Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Businesses Government The Almighty Buck United States Apple Politics

Apple CEO Tim Cook Shares His Experience Of Working With President Donald Trump (bloomberg.com) 350

In a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook talked about his experience of working with Donald Trump. He said: I feel a great responsibility as an American, as a CEO, to try to influence things in areas where we have a level of expertise. I've pushed hard on immigration. We clearly have a very different view on things in that area. I've pushed on climate. We have a different view there. There are clearly areas where we're not nearly on the same page. We're dramatically different. I hope there's some areas where we're not. His focus on jobs is good. So we'll see. Pulling out of the Paris climate accord was very disappointing. I felt a responsibility to do every single thing I could for it not to happen. I think it's the wrong decision. If I see another opening on the Paris thing, I'm going to bring it up again. At the end of the day, I'm not a person who's going to walk away and say, "If you don't do what I want, I leave." I'm not on a council, so I don't have those kind of decisions. But I care deeply about America. I want America to do well. America's more important than bloody politics from my point of view. Let me give you an example of this. Veterans Affairs has struggled in providing health care to veterans. We have an expertise in some of the things at the base level that they're struggling with. So we're going to work with them. I could give a crap about the politics of it. I want to help veterans. My dad's a veteran. My brother served. We have so many military folks in Apple. These folks deserve great health care. So we're going to keep helping.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Shares His Experience Of Working With President Donald Trump

Comments Filter:
  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15, 2017 @09:01AM (#54625115)
    Help Americans, sure you do Timmy.
    • Worthy sentiment (Score:3, Insightful)

      by XXongo ( 3986865 )
      Although the article here seems tailor made to bring out both the political flames as well as the Apple-bashing flames, I would like to say that I admire this attitude.

      I wish there were more people with the attitude that they want to do what they can to fix what problems they can, and that far too many people do instead say, "If you don't do what I want, I leave."

      I'm sorry you don't like Cook as a person, or Apple as a company. Nevertheless, this is a worthy sentiment that is worth emulating.

      • by sjbe ( 173966 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @09:36AM (#54625393)

        Although the article here seems tailor made to bring out both the political flames as well as the Apple-bashing flames, I would like to say that I admire this attitude.

        Talk is cheap. I judge a man by his actions. Tim Cook talks a good game about caring about the country but he does everything in his power to have his company avoid paying taxes to support it. Apple has billions in cash on their balance sheet which could be invested in ways that would create jobs. Instead they simply sit like Smaug on their pile of gold and do nothing that would create jobs or drive the economy forward. Apple has outsourced nearly all of their manufacturing to China, even stuff that might not actually have to be outsourced. Tim Cook I'm sure has many wonderful qualities but on the stuff he's talking about here he is nothing but a do-nothing hypocrite. Few companies are as well resourced to help change the world as Apple but sadly Apple and Cook are doing little with that opportunity.

        I wish there were more people with the attitude that they want to do what they can to fix what problems they can, and that far too many people do instead say, "If you don't do what I want, I leave."

        So do I. What's more I think rich powerful men like Tim Cook should be leading the charge instead of hoping others do it for them. Elon Musk is a FAR better example of someone trying to actually improve the world than Tim Cook is.

        • by prefec2 ( 875483 )

          The have billions of dollars (in foreign currency). However, it is doubtful that these money can be used to create jobs. Jobs are necessary to do things. For example produce iPhones. And you need more workers when you want to produce more iPhones. However, you only need to produce more iPhones when people are buying more iPhones. Furthermore, as a company leader it is his job to make as much money for the owners as possible. If he can avoid paying taxes than this is the fault of politicians. They should hav

          • The have billions of dollars (in foreign currency). However, it is doubtful that these money can be used to create jobs

            Baloney. If they do pretty much anything economically useful beyond simply gathering interest from securities, jobs will be created. But as long as they keep that pile of money sitting in the figurative bank no jobs of any kind will be created. There is no task you can do that involves billions of dollars that will not create meaningful numbers of jobs. But they have to actually try to do something first. Apple hasn't taken a significant risk since the iPhone was released. It's just been incremental i

            • by imgod2u ( 812837 )

              The have billions of dollars (in foreign currency). However, it is doubtful that these money can be used to create jobs

              Baloney. If they do pretty much anything economically useful beyond simply gathering interest from securities, jobs will be created. But as long as they keep that pile of money sitting in the figurative bank no jobs of any kind will be created. There is no task you can do that involves billions of dollars that will not create meaningful numbers of jobs. But they have to actually try to do something first. Apple hasn't taken a significant risk since the iPhone was released. It's just been incremental improvements and variations on existing technology for the most part.

              I doubt this. It's the typical "trickle down" argument but data doesn't correlate. We've just come off 8+ years of unencumbered injection of capital into the markets. There's never been so much free money showered into the investment pool at ridiculously low interest rates. Yet job creation, while happening, hasn't exactly exploded.

              In fact, there's nothing stopping Apple from "using" that money overseas. Just like with the stock buyback, they could take out a ridiculously cheap loan (which they have, to the

        • by taiwanjohn ( 103839 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @10:53AM (#54626021)

          Few companies are as well resourced to help change the world as Apple but sadly Apple and Cook are doing little with that opportunity.

          Sadly, our capitalist system is ill-suited to the kind of altruistic effort you describe. Fiduciary responsibility prevents most corporations from taking risks for the common good.

          I have what I call the Elon Musk Rule for Billionaires: If you're doing even 1/10th of the public good as Elon does, then you deserve your billions. But if you're just another hedge-funder, sitting on your Smaug hoard, then you -- or rather the fact that you are a billionaire -- is not doing any good for the rest of us. Furthermore, the fact that you are keeping all that coin in your hoard, and out of circulation, is in fact a detriment to the rest of us. You are nothing more than a blood-sucking parasite with a fancy suit and a Ferrari.

          It's worth noting that both SpaceX and Tesla were started as private companies (and SpaceX is still private) precisely because Elon knew he could never get away with such risky behavior as a public corporation.

        • Apple has billions in cash on their balance sheet which could be invested in ways that would create jobs

          You mean like cloning Steve Jobs? I dunno if Cook would be interested in that.

          On a more serious note, can we stop pretending that doing everything we can to create jobs is the ultimate good any patriotic american can strive for? Climate change and experimenting with how much the administration can bend the constitution are far more important than making busy work for a few hundred more engineers. He's not a hypocrite, he just doesn't think "jobsjobsjobsjobsjobs" is the ultimate priority. And as someone w

      • The danger here is that his presence on a council could be interpreted as tacit approval of what is happening. I believe this is the reason Elon Musk left the council. He started out saying he was accepting a seat on the council because it was better to be involved and have influence than to let the president surround himself with yes-men and crooks. But at the end of the day I believe Elon saw that his presence there served only to legitimize Trump's actions, so he left. Why exactly is Tim Cook still t

        • He's not on the council.

        • by XXongo ( 3986865 )

          The danger here is that his presence on a council could be interpreted as tacit approval of what is happening. I believe this is the reason Elon Musk left the council. He started out saying he was accepting a seat on the council because it was better to be involved and have influence than to let the president surround himself with yes-men and crooks. But at the end of the day I believe Elon saw that his presence there served only to legitimize Trump's actions, so he left. Why exactly is Tim Cook still there?

          For exactly the reason you just stated: "because it was better to be involved and have influence than to let the president surround himself with yes-men and crooks."

          • But eventually voicing your opinion and being ignored, but also being a showpiece associate of the president eventually makes you a yes-man, regardless of the words coming out of your mouth.

    • You think they're soldering RAM directly on motherboards just for fun? It's because they can't even afford SODIMM sockets!

    • Help Americans, sure you do Timmy.

      Get real. The millisecond an Apple CEO restructures the company so they start paying a reasonable tax rate the board will vote him or her out. As long as it is legal, corporations--and especially megacorps--will keep doing it.

    • by no1nose ( 993082 )

      Exactly. Billions of dollars just tied up in that company. That's billions less for us in the (lower/upper) middle (poverty) classes to fight over.

    • Maybe they could try hiring a few Americans.
  • by MangoCats ( 2757129 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @09:06AM (#54625165)

    Doesn't it follow that non-vets deserve at least accessible basic healthcare?

    • you have basic healthcare out of market not covered.

      The vets should be in market all over the usa under the VA even at non VA places.

    • Sure, but it doesn't get to be free.

      Veterans have health care because they have through their service earned access to that care, either through service related injuries or as a condition of completing a full career in service to the country. It's part of the packge. By the way retired service members have to pay helathcare premiums too so it's not free for them either.

      You would be hard pressed to find people that say healthcare shouldn't be accessable. The issue is thay many feel they shouldn't have
    • by ScentCone ( 795499 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @10:42AM (#54625925)

      Yes, vets deserve great healthcare

      Right! Because, after considerable thought, each chose to join the military and sign a contract that made specific offers (such as that health care). Vets EARNED the use of all of those professional services, materials, and people's skills by putting their lives on the line (or, if they were behind the scenes, working in a generally pretty sucky environment and for modest pay within a very rigid structure). They deserve that health care deal because that's part of what they BOUGHT with their service.

      Doesn't it follow that non-vets deserve at least accessible basic healthcare?

      That depends. What did you do to earn the services of a podiatrist to look at your stubbed toe? Why do you deserve part of that doctor's day, and the staff she pays, and the rent she pays on her office, and the materials she consumes, and the insurance she has to buy in case you want to frivolously sue her because your sore toe didn't heal fast enough to let you compete in the Olympics as a figure skater even though you've never been on the ice before?

      Or are you saying that you're BORN with a claim on that doctor's time? Is that doctor born with a claim on some of your time? No? Why not?

      • by WrongMonkey ( 1027334 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @11:14AM (#54626189)
        Forget about "deserve" or "earn". All empirical evidence shows that it is less expensive per capita to provide universal single payer healthcare. We are collectively wasting more money trying to sort out who deserves what healthcare than it would cost just to provide healthcare for everyone. So besides a sense of moral superiority, what do you have to gain by supporting the current system?
  • by RobinH ( 124750 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @09:07AM (#54625169) Homepage
    Where Tim and Donald agree is that neither of them or their companies should have to pay US tax.
    • by MangoCats ( 2757129 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @09:11AM (#54625205)

      Their employees pay income tax, their customers pay sales tax, how many taxes can they stand? It's all too much, too much, the cuts and breaks have to start somewhere - why not start with the small number of rich and mega-corporations, get them off of this crazy tax merry-go-round and let them breathe, why don't we? Somebody needs some relief, and if we gave real relief to the masses it would sink the whole balance sheet. Think of the great things that the ultra-wealthy and giant corporations can do with real tax relief. Give real tax relief to Joe six-pack, and he'll just go buy a case - where's the greatness in that?

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by fred6666 ( 4718031 )

        Their employees pay income tax, their customers pay sales tax, how many taxes can they stand?

        How about as much as democratically decided by the people?

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          They do. What law - the written manifest of what is democratically decided by the people - is either entity breaking? Too many forget what Judge Learned Hand wrote in the 1934 case of Helvoring v. Gregory:

          Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes.

          I assume you take every tax deduction and break that you are legally entitled to, why should

          • by vux984 ( 928602 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @10:46AM (#54625959)

            I assume you take every tax deduction and break that you are legally entitled to, why shouldn't anyone else?

            Framing it like this suggests that the wealthiest people and corporations 'avoiding' taxes are just following the law, like anyone else.

            But its not like anyone else, these are the people who first re-wrote the law, who then lobbied government to pass the law, and then who contribute handsomely to elected officials to ensure the law stays put.

            Don't compare what Apple does to what I do. Its not in the same league.

          • But Judge Hand ruled against the taxpayer, so did the supreme court.
          • by maiden_taiwan ( 516943 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @12:26PM (#54626805)

            That's a great philosophy if tax laws came from, say, God. But in reality, tax laws are strongly influenced by wealthy corporations to their advantage. You and I, the average individual, have virtually no chance of influencing a single tax law. So the breaks that we are "entitled to" are thrust on us, whereas corporations write their own breaks. Still think it's fair?

        • How about as much as democratically decided by the people?

          Sounds like you have your wish (status quo), then. Congratulations!

      • by c ( 8461 )

        Their employees pay income tax, their customers pay sales tax, how many taxes can they stand?

        I'd expect they should pay, at least at local levels, the same sort of tax rate as businesses who can't afford to play a multi-national shell game to avoid taxes.

        What that actual number would be is a complicated problem, but it's not unreasonable to assume that it's a lot higher than what they currently pay.

      • Give real tax relief to Joe six-pack, and he'll just go buy a case - where's the greatness in that?

        He might become Joe twelve-pack like he used to be decades ago, showing the rest of the world that America can be great again.

      • ' Think of the great things that the ultra-wealthy and giant corporations can do with real tax relief. Give real tax relief to Joe six-pack, and he'll just go buy a case - where's the greatness in that?'

        And they will do the same thing they are doing now: saving it for a rainy day, buying back stock, dividends (maybe) acquisitions. None of these puts money into the economy. At best, they put a few extra dollars in another rich persons savings account.

        Give tax relief to Joe six-pack and he will go buy anot

    • Where Tim and Donald agree is that neither of them or their companies should have to pay US tax.

      First of all, Apple paid over 8 billion dollars in taxes last year alone. How much did you pay? Apple does more to help the U.S. every year than generations of your family ever will.

      As for the overseas money, Apple has said repeatedly they want to repatriate the money they have overseas, they just can't see [cnbc.com] paying the rates the U.S. current changes to do so.

      Trump has said he wants to lower that rate dramaticall

      • by Interfacer ( 560564 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @09:48AM (#54625491)

        I also want to pay reasonable taxes.

        Unfortunately I am not rich so I cannot get a lawyer to weasel me out of that.

        So I pay full income taxes and social security as a (partially )self employed person. Apple otoh only pays a minute fraction , percentagewise, because they can affor said lawyers whose lawyer friend lobbyists created a horribly complex tax system to make that possible,

      • by RobinH ( 124750 )
        The last time they temporarily reduced the rate to repatriate offshore money, almost no companies took advantage of it.
      • I think the best idea would be to allow companies to repatriate as much as they want at 0% tax rate on the stipulation that the money be spent growing the company, whether that means domestic R&D development, building new manufacturing centers, or anything else that doesn't involve socking the money away in some investment vehicle.

        Any of that activity is going to result in additional jobs, be it research positions, construction work to build facilities, or eventually people who need to staff those fa
        • by imgod2u ( 812837 )

          There's already such stipulation. All money spent towards capital expenditure or R&D (or payroll) aren't subject to tax. That's true today and has been true for about as long as the corporate tax has existed.

          The only thing corporate tax actually taxes is profit left over that you haven't spent on business expenses (such as paying people, buying equipment, buildings, etc. etc.). And intend to either keep in a bank/security or distributing to shareholders.

  • Leaker! (Score:4, Funny)

    by SlashDread ( 38969 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @09:11AM (#54625207)

    Totally illegal(?)

  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15, 2017 @09:17AM (#54625243)

    Meetings with Tim must be fun when he says the opposite of what he actually means. You'd hope that a CEO or one of the world's largest companies would at least have a grasp of basic English.

  • by sjbe ( 173966 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @09:19AM (#54625259)

    Apple has FAR greater ability to create jobs than the federal government does as a general proposition. Apple is sitting on a gigantic war chest of money. If Tim Cook really gave a shit about creating jobs he could spend some of that Scrooge McDuck pile of money on something. Saying he supports Trump on job creation is a bunch of bullshit unless he is actually directing his company to do everything it can to create jobs. He hasn't done this so he's lying about that.

    The only reason for Apple to sit on a pile of cash that large is because they cannot figure out something productive to do with the money. So they should either return it to shareholders or find some way to put it to productive use.

    Veterans Affairs has struggled in providing health care to veterans. We have an expertise in some of the things at the base level that they're struggling with. So we're going to work with them. I could give a crap about the politics of it. I want to help veterans. My dad's a veteran. My brother served. We have so many military folks in Apple. These folks deserve great health care. So we're going to keep helping.

    The VA needs help to be sure but how about solving the bigger problem? EVERYONE needs health care, not just veterans. EVERYONE needs health insurance, not just veterans. IT in medicine sucks terribly for the most part. Apple has done nothing to tackle this problem. That would be a great place to invest some of those billions they have on their balance sheet. Buy some medical records companies and get busy. Do something rather than talking to Trump which is probably a waste of time.

    • A need does not create a right. People need health care, but it is NOT government's job to give everybody what they need.

      If you need to eat, you go obtain food...

      You need money to buy food, you go to work...

      You need a job, you go out and find one...

      See how this works?

      Don't get me wrong, I'm all for helping those who are unable to help themselves, the disabled, the elderly and such and I support government and private programs that do this, but government should not give to those who could and should be

      • by sjbe ( 173966 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @09:55AM (#54625555)

        A need does not create a right. People need health care, but it is NOT government's job to give everybody what they need.

        Fuck you for thinking that people don't have a right to receive health care. Everybody should have a right to be treated when they are sick without being bankrupted in the process. If you think otherwise then you are an asshole. Plenty of people work very hard and still end up with medical bills FAR beyond their ability to pay them. A few weeks stay in a hospital can easily cost six figures. The only institution that can solve this problem is the government and to pretend otherwise is both idiotic and cruel.

        Even taking ethics out of it, pure economic pragmatism should drive us to want to see everyone taken care of because if you don't insure everyone then you end up spending even more money when they inevitably end up in the ER and drive up costs for everyone.

        • by danbert8 ( 1024253 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @10:14AM (#54625711)

          Why are all of the solutions for taxes to pay for healthcare instead of fixing the ridiculous medical billing system? My wife receives an every 4 week IV that the hospital bills $55k for. The solution to that isn't to make everyone else pay a share of the $55k, it's to figure out why a hospital charges a fee ridiculously out of proportion to the cost of treatment. Did I mention that this hospital is a non-profit government subsidiary? If you are wondering who is causing the problem, look at your government. They want everything to go through them so they can control the money.

          • I wish I had mod points for you! Well said.

          • by imgod2u ( 812837 ) on Thursday June 15, 2017 @11:13AM (#54626183) Homepage

            Incidentally, having an NHS-style national healthcare system is the most effective way to drive down that $55k bill. Because no one on the consumer side will have more bargaining power than the Federal government. More importantly, part of that $55k is, as the GP mentioned, due to the hospital having to eat the cost of people without insurance going to the ER.

            Ultimately, the data out there shows that some level of nationalized healthcare leads to lower cost per person. With the US being double the cost/person of the next developed nation.

            That doesn't mean we have to go full NHS like the UK. I like the Australian model where the government provides a basic level of health insurance and anything beyond that is privatized.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          They have a right to receive health care, we all do.

          But you DON'T have a right to make ME give YOU health care.

          See the difference?

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by AlanObject ( 3603453 )

            But you DON'T have a right to make ME give YOU health care.

            See the difference?

            I don't.

            If you have the right to make me pay for the Iraq war, which I didn't want, or the War on Drugs, which I didn't want, and many other things I didn't want, then why don't I (meaning a majority of voters) have the right to make you pay into a universal risk pool for health care?

            • If you have the right to make me pay for the Iraq war, which I didn't want, or the War on Drugs, which I didn't want, and many other things I didn't want, then why don't I (meaning a majority of voters) have the right to make you pay into a universal risk pool for health care?

              Well, the practical answer is that the US Constitution makes defense and international treaties a federal responsibility, but not healthcare.

              But people who actually favor liberty believe that no such right exists for any of these issue

        • I think I'm gonna have to throw my hat in with the assholes. I also think people don't have a right to healthcare. I think people should earn what they have, be it healthcare, money, or freedom. Earn it. Work hard to get it! However, I also think that the core issue is that healthcare is much too expensive. I think the way to close the gap is to make healthcare cheaper, rather than making people more able to pay for it (read socialism). Step 1 is tort reform. Fix that first! Next fix waste. Too ma

        • Fuck you for thinking that people don't have a right to receive health care.

          No, fuck you for thinking that they do have a right. Seriously. Fuck the other person who moderated this feel-good bullshit up as well.

          If everyone else has a right to healthcare, then you have an obligation to provide it to them. It's their right after all. So whatever it is you're doing now, you need to stop doing it so you can go provide people healthcare for all the people who have a right to be treated. Instead of posting on Slashdot, you should be providing someone with healthcare. Assuming this is

        • Fuck you for thinking that people don't have a right to receive health care. Everybody should have a right to be treated when they are sick without being bankrupted in the process

          What you are implicitly advocating is a system in which everybody can be as irresponsible as they want to be, pharmaceutical companies and hospitals can set prices as high as they want, and working folks have to pay no matter what.

          Take obesity for example. In many states, Obamacare pays for all the statins, heart transplants, bypas

        • A need does not create a right. People need health care, but it is NOT government's job to give everybody what they need.

          Fuck you for thinking that people don't have a right to receive health care. .

          Well, let's just stop right there and ask ourselves a few questions and perhaps you will see where I'm coming from.

          What is a right? It is something an individual MUST get. Freedom of speech is a right, this means people MUST be allowed by the government to express themselves, it also means that government must prevent other's from infringing on my ability to speak my mind.

          So if you say getting health care is a right, you are saying that doctors, nurses and hospitals must be forced by government to provi

    • by drnb ( 2434720 )
      Employment: They are investing in robots that disassemble old phones for recycling. That is a first step to robots that can assemble new phones. That can return factories to the US, increase jobs, increase tax revenues.

      Healthcare: Apple has a healthcare engineering group that assists healthcare providers find technical solutions.
      • What is the point of returning manufacturing to the US if its done by robots?
        • by drnb ( 2434720 )

          What is the point of returning manufacturing to the US if its done by robots?

          What's the point in saving the US auto industry if its manufacturing is heavily dependent upon robots?

          Even in heavily robotic manufacturing and assembly there are jobs. Plus there is the entire issue of the money being spent in the US and having secondary economic effects and benefits. Plus there is parts and subsystem vendors located in the US being more viable, again see auto industry.

        • by imgod2u ( 812837 )

          Well, you'll have to hire some people to fill in some of the spots the robots can't. Or maintain those robots. Or improve those robots.

          It won't be the level of jobs that happened at the rise of automotive manufacturing. Those days are gone. But it's better than having that manufacturing powerhouse in China.

          There's also the issue of intellectual property. Not just in the products you make but in the equipment and logistics required to manufacture it. That's valuable knowledge that you'll have a tough time ke

      • Employment: They are investing in robots that disassemble old phones for recycling. That is a first step to robots that can assemble new phones. That can return factories to the US, increase jobs, increase tax revenues.

        Robots that could assembly phones have been available for decades. You apparently are not aware of the level of automation that is already available. The reason Apple manufactures a lot of their stuff in China is because that is where the supply chain is located. It has nothing to do with a lack of sophisticated automation available in the US.

        Healthcare: Apple has a healthcare engineering group that assists healthcare providers find technical solutions.

        What the fuck does that mean? Could you come up with a more vague and content free sentence? You're talking about shit like Apple selling iPads to doctor's office

    • by XXongo ( 3986865 )

      Apple has FAR greater ability to create jobs than the federal government does as a general proposition. Apple is sitting on a gigantic war chest of money.

      Apple reportedly has about $246 billion in cash. That seems like a large amount, but the U.S. has a population of 320 million, so think of it as 770 dollars per American.

      But, of course, most of Apple's sales didn't come from America. So, two thirds of that logically should be used to "create jobs" in the places where they sell their products. So: figure they have two hundred and fifty dollars per American available to "create jobs."

      I guess you can create jobs with $250 per person. But, "greater ability

    • IT in medicine sucks terribly for the most part.

      It's amazing how few people realize this. If you talk to politicians or listen to people at TED talks, you'd think that healthcare IT is cutting edge and is changing the way we do medicine in amazing ways. Nothing is further from the truth. Healthcare IT is so far behind the rest of the industry that it's embarrassing. The tech is outdated, and crazy expensive. Look at how hard the U.K. NHS got hit by WannaCry recently for an example.

      I worked in IT at a hospital for a few years. They started rolling out a n

      • IT, computer systems, and hospital billing are such a clusterfuck any solutions in healthcare that don't address them are a waste of time. Single payer fixes nothing when hour long services and bags of mostly saline solution are billed at the same rates as luxury SUVs.

  • When the leadership of any corporation has more concern for politics, political issues than its people, products and investors, that leadership has lost its way. Steve Jobs was approached by a large charity (possibly United Way) who wanted Apple to support the charity directly. Reportedly, Steve Jobs told the charity that he paid his people well and if the charity wanted to directly ask his employees for support, to go ahead but that Apple, as a corporation, would not. Jobs did not dilute the energy, act
    • You're overlooking the fact that Steve Jobs did not want future Apple leaders to become Steve Jobs as there can only be one Steve Jobs. If Apple is going to have a future, it can't be shackled to what the founders did in the past. Tim Cook is not going to be Steve Jobs. That's mentioned in Steve Jobs [amzn.to] by Walter Isaacson.
  • I feel a great responsibility as an American, as a CEO, to try to influence things in areas where we have a level of expertise. I've pushed hard on immigration. I've pushed on climate.

    And what experience does Tim Cook have on these issues? He is a businessman billionaire who is simply parroting what people tell him; he has no first-hand experience with the effects of illegal immigration, and he has no background in science and likely couldn't explain climate models if his life depended on it.

    Cook is a decis

  • How can Tim Cook claim expertise in either climate change or immigration? He is the business leader of a large corporation. I don't see how that translates to being an expert on either climate or immigration.

  • and when it comes time to unlock the next iphone??

    Will they add an FBI mode that turns off the auto wipe and turns off the login timeout so they can try all pins?

    Let managed phones be unlocked with an admin login? that can be used even with an user set lock pin?

    Have an GOV only unlocking room at apple HQ that is only used under court order?

  • REsponsiblity? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by spire3661 ( 1038968 )
    Where is your responsibility for creating a class of computers that the user does not control? WHERE IS YOUR FUCKING RESPONSIBILITY THERE? Tim, focus on making the world a better place by spending that 200 billion you have in the bank and stop worrying about climate change. Lower your prices, open up your maps top the web. You want to help humanity? Stop being a voracious pig stockpiling a huge war chest and make computers that the USER controls. Steve hand-picked this fucking tool?
  • He "pushed hard on immigration..."? What exactly is his stance on immigration that he needs to push on? Sure, I understand opposition to building a wall between Mexico and the U.S., but that is a specific issue.

    So, is he supporting open borders? He states "we clearly have a very different view on things in that area". Other than a border wall, where is Trump wildly off-base on immigration?

    • I doubt he's saying that he's actually in favor of illegal immigration. He's just pandering to his low-information liberal fan club.
  • by ledow ( 319597 )

    Why would an Apple CEO have "a level of expertise" on climate?

    Come to that, why would the president, either?

    Neither of them should be discussing it between themselves in any serious business fashion. That's pretty much the entire problem in a nutshell.

    Apple could provide computers or services that scientists could use to make a decision to inform a president's political direction. Other than that, I'm not even sure why you'd bring it up, even.

If you aren't rich you should always look useful. -- Louis-Ferdinand Celine

Working...