Silicon Valley Company Towns and Going Deep on Tim Cook's Plans for Apple Car - ACM 414

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan have made a major donation to a group helping teachers buy homes near Facebook’s headquarters. Bryan and Jeff think Silicon Valley may need to think even bigger and build some company towns. They also dive deep into Tim Cook’s Apple Car plans, including his three vectors of autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, and ride sharing services.

Stevie Wonder Plays Apple's Beer Bash, Here's Tim Cook's Tweet

Apple brought Stevie Wonder in to play the company’s Beer Bash this week, and Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted an image of him hugging the artist onstage. The concert capped a week of activities highlighting Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Mr. Wonder, who is blind, has long endorsed Apple because of the company’s extensive accessibility features in macOS and iOS. Apple often brings in big names for its Beer Bash, a long tradition for the company. This is likely to be of the Beer Bashes is held at Infinite Loop, as the company begins moving into Apple Park in the next few weeks. 9to5Mac rounded up some additional tweeted imaged from the event.

Tim Cook Charity Auction Raises Record $688K

Tim Cook’s 2017 charity auction for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights set a record Tuesday when it closed at $688,999. That’s more than the $605,00 a coffee date with Mr. Cook fetched in 2013, and well north of the $515,000 Mr. Cook’s auction raised in 2016. Charitybuzz, which conducted the auction, shows the “lot” of Mr. Cook closed, but MacRumors caught the action at the end, when it hit $688,999 with 30 bids. Mr. Cook has used his fame as Apple CEO to raise money for the RFK Center since 2013, but this is the first year the resulting hour with Mr. Cook will take place in the brand new Apple Park. Congrats to the winner!

Tim Cook Is No Steve Ballmer

A piece at Seeking Alpha argues that Tim Cook needs to be replaced as CEO of Apple because he’s “identical to Steve Ballmer.” Bryan Chaffin was specifically asked what he thought, so here’s the short version: it’s balderdash—Tim Cook is no Steve Ballmer.

A Fantasy Conversation: Bezos and Cook Chat About Amazon Echo

Two very interesting things happened this week. First, we heard that Apple may be making its own Siri-powered Echo-like device, to be announced at WWDC. Later in the week, we heard that Amazon will now bring its video app, Prime Video to the Apple TV. Mere coincidence? John, just for fun, imagines a recent, fictional conversation between Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook.

Tim Cook Speaks at University of Glasgow for an Hour (Video)

Tim Cook spoke to the students of the University of Glasgow this week. The hour long event included questions from faculty and students alike. Topics included President Trump’s travel bans on seven muslim-majority countries, the reach of the App Store, the environment, wealth inequality, education, balancing work and life, technology interacting with our bodies, Apple Watch, idealism, Steve Jobs’s influence over Apple today, styluses, and more. The video was posted by a student. The audio quality is poor, but the rules for the event precluded “dedicated recording equipment.” To that end, this video was recorded entirely on an iPhone 7 in the hands of a student 50-70 feet from Mr. Cook, and is stunningly good considering. In addition, note how quiet and respectful this audience of 800-plus students is.

Former Apple Engineer Claims Tim Cook Made Apple Boring

Former Apple engineer Bob Burrough has been arguing that CEO Tim Cook has made Apple boring. In a combination of tweet storm and an interview with CNBC stemming from said tweetstorm, the engineer said Mr. Cook has eliminated conflict within Apple, sapping its vitality in the process. Mr. Burrough argued that Steve Jobs ruled with ever-shifting chaos, where product triumphed over hierarchy. Under Tim Cook, he said, Apple is siloed, smooth, and essentially complacent. Former Apple wunderkind Tony Fadell coincidentally tweeted just last week that Steve Jobs did not manage through conflict, and others have taken issue with Mr. Burrough, too. The reality is that any one person’s perspective never tells the whole tale, but his opinions make for an interesting read. You can see the whole tweetstorm in this tweet and in the CNBC story.

Tim Cook Says 'Great Desktops' are Coming

The iMac hasn’t been updated in over a year and the Mac Pro is more than three years old without any changes, leaving many wondering if Apple is stepping back from the desktop computer market. Apple CEO Tim Cook says that’s not so, and that there are “great desktops in our roadmap.”