Conspiracies Abound ;)

[CrashX]

Just for fun - does anyone think Steve appointed idiots to run Apple into the ground after his death?

It just seems brilliant. He appointed Cook - so he got big love from a media obsessed with sexual orientation issues. Then Cook hasn't really done well, but can't be fired because doing so would likely be blown up by our oddly obsessed media as a hate crime

I've been using Apples since the Apple /// - I'm glad I got a temporary reprieve from Cooks/Ive with the SE. But, unlike Jobs, both of those two characters seem to believe they're geniuses that can do no wrong. Jobs was a genius - they're not.

So, just another testament to his brilliance, I wouldn't put it past Jobs that he appointed morons that are very difficult to fire. Then Apple bombs - and everyone pines even more greatly for the genius of Jobs.

Just having fun But I kinda actually totally wouldn't put it past Steve to have set that up.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

How is being the largest company on the planet a feat of "hasn't really done well"?

Some people on this forum...

 

[CrashX]

How is being the largest company on the planet a feat of "hasn't really done well"?

Some people on this forum...

Again, I'm just being silly. But - Jobs is credited with making Apple the largest company on the planet. Not Cook.

Jobs is gone, we're not really seeing any Jobs-quality innovation that can't still directly be attributed to Jobs.

I'm not running down Cook even. We won't know what will happen for a few more years really.

And I'm just being goofy - but if Cook is an idiot, and he's untouchable due to his sexual orientation, and Apple does tank in the next few years - it just sounds like something Jobs would do

 

[A.Goldberg]

Steve Jobs died almost 5 years ago, with some time of absence before that. While Steve was a creative genius, he did have his own set failures previously in his career.

Tim Cook seems like a good manager but not an innovator like Steve was. Apple actually isn't that big of a company, tends to be very thorough in their design, and therefore I don't think there projects come to fruition all that quickly compared to other companies.

I have used Apple Products since the mid-90's and have owned since ~2003. I think Apples hardware has greatly improved in design and hardware reliability but their software has become less and less stable and worse and worse designed. iTunes for example, my god it is terrible these days.

Idk, I don't think Steve got to where he was by putting incompetent people into power. Therefore if Tim Cook is really that bad maybe Steve isn't the business man everyone thinks he is- that's a big faux paux. Or maybe he elected Tim as a poltical message?!

I don't think his sexuality had anything to do with it. CEO's are ousted all the time for underperformance, regardless of minority status. Not to sound like a fanboy here- objectives speaking, Apple is still a very successful company despite being bumped to #2. Just because two billionaire/hedgefund managers pulled out, doesn't really show much considering all the other investors in Apple. Apples stock has been sliding down over the past year, but that's how the stock market works. Apples innovation has really come to a screetchig halt. Hopefully they'll produce some new, meaningful products one of these days.

This sounds more like a resentment about homosexuality, which is pretty immature. Minority groups are not immune to being fired for poor preformance. Tim Cook, CEO of a multibillion dollar corporation, a company with more money than most countries, will be long gone before Apple "tanks", I assure you. Investors won't tolerate someone driving the company (aka investors $$$) into the ground. And Tim Cook doesn't strike me as someone to pull the gay-card in defending himself. He probably wouldn't be where he is today unneccessarrily screaming descrimination. In fact, he was very private about his sexuality until the news outted him.

 

[CrashX]

I don't care who Tim wishes to bang - but I do miss Jobs' innovation. Rather than prompting me to be "AMAZED", he just delivered amazing products.

I was extremely happy to get my iPhone SE. And I did notice that Cook and Jony skipped out. But I'm obviously in the minority, as apparently people are very happy with the new giant ever thinner phones.

I would like it VERY MUCH if, in the next few years, Cook's Apple produces something that's really cool.

And I honestly don't know what a good "manager" is. Jobs obviously worked with some highly talented, extremely innovative people.

So, half-kidding, I speculate he appointed a bean counter who he might have personally known to be very bad at "managing" innovation. Again, I'm obviously in the minority, but I genuinely don't like Apple's products lately. I have ceased to be amazed.

I just wonder if Jobs passed over promoting the brilliant innovators in his company so that Apple would decline after his death, making certain that he would always be remembered as the "genius". Without him, Apple just becomes another boring tech giant.

And basically, until Apple produces something post-Jobs that actually does succeed in amazing me - maybe he was either too vain to promote the best talent or he deliberately sabotaged the company... I dunno.

Anyway, just tossing out a goofy conspiracy theory. I truly wish Cook would hurry up about proving me wrong - that Apple can still innovate. Or at least get back to the level of quality we expect when we pay $$$ for the Apple brand.

 

[Honumaui]

I hear the OP having had apple products since the ][e
and some PC along the way

Steve started the train up again got it going of course its going to keep going a long while !!!

but you have to look at the history of what it had almost and where it is today and why it is where it is purely Steve %100

so so so so many threads and others way to many slip up in software and hardware that will be corrected next update ? not immediately and really never should have been released

its why they got to the top now there some live with it some do not some will move on some wont etc..

bottom line IMHO they have slipped up big time and are way behind in hardware and in software world they are starting to have issues ! not as much as win IMHO but enough some of us are saying OK outdated hardware a OS that is slipping ? I would take superior hardware a OS that might not be as good but the over all package is better with win these days for some folks

I dont want to move away and will try not to but reality is nothing last for ever and I am getting the writing on the wall feeling sadly

today they meet deadlines even when its not ready and Steve would never do that !
apple is not MS in a sense a big company bent on profit and not taking existing things and making them better and unique

 

[C DM]

Again, I'm just being silly. But - Jobs is credited with making Apple the largest company on the planet. Not Cook.

Jobs is gone, we're not really seeing any Jobs-quality innovation that can't still directly be attributed to Jobs.

I'm not running down Cook even. We won't know what will happen for a few more years really.

And I'm just being goofy - but if Cook is an idiot, and he's untouchable due to his sexual orientation, and Apple does tank in the next few years - it just sounds like something Jobs would do

There's being goofy/silly, and then there's making sense.

 

[Tech198]

Seems done well for me

 

[ApfelKuchen]

There's this whole Steve mythos. Just how innovative was Steve, really? He, like many other entrepreneurial CEOs, was certainly a showman. There are plenty of stories about his single-minded drive, willingness to ream-out underlings, demanding brilliance, et. al. He certainly was right to recognize the value of the GUI he saw at Xerox PARC (and run with it), but he sure didn't invent it. Such personalities are colorful and exciting to watch and gossip about, but the world is filled with people of similar traits who did not succeed the way Steve did.

Most companies are not run by Steves, they're run by Tims. Boring, certainly - attention to detail, making sure the cogs all mesh... not riveting stuff. But if you have built a fundamentally sound business, stability and long-term growth often come from the quality of execution. Leadership skills are critical, otherwise the cogs don't quite mesh, but leadership doesn't require dramatic personality traits, either - colorful leaders are just more interesting. For those who know the history of WWII, you might contrast Patton to Eisenhower.