Tim Cook appeared at the Wall Street
Journal’s D10 conference in May to be interviewed by All Things Digital’s Walt
Mossberg and Kara Swisher. In a wide-ranging discussion, the Apple CEO was
typically unforthcoming about future products, but did let slip one or two
comments that seemed to provide tantalizing clues.
Apple’s
CEO seemed relaxed and confident during a relatively rare interview for All
Things Digital
Discussing iOS and Android, the Apple CEO
allowed himself a digression on the topic of fragmentation – the division of
platforms into multiple products lines. ‘One thing is that we’re not
fragmented. Look at the percentage of users who upgraded to iOS 5. We have one
App Store. We have one phone with one screen size, one resolution. So it’s
pretty simple if you’re a developer.’
One screen size and one resolution – an odd
thing to say if you were planning a new phone with a different screen size at a
different resolution, as both the Wall Street Journal itself and Reuters have
recently predicted. Rumours are that Apple has ordered 4in screens from suppliers
which are destined for use in the next iPhone (previous models have had 3.5in
screens), and a popular twist is the suggestion that this screen would be the
same width but taller – or, when used sideways, the same height but wider –
which would imply a change in pixel dimensions as well as physical size.
Whether Cook was intentionally scotching
these rumours, letting slip a decision not to change the iPhone’s display, or
just talking off the top of his head is impossible to know. He was much more
guarded when asked directly about future produces, saying Apple would ‘double
down on secrecy’.
When put on the spot by Mossberg about the
possibility of an Apple television, Cook simply said: ‘I’m not going to answer
that question.’ The CEO did confirm, however, that he was still very interested
in exploring the potential of the current Apple TV box. ‘We’re going to keep
pulling this string and see where it takes us. Many people would say this is an
area in their life that they aren’t pleased with The whole TV experience. It’s
an interesting area. We’ll have to see what we do.’ Rumours continued of an
Apple TV update of some kind at WWDC, perhaps running third-party apps, but no
such development was announced.
Regarding Siri, the iPhone 4S’s voice
assistant, Cook hinted at the new features that would be announced at WWDC,
saying: ‘we had a lot of people working on this. You’ll be really pleased with
the things you’ll see over the coming months… we’ve got some cool ideas about
what Siri can do.’
Asked about Apple’s relationship with
Facebook, Cook responded: ‘We want to provide customers simple and elegant ways
to do the things they want to do. Facebook has hundreds of millions of
customers. So, anyone that has an iPhone or iPad, we want them to have the best
experience with Facebook on those platforms. So stay tuned.’ Sure enough,
Facebook integration across iOS 6 was announced at WWDC.
Apple
updated its Apple TV interface at the iPad launch in March
Many of Cook’s answers were clearly
rehearsed, and he was careful not to give too much away. But there were moments
when he evidently spoke from the heart. He described the death of Steve Jobs as
‘one of the saddest days of my life,’ reiterating that he’d been somewhat in
denial about his colleague’s health: ‘As much as you could see or predict that,
I really didn’t.’ But he added: ‘That sadness was replaced by this intense
determination to resume the journey… Focus is the key. Not just in your
company, but in your personal life as well.’
Echoing Jobs’ philosophy – ‘Do many things
great and cast aside everything else’ – Cook said owning the technology was key
to Apple’s success and something on which Jobs had been ‘laser-focused’.
One area where the new boss differs from
his mentor is philanthropy. Shortly after taking over, Cook introduced a
matching scheme where Apple would equal employees’ charitable donations. Cook
said Jobs knew about the scheme and was supportive, but admitted he didn’t know
whether Jobs would have introduced it if he was still CEO.
‘The Kennedys believed this, and I believe
it – “To whom much is given, much is expected.” Our policy allows us to give to
many charities, and avoids bureaucracy. We let the employee decide and yes, I
believe we can do even more.’
Asked whether he could ever see Apple manufacturing
in the US again, in the context of the controversy over suppliers in China,
Cook said ‘Maybe someday,’ pointing out that many components, including the
Gorilla Glass for iPhone and IPad screens, are made in the US. But only ‘a
fundamental change in the educational system’ could bring the final assembly of
consumer electronics products back to the US by making the necessary skills
available.
