Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down with Megan Murphy of Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg has published excerpts from a very engaging interview with Tim Cook, covering a broad range of topics including Steve Jobs and Donald Trump. If you have the time, it’s worth diving into the full thing – but for the the rest of us, we’ve handpicked some of the more interesting quotes for your delectation.
On Steve Jobs’ legacy
“Steve’s DNA will always be the base for Apple. It’s the case now. I want it to be the case in 50 years, whoever’s the CEO. I want it to be the case in 100 years, whoever’s CEO. Because that is what this company is about. His ethos should drive that — the attention to detail, the care, the simplicity, the focus on the user and the user experience, the focus on building the best, the focus that good isn’t good enough.”
On the HomePod
“If you remember when the iPod was introduced, a lot of people said, ‘Why would anybody pay $399 for an MP3 player?’ We have a pretty good track record of giving people something that they may not have known that they wanted. We’re hitting on something people will be delighted with. It’s gonna blow them away.”
On Augmented Reality
“I think it is profound. I am so excited about it, I just want to yell out and scream. The first step in making it a mainstream kind of experience is to put it in the operating system. We’re building it into iOS 11, opening it to developers—and unleashing the creativity of millions of people. Even we can’t predict what’s going to come out.”
On creating U.S. jobs
“I feel a responsibility as the CEO of an important company to grow jobs in the United States. And so I may have a little different view on this than some of my peers. But I do feel that that’s a role that we have. Apple builds so many components here. That’s lost to a lot of people because they only look at the final assembly.”
On Donald Trump
“I’ve pushed hard on immigration. We clearly have a very different view on things in that area. I’ve pushed on climate. We have a different view there. There are clearly areas where we’re not nearly on the same page. We’re dramatically different. I hope there’s some areas where we’re not. His focus on jobs is good. So we’ll see.”
On innovation
“We invest for the long term. We don’t feel an impatience to be first. It’s just not how we’re wired. Our thing is to be the best and to give the user something that really makes a difference in their lives. If you get caught up in the shiny thing du jour, you lose sight of the biggest forest.”