By Frank Petrie
Thursday evening Apple CEO Tim Cook formerly introduced himself to Apple devotees and the rest of the world. Appearing on “Brian Williams’ Rock Center,” we were presented with a man that I felt was every bit as captivating as was Steve Jobs. But in his own way. And the twinkle in his eyes and the grin on his face looked all too familiar.
Tim spoke of what is probably the most discussed aspect of his tenure: his comparison to Steve Jobs. He stated, as he has mentioned in previous interviews, that Steve told him in his final days not to make decisions based on the question, “What would have Steve done?”
He spoke briefly, and vaguely, of the recent changing of the guard in Apple’s hierarchy. He spoke of bringing more manufacturing back to America while pointing out that several key Apple components are already manufactured here, some even exported. He did state that a Mac line will be entirely manufactured in the States sometime next year. Some sites have speculated that this line may be the much anticipated new Mac Pro.
He spoke vaguely of Apple’s future TV endeavor, all the time grinning on how Apple respects its secrecy. As the axiom states: “The apple never falls far from the tree.”
As an extra special bonus, NBC continued the conversation online a half an hour after the show aired with Brian Williams and “The Verge” editor-in-chief Joshua Topolsky answering questions regarding the Tim Cook interview, pointing out that basically Mr. Cook was hitting all of Apple’s basic talking points. And he pointed out how Samsung has closed the gap with the Galaxy SIII and the maturation of the Android platform, both of which force Apple to remain on its toes.
But he also pointed out that Apple is still capable of great things, yet they have set the bar so high for themselves. As Tim stated, “we are now living in the age of The Jetsons.”
Viewer’s questions ranged from how much more would Apple products cost when manufactured by American labor to the disappointment that has been Siri and Maps. Although it was brought up that Steve oversaw Ping and Mobile Me, failures in their own right.
And there was the inevitable comparison — “visionary turned manager vs. manager turned visionary.” Which is better?
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