Apple Still Thinks Different, Oh Well (Premium)

11 years after his passing, the legacy of Steve Jobs still weighs heavily on Tim Cook and Apple. Maybe it’s time to move on: this “think different” thing is really just about being contrarian for reasons that don’t withstand scrutiny, and it’s not clear to me that Cook or Apple, despite their massive success, are on the right path.

So let’s start with Mr. Cook, who had his Steve “you’re holding it wrong” Jobs moment this week when he was asked a perfectly reasonable question at the Code conference.

“I don't hear our users asking that we put a lot of energy into that” he said in response to a question about RCS support, which Google has been rightfully slamming them about. "I would love to convert you to an iPhone."

"I can't send my mom certain videos," the questioner answered back.

"Buy your mom an iPhone," Mr. Cook responded.

This isn’t just out of touch. It’s out of touch on multiple levels. And it’s an excellent example of why Mr. Cook has no idea what’s going on in the real world.

Let’s examine literally every sentence he uttered on this topic.

I don't hear our users asking that we put a lot of energy into that. Right. Because when you poll “your users,” few of them will even know what RCS is. I’m sure the question you’re not asking them is, “hey, would you like it if you could text message seamlessly with your friends and family members who are not using iPhones, because that would be really easy for us to do?” But if you did really poll your users, Tim, or those majority of potential customers out there not using iPhones, I bet interoperability would, in fact, be top of mind. You know, if you actually asked them about that. Because that is top of mind for these people.

I would love to convert you to an iPhone. Of course you would. But he wasn’t asking for himself---the questioner was already an iPhone user, as it turns out---he was asking because, again, interoperability is top of mind. And because Apple, which promotes its inclusivity, is being quite hypocritical here. What Mr. Cook really communicated was that everything you’ve heard Apple say so far is just marketing. What really matter to us is that you buy an iPhone. That will solve the problem we think you have, and it will solve our problem, which is the need to keep growing.

Buy your mom an iPhone. Because, yes, the solution to every problem when you’re a rich, middle-aged man like Cook is to throw more money at the problem. Put another way, the issue isn’t that Apple fights interoperability, it’s that you’re too damn cheap to spend $1000 so your mother can see your text messages more easily. This is the most out of touch response he could have made. Kudos for really going for it. And for standing under a Pride-themed rainbow of balloons during yesterday’s Apple event. Marketing.

The other big example of Apple being out of touch is the new “Dynamic Island” feature that, for now, is uni...