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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

#51

Post by jpalomaki »

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 think Apple is making a mistake by taking the privacy first approach. I strongly believe people will be trading privacy for convenience and companies which shamelessly mine the customer data will win.

This could also affect recruiting, since I assume it is more interesting to be working with AI projects in company like Facebook or Google where you have access to was amounts of customer information.

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

#52

Post by pjmlp »

zimpenfish wrote: post #40
bischofs wrote: post #10

Tim Cook is a "Bozo" - He has moved the focus away from computers and the companies core professional users and turned Apple into a fashionable health services company. They will coast for a while on their dominant mobile market share but eventually the stagnation and lack of new products will catch up to them. He built a watch, which was a "me too" product and answered a question that no one asked. Jobs would never…

Your frequent reminded that people have said "They will coast for a while on their dominant mobile market share but eventually the stagnation and lack of new products will catch up to them" about Apple -every- -single- -year- since about 2007. And yet, they endure.

I remember a different Apple around 1994 - 96, almost getting ready to close doors, if it hadn't been bought by NeXT (which is what actually happened).

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

#53

Post by LaSombra »

samastur wrote: post #44
LaSombra wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This image http://core0.staticworld.net/images/article/2015/10/slide-06... , to me, simbolizes the recent Apple.

Magic Mouse happened on Jobs' watch.

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.

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

#54

Post by kbenson »

nucotano wrote: post #17
LaSombra wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think sometimes you have to break it to make it good/great again, like the first Mac OS X release. That's my 2¢. The fact that Microsoft is increasing revenue on Azure, for example, shows they are jumping on a bandwagon that should give them another revenue stream that they can use to reinvest. I might be wrong, but that's how I see it.

Well, I'm going to be honest here, I don't give two shits about Azure. Not only because I don't use that (I don't run any system, etc) but because there are dozens of providers. Unfortunately Windows is one of a kind, so if he ruins it (and 10 is definitely a step back from 8.1, from what I've seen) he's ruined something really important for some of us, something with no known replacement. (No, OS X and Linux don't c…

> 10 is definitely a step back from 8.1, from what I've seen

10 has been an advance in every single aspect I can think of. What are you seeing as being ruined?

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

#55

Post by throwaway729 »

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

They've always done a lot of consumer analytics. Also, Alexa. I think there's also a lot of AI going on in their logistics operations.

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

#56

Post by josu »

protomyth wrote: post #15
zekevermillion wrote: post #11

Even if I generally agree with disappointment at the apparent "maintenance mode" of Apple's product line, I am not sure Ballmer is the best analogy. My understanding is that Tim Cook actually is responsible for many of the supply chain innovations behind Apple's dominant product lines. This is an incredibly hard technical feat, not just blustery MBA crap. I suppose it remains to be seen whether Apple can put its enor…

If you take a look back, Steve Ballmer was responsible for a lot of the success of Microsoft. He mostly got hate because people hated Microsoft. I'm don't think Ballmer's list of accomplishments at Microsoft is fully appreciated particularly compared to the good press Tim Cook as enjoyed.

>He mostly got hate because people hated Microsoft.

I believe that the hypothesis of the article is that people hated Microsoft because of Ballmer.

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

#57

Post by programminggeek »

One important thing that visionaries get credit for, but perhaps shouldn't...

Being in the right place at the right time.

It is a delightful bit of luck that Steve Jobs made it back to Apple. That scenario could have been way different where Apple bought BeOS, and Steve Jobs didn't return to Apple.

If Jobs isn't at Apple, he doesn't have the opportunity or resources to make his vision for the iMac, iBook, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, or iPad a real thing. In fact, he probably wouldn't have had the reason to envision any of the things at NEXT.

Also, you could argue that Jobs being at Apple when ARM got good enough for mass market smart gadgets at scale played into it too. If the tech isn't quite there, it doesn't look as interesting at all.

Without the right tech being available, Apple stalls out at the iMac and Power Mac and so on and is a profitable computer vendor, but not the most valuable company in the world.

So, Tim Cook might not be as visionary, but it might also be a poor time for anyone to be CEO as the opportunities shifted.

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

#58

Post by _wp3r »

IBM wrote: post #45
bischofs wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally speaking a product company can't thrive off supply chain innovations. The market will move to commodification at some point.

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.

Apple in the PC market is a single digit percentage point(7.2) participant. Premium niche is a functional business model, but broad market speaking, commodification has taken place, in that 25% of the PC market is Other in most reports. That number is important because it implies that 25% of the entire market is "small" actors that have been able to leverage commodification. If you also consider Dell as a commodity vendor then that group jumps to 40%.

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

#59

Post by 0xFFC »

jpalomaki wrote: post #51
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 think Apple is making a mistake by taking the privacy first approach. I strongly believe people will be trading privacy for convenience and companies which shamelessly mine the customer data will win. This could also affect recruiting, since I assume it is more interesting to be working with AI projects in company like Facebook or Google where you have access to was amounts of customer information.

This comment may got down voted on HN, but it is reality in real world.

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

#60

Post by LoSboccacc »

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…

A lot of people in the outskirt of the tech space (investors, analysts) is insisting on AI without really understanding capabilities.

There's good money to be made in pushing existing analytics tech undo AI monikers and sell them repackaged.

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