You won’t see Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak aligning himself with critics that think Apple CEO Tim Cook’s days should be numbered at the iPhone maker. In a free-wheeling discussion at Cebit 2014 in Hannover, The Woz shared his thoughts on Apple, its current CEO Cook, Steve Jobs, and why he doesn’t use Netflix at home. (Quotes courtesy of The Times of India, via Cult of Mac)
When asked whether Apple CEO Tim Cook should be fired, as Apple shares have dropped by 25% since October 2012: “I don’t agree. Cook has been at the helm of Apple for a long enough time. We haven’t seen what new categories of products are being developed secretly. Who knows what’s going on in the company.. But we have had stiff competition in the smartphones arena. Unfortunately, a lot of other companies came up with great products. But look at who is number one as far as sales, profits and company valuation are concerned. Tim Cook is a hard worker and he is very good at execution. I don’t know him too closely. But, I’m willing to wait for a longer time.”
He was asked then asked if Steve Jobs’ death was fatal for the Magic at Apple?: “I would never say that. It’s a sort of looking back thing. If Jobs had lived, would Apple be better or worse than what it is now, I think, nobody can look back and say if the company had made different decisions, it would have great.”
When asked why he didn’t use Netflix at home, he replied: “Netflix is in my home city. I have Netflix. I can download a movie, but I can’t watch it. I don’t have enough broadband speed. I live in Silicon Valley, 1 km up a little hill in the center of dense housing. I have a lousy phone company that doesn’t run a good wire. So, I download movies from iTunes and watch it three days later.”
Finally, the father of the Apple I was asked: “Do you think Apple is still cool?” her replied: “Yes. In the past, Apple has been a leader in setting the new tone and direction for the world. Apple has this reputation where everyone is looking up to it for the future. Apple has been a star.”
Well, it’s certainly glad to hear that The Woz won’t be joining the anti-Apple chorus any time soon. It is a little ironic however, that one of the founding fathers of computing can’t even get a decent Internet connection at his home.
