BusinessWeek has scored a gigundo, 11-page interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook. It covers lots of ground that offers some new insights into the business of running Apple. Here’s the highlight reel.
On the recently fired Scott Forstall being a lousy team player:
The key in the [personnel] change that you’re referencing is my deep belief that collaboration is essential for innovation-and I didn’t just start believing that. I’ve always believed that. It’s always been a core belief at Apple. Steve very deeply believed this… So how do we keep doing that and keep taking it to an even higher level? You have to be an A-plus at collaboration. And so the changes that we made get us to a whole new level of collaboration.
On the convergence of OS X and iOS, which Cook says will only continue to a point (surprisingly and may not be entirely truthful in the long run!):
We don’t subscribe to the vision that the OS for iPhones and iPads should be the same as Mac. As you know, iOS and Mac OS are built on the same base. And Craig has always managed the common elements. And so this is a logical extension. Customers want iOS and Mac OS X to work together seamlessly, not to be the same, but to work together seamlessly.
On Android today basically being Windows 20 years ago, and why that means Apple will win out (although if you want to take the analogy all the way, that means Apple is going to get creamed in mobile market share forever):
If you think about Android, it’s more like the Windows PC model. The operating system comes from company A. Company B is doing some integration work, and maybe the services come from yet somewhere else. I think we know the kind of customer experience that produces.
On why the move to Apple Maps was totally in consumers’ best interest and not at all to cash in on that sweet sweet location data, which, c’mon Tim. And admitting Apple totally screwed up:
So it wasn’t a matter of saying, “Strategically it’s important that we not work with company X.” We set out to give the customer something to provide a better experience. And the truth is it didn’t live up to our expectations. We screwed up.
On not doing something just because Steve Jobs would have, which he’s said before but means so much more now that he’s actually been, you know, doing it:
[Jobs] goes, “I never want you to ask what I would have done. Just do what’s right.” He was very clear.
And that should put you on good footing! There’s much, much, much more good stuff over at BusinessWeek. Read it! Profiles this thorough — and insightful — don’t come around very often. [Bloomberg BusinessWeek]