Interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook reveals a company that stands tall despite criticism

If there is one company in the tech world right now that is taking some really big strides (for itself) it would have to be Apple. While many have claimed that Apple is doomed and that the sudden change or move to giant tablet and smartphones may be a sign of struggle, things did not seem to be that way when Fast Company interviewed CEO Tim Cook and SVPs Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi. The long commentary aside, the interview does shed plenty of light on the Cupertino giant’s recent moves. For example, Apple’s move to open up a public beta program stemmed from the whole Maps debacle, one that can easily termed as the worst service offered on a device out of the box (don’t even get started with India). Eddy Cue confessed that building a Maps app had been tougher than anyone in Apple had expected. It was Apple’s failure in not being able to accomplish the same, that led Apple to launch the public beta so that more bugs would be identified prior to a public release. The article also shed light on how Jobs would have never wanted a beta version of the company’s software in the hands of the consumer. Additionally Cue also commented on those who criticize Apple for the company’s lack of innovation ever since Steve Jobs passed away, “The world thinks we delivered [a breakthrough] every year while Steve was here,” says Cue. “Those products were developed over a long period of time.” This is a fact, as many patent filings will tell you that most Apple ideas were though about and patented a really long time ago. For example, the patent filing for a wrap around display was filed back in 2011, which was around the time the 3GS was up for sale. During his interview, Tim Cook seemed least bothered about what critics had to say. As for the ‘Apple is doomed’ stories that are floating around the internet, Cook simply commented, “The way that I look at that is, I really know the truth.” He reiterated his stance on what the company believes about itself:

“We have never said that we’re perfect. We’ve said that we seek that. But we sometimes fall short.

The most important thing is, Do you have the courage to admit that you’re wrong? And do you change? The most important thing to me as a CEO is that we keep the courage."

As for the reason why Apple is putting its hands and legs into other areas like health, home and even a car, well, there’s an answer for that as well.

“Our strategy is to help you in every part of your life that we can, whether you’re sitting in the living room, on your desktop, on your phone, or in your car.”

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Indeed, as many of you may have already noticed, the interview does come at a time, almost a month before the release of the company’s next iPhone. So this could be something that Apple may have wanted its audience and fans to believe in before the launch. Still then, it does paint a picture of a company that stands tall despite tonnes of criticism and despite being the only one to make a hefty $50.6 billion in sales, which is also termed as ‘disappointing’ quarter.