On the outside, everything seemed the same as before, Apple company was walking like a stick even after the departure of his father Steve Jobs, selling millions of iPhones around the world and adding several billion dollars to its coffers every quarter. Nevertheless, Tim Cook, the successor of the late visionary and co-founder of Apple, faced enormous pressure. Many questioned his ability to replace a man who had changed the world multiple times in a single decade. And it must be said that up until now, the great introvert Cook gave room to the doubters. But 2014 could be the year when the head of the most valuable company in the world hits the table with his actions and shows that he too can lead Apple and that he too can bring revolutionary innovations.
In August, it will be three years since Tim Cook officially replaced Steve Jobs as Apple's CEO. That's how much time Steve Jobs usually needed after the turn of the millennium to present his revolutionary idea to the world that changed everything. Whether it was the iPod in 2001, the iTunes Store in 2003, the iPhone in 2007, or the iPad in 2010, Steve Jobs was no robot who churned out one revolutionary product after another in a short period of time. Everything had its time, order, everything was thought out, and thanks to Jobs, Apple got to the imaginary throne of the technological world.
Many people forget, or rather want to forget, that necessary period that even such a genius, although certainly not flawless, needed. Understandably, from the first day he took up his new position, Tim Cook could not avoid comparisons with his long-time boss and friend at the same time. Although Jobs himself advised him to act according to his best sense and not to look back at what Steve Jobs would do, it did not deter the evil tongues. Cook was under enormous pressure from the start, and everyone was looking forward to when he would finally introduce a major new product. Just like Jobs did in the last ten years. The latter - to the detriment of Cook - ended up introducing so many of them that time washed away how many years he needed to do it, and people just wanted more and more.
[do action=”quote”]2014 should be the year of Tim Cook.[/do]
However, Tim Cook was taking his time. A year after the death of Steve Jobs, he was able to present only one new device to the world, the expected third-generation iPad, and that was once again grist for all doubters. Significant news, which Cook would have silenced everyone, did not come in the following months either. Today, fifty-three-year-old Cook could be relatively at ease. The products so far have been huge successes, and in terms of finances and market position, Cook was a must. On the contrary, he planned major coups within the company, which prepared the ground for the subsequent explosion. And the explosion here means nothing but revolutionary products called for by the public and experts.
Although Apple's top officials refuse to talk about a revolution within the respected company, they prefer to talk about the evolution forced by the departure of Steve Jobs, but Tim Cook intervened in the hierarchy and employee structures in a fundamental way. Steve Jobs was not only a visionary, but also a hard stickler, a perfectionist who wanted to have everything under control, and what was not according to his ideas, he was not afraid to show it, often expressively, whether it was an ordinary employee or one of his closest colleagues. Here we see a fundamental difference between Jobs and Cook. The latter, unlike the former, is a quiet man willing to listen and reach a consensus if he feels it is the right thing to do. When Jobs made up his mind, others had to make an enormous effort to change his mind. Plus, they usually failed anyway. Cook is different. The second key thing is that he is definitely not a visionary like Steve Jobs. After all, we cannot find such a second one in any other company at the moment.
This is precisely why Tim Cook started to build a compact team around him right after he took over at the head of Apple, consisting of the biggest minds sitting in the chairs of the Cupertino headquarters. Therefore, after a year in office, he fired Scott Forstall, until then an absolutely key man at Apple. But he did not fit into Cook's new philosophy, which sounded clear: a perfectly functioning team that would not depend on a single article, but would help each other and come up with revolutionary ideas collectively. Otherwise, it is not even possible to replace Steve Jobs, and this Cook plan perfectly illustrates the view into the company's innermost leadership. After Steve Jobs, apart from Cook, only four Musketeers remained in it from the original ten members. To the eye of the uninterested, relatively uninteresting changes, but for Tim Cook, absolutely essential news. He was able to reshape Apple's operation in his own image within three years, when he took Jobs's advice on his own head, and now he is ready to show the world who is still the main innovator here. At least everything points to that so far. 2014 is supposed to be the year of Tim Cook, but we'll have to wait until the fall and maybe even winter to see if that will actually be the case.
The first signs from which the prediction is reflected could already be seen in June, when Apple presented new versions of its operating systems for computers and mobile devices at its annual developer conference and excelled. Apple engineers were able to develop two really big updates for both operating systems in a single year, and in addition, they showed the developers several novelties that no one expected and were, as it were, extra, even if no one dared to call them the famous Jobs' "One more thing". Nevertheless, Tim Cook demonstrated how capable and above all effective the team he created at Apple. Up until now, Apple has focused more on one or the other system every year, now Cook has managed to unify and streamline the work of individual divisions to such an extent that it is practically impossible for an unpleasant situation like in 2007 to arise.
[do action=”citation”]The soil is perfectly prepared. Just take one last step.[/do]
That's when Apple was forced to postpone the release of the OS X Leopard operating system by half a year. Reason? The development of the iPhone took such a large amount of resources from the Leopard developers that they simply did not have time to create on several fronts at once. Now at Apple, they manage to fully develop not only two operating systems at once, but also several pieces of iron at the same time, i.e. iPhones, iPads and others. While the first part of this statement is already confirmed, the Californian giant has yet to convince us of the second. However, everything indicates that the second half of the year will be literally loaded with apple ammunition.
We're expecting a brand new iPhone, maybe even two, new iPads, it could even be computers, but what everyone's eyes have been on for a few months now is a brand new product category. A mythical iWatch, if you will. Tim Cook and his colleagues have been tempting for a revolutionary product that would at least partially rival Steve Jobs for a good two years, and he has gone so far in his promises that if he does not present a product that in reality no one knows anything about for sure yet, to the end this year, no one will just believe him. The ground is perfectly prepared for it. You just have to take one last step. Apple has hired so many new faces for its almost mythical product that an entire complex of offices and studios could easily be built for them. The concentration of brains, smart heads and seasoned engineers is huge in Cupertino.
For Cook, it's now or never. To judge him after a year or two would be short-sighted, but he has now dug himself such a hole that if he does not fill it with fulfilled expectations by the end of the year, he may fall very hard into it. However, it should be noted that this would not be the end of Apple. With the resources that the company has, it would be around for a very long time even without new, revolutionary products.
"However, Tim Cook took his time. A year after the death of Steve Jobs, he was able to present only one new device to the world, the expected third-generation iPad, and that was once again grist to the mill for all the doubters"
– And what do you think about the iPad mini, iPad Air, Touch ID in the iPhone, Macbook with retina display and the new Mac Pro? If you add to that all the recent software news and other product updates, I have to say that, on the contrary, Apple innovates by one hundred and six. faster than when Steve Jobs was there. ;)
None of this is "revolutionary" by any means, but thanks anyway.
Well, they were evolutions of already built products. As the retina panel is replaced, the iPad needs to be changed to an iPad mini and the retina panel added again. But those products were already there and nothing new was created under his influence. Under Jobs, everything that Cook gave only evolution was created. Now he is waiting for his own product.
quite revolutionary in my opinion HomeKit will/can be
Home Kit is not revolutionary, functional smart homes controlled via mobile apps have been around for a year now.
Exactly. Homes controlled by a touch panel have been around for a few years. And connecting to the phone is just a matter of a few lines of code in my opinion. Yes, iWatch will not be revolutionary for me. I think that for many years there will be nothing so revolutionary that would conjure up the wow effect like iPod and iPhone. Even the iPad wasn't revolutionary anymore. It's just that at the moment there is probably no other direction that Apple could fill with its own idea and thereby control another segment of the market. But I can't think of anything like that. I mean on the hardware side. I don't count the software into it, because it's all ecolucions on already coded bases.
And that's the idea. Something would be found and it's certainly easy to just figure it out ;) I'm not attracted to watches and I don't even wear them, but what do I know, how will they hold it? Maybe I'll start wearing them more likely than Gglass nonsense.
Well, that's true too...
But apple can still move it to another league
But still - everyone is cursing how Apple hasn't released anything revolutionary instead of enjoying the great products they release. They will come up with something and I honestly don't care when it is.
I'm not cursing, I prefer that Cook is at the helm, listening and stabilizing Apple for the future.
With this metric, even iwatch won't be revolutionary for you. I think they won't have a water jet, teleport or holographic display... :)
iwatch will not be revolutionary, as samsung and other manufacturers already have watches. So Samsung started the "revolution". Of course, there were watches for both Android and iPhone (pebble) before, but that wasn't it, something like tablets before the iPad.
No, the revolution didn't really happen at Samsung. The watch is of interest to a few geeks and nothing else. The revolution will come when someone makes the watch really usable and indispensable even for an ordinary person ;-) Just like it was with the iPhone and iPad ;-) Samsung watches are here again in the position of "tablets before the iPad" ;-)
I tried the Samsung watch and found it fully usable and I don't really know what else Apple could come up with (maybe it will surprise). The fact that millions of sheep buy something because it is indispensable does not mean that he made a revolution. Moreover, unlike mobiles and tablets, this is after all a "new concept" that people will get used to, similar to google glass.
they are usable and functional. but that's all. they are definitely not design. they are not nice i look like an ipod nano with a belt. a small revolution could occur with the projection of an image onto the glass of an ordinary watch, which would be virtually indistinguishable from classic watches. I would like that very much. what is on the market now is humus. i love watches I have about 11 watches and I change them according to my mood, needs, etc., but then absolutely nothing forced me to buy a smart watch. just because they look like cheap digitals from the Vietnamese market.
It's a matter of taste, I'd probably wear them, but I'd rather wear the motorola ones https://moto360.motorola.com Functionality is the main thing, as design is a personal matter and not everything from Apple is designed to everyone's liking, see ios. I like the choice, but apple probably won't provide it.
I agree with you that evaluating products from a design point of view is biased because everyone has different design preferences. I prefer a classic dial and a normal movement (from quartz through automatics to tourbillons). I would really like a classic dial with a chronograph and the data from the paired phone would be projected onto the glass. that's just my imagination and I would really like such a watch.
given the very different hand sizes I would expect some sizes.
this is the biggest bullshit I've ever read in a discussion :D oh yeah. do you think that anyone will make your watch in peace because you have a hand like an anorexic or the hulk? but please how can you write something like that? why did Patek Phillipe give you a special watch just because you have a small hand? Does maurice lacroix make you a different watch than the last one because you have a big hand? Hand sizes are different, but that's why there are straps, isn't it? if the watch will be sold with a leather strap, then 10 wires are needed in it to cover a large rock the size of the wrist. and if they are sold with a metal sequential strap, the individual parts can either be removed or, on the contrary, added.
I thought otherwise, but never mind - let's wait and then resume the discussion :-)
Interestingly, if a million sheep (Apple) want a device, then belatedly millions of other envious sheep (Google, Samsung, etc.) will come and buy it too. Before, but didn't they know they wanted it?
You have to consider that Apple has become a phenomenon. This is no longer about products and revolution, but about marketing. Apple is being talked about everywhere, while its share of the phone market is already about 15% and falling. As I write above: the revolution will be if the Apple watch works differently from the watches presented by Samsung and others, and I doubt it.
Yes, today they offer mobile phones to every scumbag, that's why 15% otherwise their sales don't drop. Not everyone buys a flagship from either Samsung or Apple, and it only drives the highest class. If I take Apple from 2011, let's say that a phenomenon is manifested here, but how is it possible that it also affects those who curse Apple? Before this year, it was impossible to talk about the phenomenon, at least not worldwide, and those revolutions were supposedly there. I will not claim that a revolution will come now, nor do I expect much. I generally take the talk about Cook and Apple in stride. I'm just waiting for Apple to do something a little different than they did before.
Apple ALWAYS invents lots of things differently (iPod, iPhone, iPad). Undoubtedly, this will be the case with the iWatch as well. That's not a hypothesis, that's a certainty. They won't release a de facto copy of a Samsung watch on the market ;-) Otherwise, I wrote when it will make it really USABLE and indispensable for the COMMON PERSON, not for a few geeks. Samsung hasn't brought anything like that yet. Otherwise, the iPad was also a new concept... As new as smart watches are now. People didn't understand why they should have a tablet. And Apple showed them. That's what happens with watches anyway imho. A few people in my area are already looking forward to them, I will 99% buy them too if they cost up to 15k ;-)
Apple hasn't thought of anything indispensable yet :) Otherwise, the difference between us is that I don't know the future and I haven't seen the iwatch, but you have :)
Another nonsense... With this logic, neither the iPhone could be revolutionary, because smartphones had already exited, nor the iPod, because mp3s also existed a long time ago, and neither could the iPad, because some tablet had already been introduced at that time.
Exactly! For me, iTunes and iPad are revolutionary. iPad because tablets before it looked different.
Didn't phones look different before the iPhone? MP3 not too? Samsung certainly did not start a revolution with watches. Or do you see her somewhere? The massive proliferation of tablets is obviously the work of the iPad. Android is just a system that other manufacturers came up with when they imitated the iPad and thus made the tablet less mobile and unbelieving with the question "What's the point?".
You know, they looked at me like an exotic when I had my first ipad right after the launch with the claim that it didn't even have USB, it couldn't flash and the like. The revolution - the expansion took about two years. The fact that Samsung started the watch here, even if the sales are not dizzying, is that other manufacturers suddenly also presented their solutions. We will find out in a year or two if there will be a revolution.
But others didn't introduce them all at once after Samsung. They introduced them gradually even before Samsung, and none of them have dizzying sales yet. Samsung usually gives them away for free with its products. This may be the revolution. Not using Flash and USB was already a revolution and today it is clear that no one misses it, even if one could argue about USB :) and maybe that's why the iPad was the first usable tablet.
It certainly wasn't the reason it was usable. The mess with the WSJ pages introducing the ipad, where there was a big white space saying your browser doesn't support flash, but the ipad had the power to move the entire market in the beginning. Believe me, if someone rebuilt today's tablet with usb and flash at the same time, the ipad wouldn't sell so much. Inconsistent local storage and the absence of USB is still a big weakness of iOS.
I meant it with regard to the weight of the tablet, battery life, thickness,… etc. They cut it down to the bare minimum.
Samsung started a "revolution" with watches in that they gave it to their tablet for free out of desperation :DD to get rid of it because no one bought it :-) still, I'd rather buy a classic watch than their ugly shop :- )
the revolution is not what someone invents or makes first, but the ONE who massively expands it - in the case of the iWatch of other manufacturers, it is indeed a new product, but there can be no question of expansion. If Apple's sales forecasts come true, it will be a revolution.
With this logic, the iphone was not revolutionary, nor was the ipad, because the massive expansion to most of the planet was ensured only by tablets and phones with android, which dominate the market...
that's not entirely true. It's not about handing it out to everyone on the planet, it's about starting the whole shopping frenzy - and that's what Apple started.
The iWatch is on sale, but I didn't notice that it started anything - it's more like a hobby than something massive that most people want.
Yes, but that doesn't make Apple a "revolutionary" but an excellent seller. The revolution will be if the Apple watch works differently than the watches introduced by Samsung and others, and I highly doubt it.
To this day, NOBODY knows what it will be and how it will work... let's wait and then I will continue the discussion - until then it's just empty words.
Like most posts :)
The last paragraph about how tim cook dug his own grave is completely misleading and you present it in a style as if tim has an ultimatum and if he doesn't present it, it's over. Nothing of the sort will happen. He himself said several times that at Apple I present products to the world only when they are 100%. It can easily happen in 2015 or 2016. ;)
And you should look up what a myth is in the dictionary.
He can easily present something in 2030 and until then, only talk about how revolutionary it will be for 15 years. The question is whether anyone will still believe him in 10 years. I personally agree with the article here - if they don't present something new this year or early next year, it will be laughable.
But they don't talk about anything. that's the problem. All these speculations are made up by servers like the Apple Store so that they have something to write about and something for people to drool over. apple always claims that it only makes great products. no super mega revolution.
Nice article. Thanks for it. :)
I think that we will not see a truly revolutionary product such as the iPhone and iPad. Journalists everywhere wrote about Apple watches, until finally the other manufacturers couldn't stand it and all of them already presented watches and even at a very good level, both in terms of functionality and design. I think iwatch will definitely not be "revolutionary" anymore.
But before the iPhone there were also smart phones, before the iPad there were tablets. And despite that, these devices were revolutionary because they completely changed the way people thought about that type of product. The fact that Samsung has its watch, which it absolutely cannot sell, does not mean that something has been decided. I, on the other hand, expect that iWatches will be much more interesting and will dominate the market very quickly, although I would expect the price tag to be several times higher than that of the competition ;-)
I think that apart from the image of the apple, nothing revolutionary will be added by apple. The difference is in the mindset of customers buying apple products. But maybe if Apple makes the watch fashionable, then the others will start to sell better.
In a couple of months, I'll come here and check it out one after the other ;)
When I buy a smart watch, I want to throw my cell phone out the window. That's not possible yet. This is the revolution. It sounds promising, but in 5 years no one will be pulling that stupid cake anymore.
Here I mainly see a problem with the display size. But if you only need to call and text, then such phones have been around for some time. I even know two people who own them :)
Yes, the ones that run out right away, etc. Tapping on the display will soon be a thing of the past. Voice control is much better.
Except very well very well in the future, voice control can only be used where there is no noise and only where a person does not feel awkward. I haven't seen anyone use voice control ever in public. In private it is something else, but in public, then definitely not. And in order to control it, somehow only by voice, Hoodne will have to advance it.
The first idea with which Jobs saved Apple was definitely not the iPod or anything after that, but the first iMac. Jobs returned to Apple in 97. The iMac debuted in 98. So comparing Cook and Jobs in the timeline makes no sense. I don't even know why anyone compares these two. I find it a bit far-fetched. Jobs wasn't the only one with good ideas. All products were built by teams of people. That Jobs presented everything in the same turtleneck was just a marketing decision that worked out great for them. Everyone wrote about the gentleman in black, which again shows something. But they were never his own inventions, but rather the inventions of people who were recruited by clever HR management. And that skilled HR management was taken over by the board of directors, and that board was brought in by Jobs. So we can be grateful to him for that. But we certainly can't say that he has everything figured out, as many Apple fans unfortunately take it to be.
He didn't insist on everything, but he knew how to decide what was right and what wasn't, and in that he is irreplaceable. He could see into the future what people would want, how they would want it to be used and how it should look. And besides, he knew how it should NOT look and how it should not be used.
Can someone explain to me this mania surrounding a "revolutionary" Apple device? The first iPod was in 2001, in 2007 came the iPhone, which has been speculated since the first iPod (7 years!), 2010 came the iPad. Thus, we have three revolutionary devices behind the modern era of Apple. Of these, two came relatively recently. Now it's been 4 years since the iPad and the whole Apple community is complaining that Apple hasn't introduced anything new in a long time. WTF? After all, they still represent!
So that's the article. I'll ignore that 2007-20033, but it's amazing how much speculation and imagination this article presents as facts that Cook wrote in his biography. I don't know how it will turn out, what's planned, what Cook is like and what he dreams at night, but I know that even if something in the article is true in the end, it's just a fluke. I guess it's the cucumber summer.
Great article Thank you :0)
PS, you have a large number of friends, they could also write something. :0)
Although the majority of the article is not very favorable, I was personally much more pleased than the far greater speculation about new products + the would-be original photo - it smells much more like a tabloid to me than dissecting the visions-plans-innovation-expectations-fulfillment of the head of the company
It would be enough for me if Safari started to compensate for the high resolution of the new HW. On the large iMAC, I have fleas instead of letters and the side space is not filled. Page enlargement cannot be fixed and it still works poorly :)
some pages are too small even for a 13" air. I would also appreciate this, because otherwise I enjoy safari more than chrome
A bit of a silly expectation, isn't it? I got a bold and revolutionary new MacPro and no one mentions it (it's not mainstream, is it?). Just an idea how many people worked on it…. and believe it - a new MacPro has been requested by the professional community for years and years and years, petitions for the "new iron MacPro" have been created. So I'm glad Apple listened to the wishes of the "community" here.
In general, to make a revolution requires an ideal time. So when the time is ripe, no matter how (technologically, socially, spiritually, etc.) Apple will come up with something new.
People don't need to keep hoping that Apple will make their lives easier. Until then, everyone can start by themselves and work on themselves, it's free and it can be a bigger revolution than Apple and its other revolutionary toy.
And one more thing, it's better not to expect anything, then the surprise will be even bigger ;)
What did Cook accomplish? At least the unshakable position of the iPhone will reach the level of ordinary smartphones, because the iP5 is, in all respects, quite a common blow compared to the previous generation. The iPhone stops being talked about and the “hate” of Samsung vs others is snorted…
Chopping HW, storage in the iP5c, the latest low-end iMac with 5400 HDD rpm, etc. can discourage many an ardent fan. Apple lost a "sexy feel" innovator to Cook, so I'm all the more curious about the iPhone6.
It will be a blast if no watches arrive this year either. :-)
Every year he says: we have some amazing products to show you next year….. but mic never comes 2012 mic interesting except ipod touch, 2013 – iPad air after design strange, otherwise no change, iPhone 5S brought what we expected from 5. ky and it's pepsi fotak and innovation
Apple TV and iWatch have been speculated for years, but nothing comes of it and Androids don't sleep, they have water resistance, dust resistance, good batteries, 4K and so the expectations from Apple are high
I don't know, but the iMac seemed interesting to me in 2012... But otherwise, I mostly agree
What about last year's Mac Pro? Such a bomb, but it's still only about phones or tablets...
Off topic: hergot guys - brush up on your grammar! You can't even see so much rudeness in discussions on Novinky... (...iPhones were...; ...mp3s existed...; ...bullshit...; ...devices...came...; ...there were evolutions...; and many others).
On the topic: Good article and I'm honestly curious and looking forward to what else Apple will come up with this year!
Apple doesn't have to make a single revolution anymore, the ones it has already brought to the world - iPod, AppStore, IPhone, iPad - are enough. Another revolution can be brought by someone else. Apple just needs to improve everything that exists, and it does that really well. e.g. MacPro is a completely unattainable product for all other companies, and thus it is unique, so it is enough for apple to continue making unique and high-quality products that the competition cannot copy or imitate.-) ..see the said MacPro.
Other revolutions can be brought by those who are used to copying everything from Apple and passing it off as their own... but coming up with something completely new - revolutionary is not so easy. That's why Google, Samsung, etc. have never come up with anything yet.-) On the contrary, when Apple came up with a tablet, all the smart people laughed and on all the forums sneered like: HA HA it's not a revolution, it's a disappointment, it's just poor people from apple they enlarged the phone for their sheep and call it a tablet...-) Well, you see, it was a revolution, as it was clear from the first moment, and those who primitively laughed at the enlarged phone from the beginning are still giggling just as stupidly... but they already have the enlarged phone a long time ago at home and their kids too .-)) .. lol –