Steve Jobs to Be Posthumously Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom

[aevan]

Wow, that’s such a short list of successes for a company spending $25B+/yr on R&D; more than 10x Steve spent.

Let’s face it, Apple Watch was a mess on launch, and it took 3 iterations before Apple finally figured out it was a glorified fitibit. The fact that Google quickly lost interest and there were no real competitors helped. It was also Jony’s baby, not Tim’s.

Tim is not a designer, so, nothing is "his baby". He's an enabler. And the fact you think Apple Watch is a "glorified Fitbit" is telling.

Airpods are great, and it was executed almost flawlessly, but making everything wireless was part of Apple’s vision for a long time. Tim had nothing to do with that.

Yes, because "make everything wireless" equals putting a product out to market. You see, it had nothing to do with the CEO of the company who made them.

This is gold. Pure gold.

iPad was supposed to be the future of computing but it’s flailing. It was the only product category that tanked YoY and product direction is confusing at best.

Well, iPad was launched by Steve Jobs. And it was his limitations that kept it from becoming what it needs to be. I'd say that iPads are the best they ever were, and they are continually getting better.

M1 was part of Steve’s plan, not Tim’s. Why do you think Steve bought PA Semiconductor? It’s also a rebranded A series chip. Talk about flashy gimmicks… change A to an M and all of a sudden it’s some massive innovation?

Yes it is.

(Not the rebranded A series chip, but all the work Srouji's team did to get here).

You neglected to mention the many failures under Tim… HomePod, AirPods Max, Apple TV, trash can Mac Pro, Apple Music (losing its dominance in digital music to a tiny startup, not to mention the embarrassing launch),

First of all - of course not every product can succeed. How many failures did Steve had? Quite a few.

Second - becoming the second largest music streaming service in just 6 years is not exactly a failure. And since when are AirPods Max a failure? Wow.

But yeah, there were failures along the way, just like with Steve. But the important thing is that wins are great. Apple makes the best phones, tablets, notebooks and smart watches at the moment. And you can compare the launch of Apple Watch to iPad - it took time for it to become what it is, but it's literally in a market of its own now.

It's not perfect, but I say this is one of the best Apple has ever been. If you take off the rose nostalgia glasses, that is.

I think you confuse Cook with some kind of visionary just because they’re still improving and launching new products. A company the size of Apple takes a life of its own, and the culture and momentum created by the founder can take the company a long way. Inertia is a real thing.

I am not confusing anything and not saying Cook is some "visionary". It's not his job to be a visionary. It's his job to be a good leader and empower other visionaries to do their best work - something that Steve often didn't enable. This is why Apple is at its best at the moment.

The $20 cloth is much bigger than you realize because it signals that Apple has lost its way.

It signals absolutely nothing.

 

[ninethirty]

Not a result of the current president??? Biden may not be solely responsible, but he absolutely fueled it when he reversed Trump’s policies… shut down the keystone pipeline, allowed Putin to continue building his Nor stream 2 pipeline and stopped giving arms to Ukraine. That set the stage for the war and the oil crisis we’re in today.

But the thing that really jump started inflation was the $2 trillion he poured into the economy, against sage advice from leading economists, including Obama’s former Treasury secretary. That was on top of the $500B leftover from the original Covid funds.

Throwing that much money into the economy as we were coming out of Covid created a massive spike in demand, and the unnecessary unemployment benefits and rent relief kept millions from going back to work, creating a shortage of workers (useless vaccine mandates didn’t help) which forced businesses to increase pay to compete for workers... a recipe for disaster. And when the world’s largest economy is mismanaged, you can be sure the rest of the world will feel its effects.

As for Covid deaths, please stop. It’s over. More died under Biden, and even today, no one knows how many people died of Covid vs with Covid, not to mention, twice as many people die of cancer every year.

If Americans were more informed and cirtical of politicians regardless of political affiliation instead of engaging in sports politics, we’d actually have some effective leaders in office.

Perhaps then you can explain why inflation is a problem globally, and detail how the United States in particular was set to avoid any inflation related issues until Biden caused them. I'm not even arguing that Biden isn't responsible for worsening the situation, but if anyone believes that inflation is only a problem because of Biden, they're dreaming, and if they think things would have been better under Trump, well again, they're fast asleep. That man couldn't manage himself out of a paper bag.

Also, COVID isn't over. It's still very much ongoing, but the people of this country have decided it's over, despite the body count. And on that topic, a few things.

1. Biden has been president during the pandemic longer than Trump was, and in that time COVID had mutated once to become more deadly, and a second time to becoming much more transmissible.
2. It's impossible to measure the damage done by downplaying the virus at the start, and the amount of people who won't get vaccinated at all and have died after contracting COVID.
3. If you have an argument to make of where Biden isn't doing enough to contain COVID, where Trump was, I'd absolutely love to hear it.

I don't engage in sports politics. I'm not even a fan of Biden, but I'll take him any day over Trump. At any rate, I do agree that if Americans were more informed and critical of politicians, we'd be in a better spot, but they aren't, and are not, so we're not.

 

[Karma*Police]

And yet AW became a powerhouse under Tim.

And yet, It was Tim’s execution that made AirPods a powerhouse.

And yet iPad is wildly successful, with different models for different use cases.

And yet it was Tims execution that brought the m1 to life.

Failure is a moving personal definition. What you call failures I call successes. HomePod showed computational sound and is allegedly coming back next year. AirPods max and Apple TV are not failures as apple Music isn’t a failure. In fact would call those successes. Neither is Apple Maps.

Yes, he is a visionary, different from Steve.

No doubt apple has a lot of culture from its founders and to Tim’s credit he seemingly kept the culture intact.

I respect your opinions, although imo the universe disagrees. Apple has been doomed according to some since 2011. Just waiting for it to implode.

Apple released some great products under John Sculley and Michael Spindler too… companies don’t stop producing or innovating just because the founder dies/leaves.

I think you confuse ability to execute (which I don’t deny) with vision. Since Steve knew him better than you or me, I will let Steve have the last say on Tim… “Tim’s not a product person”.

 

[sudo-sandwich]

Considering the last clown gave one to Rush Limbaugh, Jim Jordan and Devin Nunes, giving one to Jobs is fine.

Bill Gates also got one (from Obama).

 

[Karma*Police]

Tim is not a designer, so, nothing is "his baby". He's an enabler. And the fact you think Apple Watch is a "glorified Fitbit" is telling.




Yes, because "make everything wireless" equals putting a product out to market. You see, it had nothing to do with the CEO of the company who made them.

This is gold. Pure gold.




Well, iPad was launched by Steve Jobs. And it was his limitations that kept it from becoming what it needs to be. I'd say that iPads are the best they ever were, and they are continually getting better.





Yes it is.

(Not the rebranded A series chip, but all the work Srouji's team did to get here).




First of all - of course not every product can succeed. How many failures did Steve had? Quite a few.

Second - becoming the second largest music streaming service in just 6 years is not exactly a failure. And since when are AirPods Max a failure? Wow.

But yeah, there were failures along the way, just like with Steve. But the important thing is that wins are great. Apple makes the best phones, tablets, notebooks and smart watches at the moment. And you can compare the launch of Apple Watch to iPad - it took time for it to become what it is, but it's literally in a market of its own now.

It's not perfect, but I say this is one of the best Apple has ever been. If you take off the rose nostalgia glasses, that is.




I am not confusing anything and not saying Cook is some "visionary". It's not his job to be a visionary. It's his job to be a good leader and empower other visionaries to do their best work - something that Steve often didn't enable. This is why Apple is at its best at the moment.



It signals absolutely nothing.

Going from what was once thought an indomitable position in digital music to a distant #2 and potentially falling to #3 is not good, no matter how you try to rationalize it.

If iPads are the best it’s ever been, why is the market so confused about what it’s good for? Sales are falling and its contribution to overall sales is a third of what it was in 2012.

It’s the CEO’s job to provide a vision. It’s the job of his direct reports to execute that vision. What you’re talking about are employees who have ideas (“vision”) at a micro level, but it only works if it rolls up to the larger vision provided by the CEO.

As I posted recently, Apple made good products under John Sculley and Michael Spindler too. While Apple is much healthier from a financial and competitive position today, similar warning signs were there under that regime… higher prices (some were outrageous… not unlike charging $600 for wheels), less innovation/value, growing complexity in both its products and product lineup, and deteriorating QC.

I’m not saying Apple is going to go out of business anytime soon, but my observations are shared by many for a reason, and it should serve as a wakeup call for Apple’s board and mgmt.

 

[aevan]

I’m not saying Apple is going to go out of business anytime soon, but my observations are shared by many for a reason, and it should serve as a wakeup call for Apple’s board and mgmt.

Not really, your observations are shared by a vocal minority.

 

[Karma*Police]

Perhaps then you can explain why inflation is a problem globally, and detail how the United States in particular was set to avoid any inflation related issues until Biden caused them. I'm not even arguing that Biden isn't responsible for worsening the situation, but if anyone believes that inflation is only a problem because of Biden, they're dreaming, and if they think things would have been better under Trump, well again, they're fast asleep. That man couldn't manage himself out of a paper bag.

Also, COVID isn't over. It's still very much ongoing, but the people of this country have decided it's over, despite the body count. And on that topic, a few things.

1. Biden has been president during the pandemic longer than Trump was, and in that time COVID had mutated once to become more deadly, and a second time to becoming much more transmissible.
2. It's impossible to measure the damage done by downplaying the virus at the start, and the amount of people who won't get vaccinated at all and have died after contracting COVID.
3. If you have an argument to make of where Biden isn't doing enough to contain COVID, where Trump was, I'd absolutely love to hear it.

I don't engage in sports politics. I'm not even a fan of Biden, but I'll take him any day over Trump. At any rate, I do agree that if Americans were more informed and critical of politicians, we'd be in a better spot, but they aren't, and are not, so we're not.

I actually touched on/addressed your inflation questions in my original post. When America’s economy sees a sudden surge in demand, it will impact the rest of the world. And we’re not just a little bigger… we’re about 25% of the world’s economy. Another reason is the Europeans’ poor energy policy. If you remember, Trump kept warning European leaders about their reliance on Russian oil, pushed them to invest more in NATO, and sent deadly weapons to Ukraine (a first). Very few, including myself, understood why he was doing that, and the media roasted him as usual, but in hindsight, that was all very smart and helped to avoid a war. Of course, the Europeans and Biden didn’t listen, and Biden went so far as to reverse those policies which Putin clearly saw as a green light to attack Ukraine.

I don’t know if we would have been able to avoid inflation completely, but if Biden had done nothing, we would certainly be better off today. One obvious solution now is to produce more oil and continue the keystone pipeline since it’s so integral to the economy. We have more oil than Saudi Arabia and Russia but we’re producing less than we were in 2019 because of Biden’s anti-fossil fuel stance.

As for Covid, it should be treated like any other flu virus IMO. Covid is more contagious, but far less deadly. That’s how viruses evolve. If they became deadlier and killed all the hosts, it would be akin to suicide. And the argument that the unvaccinated are responsible for spreading the virus has been debunked many times now. It should be apparent to anyone who’s seen all the elected officials pushing for mask and vaccine mandates contracting Covid... the list is too long to print. It’s convenient for politicians to divide Americans, but we need to be better than that.

I’m glad to hear you are not engaged in sport politics, and appreciate you willing to listen. There’s a lot of propaganda out there, and it’s coming from once trusted news sources. I think Americans would do well to avoid mainstream media and seek out alternative news outlets. We’ll be much more informed, be less angry, and less divided as a country.

 

[I7guy]

Apple released some great products under John Sculley and Michael Spindler too… companies don’t stop producing or innovating just because the founder dies/leaves.

I think you confuse ability to execute (which I don’t deny) with vision. Since Steve knew him better than you or me, I will let Steve have the last say on Tim… “Tim’s not a product person”.

Nope. Tim Cook obviously has vision. Does anyone think apple grew to where it is today because apple management operates on a wing and a prayer.

It seems clear all around that it’s a good thing that Tim isn’t a product person.

 

[Karma*Police]

Nope. Tim Cook obviously has vision. Does anyone think apple grew to where it is today because apple management operates on a wing and a prayer.

It seems clear all around that it’s a good thing that Tim isn’t a product person.

So tell me, what is his vision? Because all I see is a man still executing Steve’s vision… or at least attempting to, anyway.

 

[Packers1958]

You are not awarding the medal right!!

 

[I7guy]

So tell me, what is his vision? Because all I see is a man still executing Steve’s vision… or at least attempting to, anyway.

Ask Tim about his vision. Apple didn’t have the success over the last few year because Mr. cook is an accidental ceo.

 

[Lioness~]

Ask Tim about his vision. Apple didn’t have the success over the last few year because Mr. cook is an accidental ceo.

No, he is definitely not an accidental CEO. Steve hired the guy because he knew that he was the person to bring Apple and his vision forward.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Yes, the SE was too big. I have big hands, but the SE was still just a tick too big for perfect one-hand use. That wasn't the case with the original Jobs' design, and I suspect it was intended to be that way for that very reason: so people could use the phone comfortably with one hand.

As for iOS, it hasn't felt like iOS to me since 6. 7 was like some sort of hyper-colorful, confusing mind-trip and now, it just feels like their own take on Android. The original design was unique. Everything from the look, to the form, to the function (super intuitive and simple) just oozed uniqueness and felt like an Apple product.

I really miss it.

I too feel nostalgia for the old ways. It had to evolve. I don’t like the so-called design of basically every company for the last ten or so years. But looking back it was way too skeuomorphic and old fashioned.

I think everything peaked at about Windows 7 / High Sierra (?) / Android KitKat.

 

[Abazigal]

It certainly sounds like a lot of people are jealous over Apple's (and Tim Cook's) current success because it basically proves that everything they thought they knew about Apple was wrong. Everything they said that Apple needed to do or risk being sidelined, from acquiring Netflix to releasing a folding phone, has proven to be hilariously shortsighted now that we look at the current state of the industry.

And I think that's what we are seeing a lot of right now, and not just here. A lot of sour grapes. Not because Apple was (and still is) right, but because they were wrong.

 

[bwillwall]

didn't he steal money from Woz? If not, his leaving Tim Cook in charge should disqualify him.

So you hate everyone who led Apple, why are you here?

 

[bwillwall]

It certainly sounds like a lot of people are jealous over Apple's (and Tim Cook's) current success because it basically proves that everything they thought they knew about Apple was wrong. Everything they said that Apple needed to do or risk being sidelined, from acquiring Netflix to releasing a folding phone, has proven to be hilariously shortsighted now that we look at the current state of the industry.

And I think that's what we are seeing a lot of right now, and not just here. A lot of sour grapes. Not because Apple was (and still is) right, but because they were wrong.

No kidding. How can anyone look at Apple's current success and think Tim Cook is a poor CEO choice? It's astonishing actually.

 

[Abazigal]

So tell me, what is his vision? Because all I see is a man still executing Steve’s vision… or at least attempting to, anyway.

Tim Cook is basically building a cohesive ecosystem around the iPhone.

You start with the iPhone, and get the Apple Watch and AirPods.

You have Apple One, which included iCloud, Apple Music, TV+ and Arcade. Which involves Apple managing their own music streaming service, as well as having a personal hand in curating original content that tie in with Apple's own values.

Then you have the iPad, which later got Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard support.

You have the Macs, with their own custom silicon now.

Then you have all the supporting infrastructure (maps, Siri, iMessage, Apple Pay, App Store).

Each of what I have mentioned is easily a small or medium sized company in its own right. And they all tie in together to deliver that unique Apple experience that customers are willing to pay a premium for, because honestly, what other company is capable of offering their own ecosystem to support their own hardware?

Even the big names like Facebook, Netflix and Spotify are but apps on one's iPhone, and last I checked, they aren't doing so hot themselves. Microsoft has no smartphone presence, Android is fragmented, Tesla stock is tanking, amazon smart speakers haven't been the revolution people made them out to be, Samsung folding phones haven't exactly taken the world by storm...this really puts a lot of the "Apple is doomed because they aren't copying the competition" criticism in the proper perspective.

That more often than not, the people criticising Apple simply don't know anything, and really have no idea what they are talking about. They just want to make Apple look bad, but they clearly haven't taken the time to think if what the competition is working on even makes sense or not.

At the same time, this buys time for Apple to eventually enter adjacent industries that have synergy with the iPhone, such as AR (glasses), health (the Apple Watch has practically no competition at this point) and autonomous self-driving vehicles (the car would certainly make for the ultimate iPhone accessory).

There's never been a better time to go all-in with the Apple ecosystem. And with over 1 billion active iPhone users, Apple is still only just getting started. They certainly have the user base, and more importantly, the user base with spending power.

If that's not vision, and if that's not evidence that Apple knows how to play the long game and that they will be around for a good long time to come, I don't know what is.

 

[Karma*Police]

Ask Tim about his vision. Apple didn’t have the success over the last few year because Mr. cook is an accidental ceo.

I would but he won’t even answer my emails. Since you’re the one making such a big deal about how he’s a visionary, why don’t you just tell all of us how he’s a visionary? I’m especially curious now since you said you’re glad he’s not involved with products.

 

[I7guy]

I would but he won’t even answer my emails. Since you’re the one making such a big deal about how he’s a visionary, why don’t you just tell all of us how he’s a visionary? I’m especially curious now since you said you’re glad he’s not involved with products.

I don't have to explain anything about Apple's success or what Steve Jobs' part in said success or Tim Cooks' part in said success. You can believe what you, twist whatever facts you want, downplay Apple's current success all you want on an anonymous internet forum, but the universe is against you on this one.

And please, do point out where I said "I'm glad". I did say: "it's a good thing" -- as in it's a good thing for Apple, but that does not translate into "I'm glad".

 

[Karma*Police]

Tim Cook is basically building a cohesive ecosystem around the iPhone.

You start with the iPhone, and get the Apple Watch and AirPods.

You have Apple One, which included iCloud, Apple Music, TV+ and Arcade. Which involves Apple managing their own music streaming service, as well as having a personal hand in curating original content that tie in with Apple's own values.

Then you have the iPad, which later got Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard support.

You have the Macs, with their own custom silicon now.

Then you have all the supporting infrastructure (maps, Siri, iMessage, Apple Pay, App Store).

Each of what I have mentioned is easily a small or medium sized company in its own right. And they all tie in together to deliver that unique Apple experience that customers are willing to pay a premium for, because honestly, what other company is capable of offering their own ecosystem to support their own hardware?

Even the big names like Facebook, Netflix and Spotify are but apps on one's iPhone, and last I checked, they aren't doing so hot themselves. Microsoft has no smartphone presence, Android is fragmented, Tesla stock is tanking, amazon smart speakers haven't been the revolution people made them out to be, Samsung folding phones haven't exactly taken the world by storm...this really puts a lot of the "Apple is doomed because they aren't copying the competition" criticism in the proper perspective.

That more often than not, the people criticising Apple simply don't know anything, and really have no idea what they are talking about. They just want to make Apple look bad, but they clearly haven't taken the time to think if what the competition is working on even makes sense or not.

At the same time, this buys time for Apple to eventually enter adjacent industries that have synergy with the iPhone, such as AR (glasses), health (the Apple Watch has practically no competition at this point) and autonomous self-driving vehicles (the car would certainly make for the ultimate iPhone accessory).

There's never been a better time to go all-in with the Apple ecosystem. And with over 1 billion active iPhone users, Apple is still only just getting started. They certainly have the user base, and more importantly, the user base with spending power.

If that's not vision, and if that's not evidence that Apple knows how to play the long game and that they will be around for a good long time to come, I don't know what is.

But that’s not HIS vision. Steve started the ecosystem strategy when Tim was just getting started. The Mac was the original hub and was later replaced by iCloud which was the glue that would hold everything together, and it still is. No one is sticking around because of ATV+, Apple Arcade, Fitness+, and News+.

Apple’s “success” under Tim has been more or less driven by the economy as evidenced by 5 years of little or negative revenue growth, and their rise in stock price has more to do with stock buybacks and investors taking comfort in their apps, iCloud and music business (all Steve’s doing) becoming a bigger slice of their overall revenue stream which expanded their P/E. But we have yet to see the kind of incredible growth we saw under Jobs when 50%-80% growth was common.

While Tesla’s stock is “tanking”, they’re still expected to grow 50%… and that’s selling $50-$150k products whereas Apple is lucky to grow single digits and may even go negative this year.

Steve left Tim with an incredible business and product lineup, and it’ll be around long after Tim, just like MS continues to grow under Steve Ballmer. But without a product visionary you’re starting to see cracks in the business and I would argue the people who don’t see it haven’t been following Apple long enough and/or don’t have enough experience in business to see it. If the recent M2 MBP debacle isn’t a clear enough example of that, I don’t know what is…

Top 7 Problems After 1 Week
This Should Have Been Discontinued
Why Does This Exist?

 

[RogueWarrior65]

"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules and the have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."

This quote clearly applies to everyone on that list. It's a rogue's gallery. Some people vehemently disagree with the presence of some people on that list but that's the whole point because by disagreeing with them with such vitriol, you reveal yourself to be the square hole. You might want to think different.

 

[koruki]

Medal of FREEDOM?? When we have all become SLAVES to the machines he helped create?! /s

I agree with you!

posted with my slave-built device as well.

 

[Hessian]

I'm sorry but does he really deserve this? I feel like we've learned from the various books and movies that he was a visionary, sure, but he wasn't actually the best person...

That is a fair question. Reading: "who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors."

If we try to think of who has made more of a "significant societal contribution" very few would surpass the visionary who built (and then saved) the most important technology company of this time period.

I would question someone like Megan Rapinoe who confused women's equality with being paid like Beckham for kicking a soccer ball around at/below the caliber of a good under 15 year-old boys team.

 

[Hessian]

Do the poorest own 1000-1500$ devices?

The poorest own the $300-500 iPhones, do those count as providing access?

 

[George Dawes]

Too little , far too late