Apple CEO Talks About Steve Jobs, Rivals and Apple Watch [Excerpts]
Apple CEO Tim Cook in an exclusive interview with Rick Tetzeli, co-author of Becoming Steve Jobs discussed a range of topics from Steve Jobs' ongoing legacy in the company to mixed reception of the Apple Watch.
He noted that the company considered different angles in developing ways to interact with the Apple Watch, thinking of it as its own piece of technology and not just another smartphone or tablet.
Cook added that the smartwatches launched recently aren't "thought that through" resulting in lesser in more cumbersome products.
"We weren't first on the MP3 player; we weren't first on the tablet; we weren't first on the smartphone. But we were arguably the first modern smartphone, and we will be the first modern smartwatch-the first one that matters.
People didn't realize they had to have an iPod, and they really didn't realize they had to have the iPhone. And the iPad was totally panned. Critics asked, "Why do you need this?" Honestly, I don't think anything revolutionary that we have done was predicted to be a hit when released. It was only in retrospect that people could see its value. Maybe this will be received the same way," Cook said in the interview.
Cook noted Jobs' contribution in creating the culture he created during his years. For him Jobs was "the best teacher."
Out of that culture came a sense of community and collaboration amongst the company's various departments, a critical element of Apple's continued success, and one that keeps them a step above the competition, Cook adds.
"We've turned up the volume on collaboration because it's so clear that in order for us to be incredibly successful we have to be the best collaborators in the world. The magic of Apple, from a product point of view, happens at this intersection of hardware, software, and services. It's that intersection. Without collaboration, you get a Windows product. There's a company that pumps out an operating system, another that does some hardware, and yet another that does something else. That's what's now happening in Android land. Put it all together and it doesn't score high on the user experience."
