driving this.” Thirty minutes into that meeting Cook looked at Sabih Khan, a key operations executive, and abruptly asked, without a trace of emotion, “Why are you still here?” Khan, who remains one of Cook’s top lieutenants to this day, immediately stood up, drove to San Francisco International Airport, and, without a change of clothes, booked a flight to China with no return date, according to people familiar with the episode. The story is vintage Cook: demanding and unemotional.

http://fortune.com/2008/11/24/apple-the-genius-behind-steve/

Re: Tim Cook, the interview: Running Apple ‘is sort of a lonely job’

#23

Post by k-mcgrady »

Animats wrote: post #13
icpmacdo wrote: post #2

PG talked about this in his talk 'before the startup' "Larry Page may seem to have an enviable life, but there are aspects of it that are unenviable. Basically at 25 he started running as fast as he could and it must seem to him that he hasn't stopped to catch his breath since. Every day new shit happens in the Google empire that only the CEO can deal with, and he, as CEO, has to deal with it. If he goes on vacation…

Google is in some ways easier, because there's no real threat to their cash cow, search ads. Apple has to stay ahead of competition in phones. That competition is now quite good, and usually cheaper. As CEO of Apple, Cook is expected to deliver the Next Big Thing. So far, he hasn't, and he's running out of time. (Cars? Tough, low-margin business. VR? Niche market. Watches? Tried that. Robots? Not ready yet. Voice AI?…

>> "Watches? Tried that."

I don't understand how people think they've tried the watch and failed. They've put out ONE version. The first iPod was Mac only and therefore didn't sell very well. When the iPhone launched you had to buy the device outright - no subsidy and it was lacking features that other phones had for quite a while. It was a few versions before it really took off. I think people shrugging off the watch are being incredibly short sighted (and I say this as someone who had one and sold it). It's not perfect for a mass market now but it can be. The software changes in watchOS 3 are really going to help towards that but in the long term this thing could become essential to your health and from interviews Tim Cook has done in the past it sounds like that's the direction they want to go once they've got the basic software and form factor down.

Re: Tim Cook, the interview: Running Apple ‘is sort of a lonely job’

#24

Post by mgkimsal »

helloworld wrote: post #18

In Tim Cook, it's interesting to see a leadership style that's so different from the Jobs/Ellison mold. Cook seems to have a very humble manner, and he emphasizes listening to and learning from people both inside and outside Apple. In the startup world, I wonder whether founders can find success in emulating Cook -- or whether a harder-edged, harder-driving style is required.

> In the startup world, I wonder whether founders can find success in emulating Cook

Cook didn't start up Apple. I'm not saying his humble/listening approach can't work for startups, but it may not be practical when time/money are scarce. No doubt he feels pressure to perform, but he certainly isn't wondering where his next meal will come from, or if he'll be hirable again in the future, should he make a mistake and some new venture fails.

Re: Tim Cook, the interview: Running Apple ‘is sort of a lonely job’

#25

Post by 1123581321 »

apozem wrote: post #22
helloworld wrote: post #18

In Tim Cook, it's interesting to see a leadership style that's so different from the Jobs/Ellison mold. Cook seems to have a very humble manner, and he emphasizes listening to and learning from people both inside and outside Apple. In the startup world, I wonder whether founders can find success in emulating Cook -- or whether a harder-edged, harder-driving style is required.

Cook has his edges. He's supposed to be a demanding, logical boss. > One day back then, he convened a meeting with his team, and the discussion turned to a particular problem in Asia. “This is really bad,” Cook told the group. “Someone should be in China driving this.” Thirty minutes into that meeting Cook looked at Sabih Khan, a key operations executive, and abruptly asked, without a trace of emotion, “Why are you s…

I think about that story a lot because I'd like to know what happened in those thirty minutes. Presumably they continued to discuss the situation, and Cook's opinion of it worsened to where he demanded immediate action. It wouldn't make sense for Khan to leave the meeting and have to be caught up later on the situation he'd flown to China to resolve.

Less likely possibilities: was Cook talking to someone in the other direction and only noticed Khan? Was he thinking to himself Khan should leave immediately but wanted to give him some time to make the call himself?

Re: Tim Cook, the interview: Running Apple ‘is sort of a lonely job’

#26

Post by dredmorbius »

Animats wrote: post #13
icpmacdo wrote: post #2

PG talked about this in his talk 'before the startup' "Larry Page may seem to have an enviable life, but there are aspects of it that are unenviable. Basically at 25 he started running as fast as he could and it must seem to him that he hasn't stopped to catch his breath since. Every day new shit happens in the Google empire that only the CEO can deal with, and he, as CEO, has to deal with it. If he goes on vacation…

Google is in some ways easier, because there's no real threat to their cash cow, search ads. Apple has to stay ahead of competition in phones. That competition is now quite good, and usually cheaper. As CEO of Apple, Cook is expected to deliver the Next Big Thing. So far, he hasn't, and he's running out of time. (Cars? Tough, low-margin business. VR? Niche market. Watches? Tried that. Robots? Not ready yet. Voice AI?…

A technology which bypasses centralised content distribution and advertising-supported media, along with pervasive ad-blocking, could have an impact, I suspect.

Re: Tim Cook, the interview: Running Apple ‘is sort of a lonely job’

#27

Post by detaro »

agumonkey wrote: post #17
Animats wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is in some ways easier, because there's no real threat to their cash cow, search ads. Apple has to stay ahead of competition in phones. That competition is now quite good, and usually cheaper. As CEO of Apple, Cook is expected to deliver the Next Big Thing. So far, he hasn't, and he's running out of time. (Cars? Tough, low-margin business. VR? Niche market. Watches? Tried that. Robots? Not ready yet. Voice AI?…

Honestly, what could be the NBT in consumer tech ? I feel we reached cultural and ontological plateau in most areas. If there's a next it probably won't be a big thing.

Home automation/IoT is still a thing that could be it. And I'm honestly surprised Apple hasn't been more aggressive with HomeKit etc. With more and more crappy IoT devices, Apple coming out with a reliable and well-integrated platform could be great. I don't have Apple stuff, but the people I know that do often cite good integration between everything as a reason, so I think that angle might work.

They have voice control tech, they have end devices in all important form factors (TV, tablets, phones, watch), they have customers that like everything being tied together.

Only issue is that I'm not sure if they could do it with external partners making most of the devices (how do you guarantee quality to people? Premium home IoT is scarce for now), and making everything themselves would be a lot of different pieces to make.

Re: Tim Cook, the interview: Running Apple ‘is sort of a lonely job’

#28

Post by justicezyx »

krisdol wrote: post #20
icpmacdo wrote: post #2

PG talked about this in his talk 'before the startup' "Larry Page may seem to have an enviable life, but there are aspects of it that are unenviable. Basically at 25 he started running as fast as he could and it must seem to him that he hasn't stopped to catch his breath since. Every day new shit happens in the Google empire that only the CEO can deal with, and he, as CEO, has to deal with it. If he goes on vacation…

> and partly because billionaires get less than zero sympathy if they talk about having difficult lives That quote from the essay reminds me of a Silicon Valley scene [1] where the CEO of the pseudo-Google company in the show gets vilified (rightfully so in the show) for complaining about how hard billionaires have it in this country. I bet the creator's read PG's essay and were inspired by it. [1]: https://www.youtu…

I cannot believe that the privileged rich created such shows to disguise their unjustified fortune; and still intelligent people believe these superficial arguments.

billionaires == jews?

Can something be more wrong?

Re: Tim Cook, the interview: Running Apple ‘is sort of a lonely job’

#30

Post by rfrank »

krisdol wrote: post #20
icpmacdo wrote: post #2

PG talked about this in his talk 'before the startup' "Larry Page may seem to have an enviable life, but there are aspects of it that are unenviable. Basically at 25 he started running as fast as he could and it must seem to him that he hasn't stopped to catch his breath since. Every day new shit happens in the Google empire that only the CEO can deal with, and he, as CEO, has to deal with it. If he goes on vacation…

> and partly because billionaires get less than zero sympathy if they talk about having difficult lives That quote from the essay reminds me of a Silicon Valley scene [1] where the CEO of the pseudo-Google company in the show gets vilified (rightfully so in the show) for complaining about how hard billionaires have it in this country. I bet the creator's read PG's essay and were inspired by it. [1]: https://www.youtu…

That scene was inspired by Thomas Perkins' letter to WSJ.

http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230454950457...

Post reply on HN