Richard Gayle on The tragedy of Tim Cook - 'The people I see hating on Tim Cook are almost invariably people who haye all “Big Tech”. Apple is not separated out from Meta, Google, Amazon, Tesla, etc. I suspect that even if Cook/Apple outright fought back, they would still find something to hate. I’ve pointed out that Apple has held onto DEI, that Cook has said protecting migrants is important, etc. all while protecting its 150,000 employees. That while other Big Tech are laying off tens of thousands, Apple is not. To no avail. They have their simple narrative and they are sticking to it.'
on 13 myths busted in David Pogue's 'Apple: The First 50 Years' - 'Great read to begin the day! Thanks, Mr. Pogue! And thanks, PED, for asking him! What a special site this is.'
on The tragedy of Tim Cook - 'Personally, I distinguish the ‘conforming to Chinese legal requirements’ from ‘participating in Trump’s events.’ Many of the criticisms I’ve seen of Apple/Tim Cook lump these together. Tim has been clear “We obey the law where we operate.” (Although in many cases there have been substantial legal actions to establish exactly what that law is, e.g. for the App Store.) But when Tim himself, and Apple as a company, has contributed to Trump initiatives, or bowed to pressure (as distinct from legal orders) such as the ICE tracking apps, I think Tim and Apple have taken actions that are not defensible, or at least not as defensible as “following the law.” Sure, special case tariff treatment was a big deal (financially) for Apple. But that came at a different kind of cost.'
on Perplexity endorses Apple's privacy-first AI strategy - 'There was a time when I was convinced that Apple needed to make a big AI acquisition, like buying Perplexity back when that particular idea was being bandied about. I am so glad that didn’t happen.'
on Perplexity endorses Apple's privacy-first AI strategy - 'What we here have been saying long-time.'
on 13 myths busted in David Pogue's 'Apple: The First 50 Years' - 'Great question on PED’s part. A fascinating list. Can we take a sec to recognize Pogue’s generosity here? And maybe his marketing prowess? Such a list should feature prominently in his book, and a lesser person might have hoarded it for the second edition. That he would do the considerable work at PED’s request then toss it off for free…that’s it, I’m buying the book.'
on John Ternus' turnaround - 'He’s now leading the charge on a trio of home products” Hopefully he’s now leading the charge because it is something he now strongly believes in and has great ideas, and not because of being pushed into that position because of his promotion. I am ready (have been ready) to make my home a ‘Smart Apple Home’; just been waiting for Apple to get it’s products (and Siri) ready.'
on John Ternus' turnaround - 'For me Sonos integration would be the must have. Being able to simply say “Alexa play…” and then hearing the music on our in-wall speakers is something we do many times a day. I’ve seen no indication to-date of any Siri integration with Sonos. AirPlay 2 compatibility doesn’t cut it, Apple needs to just do what Alexa has been doing for years.'
on The tragedy of Tim Cook - 'There is no doubt that Tim Cook made a lot of people very uneasy with his engagements with Trump. Some of it was calculated, for sure, as CEO of a major American and global titan, he doesn’t get to be Tim Cook the person, he has to be Tim Cook the CEO. Some of it was poor optics and unfortunate timing in a fast moving event cycle. But, one of the clear advantages of the approach that Apple is adopting, is that he is being given the latitude to be more himself. And maybe he will be a brave voice of reason and humanity in a cynical world,'
on The tragedy of Tim Cook - 'Yes. I lost an old dear friend because of that. True story: Months ago, one of my oldest, closest friends who moved to Los Angeles from North Carolina last year, called me up – and immediately started to lambast me for owning Apple stock. Reason? Because he thought Tim Cook was not standing up to Donald Trump enough. My friend, who also owned some Apple stock – in addition to other stocks, but far more diversified than I am – knows that I’m 100% invested in Apple stock. And have been for decades, and that I’ve made my fortune by doing so. He’s also knows I’ve been recommending Apple to my close friends like him – and from time to time keep them up-to-dated on the latest Apple news. As very old friends, we are quite familiar with each other’s political leanings. Both of us have never liked Trump and share a common distaste for his nasty behavior, and his destructive policies. In other words, although he tends to be a little more far left than me on occasion, we’re pretty much in agreement politically. Apparently, Tim Cook not standing up to Trump, combined with the tsunami of reports about ICE brutalizing and murdering Americans in the streets with impunity, must have pushed him over the edge – and so my friend called up to berate me and tell me to SELL all my Apple stock…. in protest. Well, when I tried to remind him of the significant life changing rewards of owning the stock long term – as I have – and that what Tim Cook has accomplished by meeting with the president of the United States – getting tariffs removed – and that protecting the company is in fact a CEO’s priority – my old friend took it very personally, got very upset, and hung up the phone on me. And has not responded to me reaching out to him ever since. This was months ago. If you think losing an old friend because the CEO of Apple didn’t take a political stand against Donald Trump is odd, I would agree. I’m just sharing this here for obvious reasons. BOTTOMLINE: What I’ve learned, now that we’re well into Trump’s second term of retribution, is that extremists on the far right and the far left share one thing in common. Their complete intolerance for those on the other side. In my unfortunate case, to such a degree that even if someone who is not on the other side, but simply doesn’t agree with them 100%. I believe that intolerance is the root cause of a lot of the problems in the world today. I also believe that Tim Cook’s tolerance – and respect for human dignity – is the primary reason he was able to so successfully navigate the political threats from Trump, Xi Jinping, and the EU for decades. That, and good lawyers. As Apple investors, we were lucky that Tim Cook has such innate decency and wisdom. Maybe that’s what’s so appealing about him as a CEO. Growing Apple into a $4 trillion company didn’t hurt either.'
on Premarket: Apple was red, turned green - 'Following Wednesday’s rise of exactly $ 7 per share to $273.17, Apple’s share price has moved up $1.75 to $274.92 in pre-market activity. Index futures are mixed heading into today’s opening bell. Broadcom, which gained $20.48 yesterday to $422.65, is off $2.76 pre-market. IBM is currently down about $18 per share at $234.22 on concerns about growth in its software segment moving forward after reporting earnings yesterday.'
on John Ternus' turnaround - 'Having a new CEO taking ownership of these new products is an interesting choice on Apple’s part. It also strikes me as interesting that this is getting highlighted on the heels of Cook reflecting on Apple Maps.'
on The tragedy of Tim Cook - 'These are of course incredibly extraordinary examples. But I couldn’t help thinking of them regardless.'
on Ternus as Apple CEO: What the analysts are saying - 'As an architect, I agree that there are use cases for AR/VR that I would find very useful. But it would have to have low latency( eg Vision Pro) oomphy processing power (eg Vision Pro) and would have to have the right apps developed. I’d love to design is 3D (proper bifocal 3D, not 3D displayed on a 2D screen) I think it would be very intuitive.'
on Ternus as Apple CEO: What the analysts are saying - 'Agreed. They are providing a nice tailwind of positivity leading into the Ternus transition, which will provide the ideal conditions to build on for his future success.'
