In a new interview, Apple CEO Tim Cook talks about how the company's 50th anniversary is making him remember Steve Jobs, and insists that working with Trump doesn't mean its values are changing.
Before Apple's birthday celebrations began, and even before Tim Cook wrote an open letter about the anniversary, he spoke to Esquire magazine about planning for the 50th — and thinking back to Steve Jobs.
"I think about him often — and in the last few months, thinking about the fiftieth anniversary, even more so, honestly," said Cook. "You think about the things he believed in."
"He believed in collaboration, that if you put a small group of people together," continued Cook, "the output of that small group would be much greater than any individual among them."
Cook had been working with Jobs since 1998, eventually filling in for him during the Apple founder's health absences.
"I was in denial for so long about the disease and where it would go, because I had watched him bounce back so many times, I assumed he always would," said Cook.
"When I took the CEO role, I thought he was going to be executive chairman forever— that's what I thought literally six weeks earlier," he continues. "Looking back, I know somebody could say, How could you think that, given the circumstances? But that's not the way I was wired in that moment."
"It's definitely still his company," Cook said, putting the cap on his thoughts about Steve Jobs.
Changing values
Cook has faced criticism for working with Trump, and for donating to Trump's inauguration. He insists he is continuing to lead Apple the same way he always has.
"[You'll] see me everywhere, and you'll wonder, Oh, he's meeting with somebody that has a different view than him," said Cook. "I think that's good."
"I think a problem in the world right now is that it's so polarized and different views aren't shared or discussed," he continued. "They just become hardened. And I don't think that's good."
Specifically regarding Trump, Cook said that the Trump administration is very accessible.
"So you can talk with them about your point of view on things," he said. "They may not agree, but you can engage. You can be heard. You may not, in the end, be able to convince."
Tim Cook (left) with Steve Jobs — image credit: Apple
"But engagement for me, not just in the US but around the world, is so important because it is very complex, working through local laws, local customs, local culture, local regulations," said Cook.
"I think you have to have values that are consistent and that you don't change those with the wind or with the changes in other people," he continued. "But I think you should interact and engage with everyone — I've interacted with both political parties in the US... I've interacted with governments all around the world, some that I have very different views on."
In this case, Cook says that he believes in talking in order to understand other people's positions — and to then have some influence over them. But he also believes in talking within Apple.
Incredible debates
To that end, Cook says he believes in everyone contributing if Apple is to keep producing successful devices.
"You have to recognize that those ideas can come from any employee," he says. "And users can have great ideas as well."
Definitely repeating what Steve Jobs had often said, though, Cook insists that Apple says "no to a thousand things to get to that one thing."
"If you were to parachute into an Apple meeting, the debates that go on here are just incredible," he said. "Incredible."
Tim Cook has been leading Apple since Steve Jobs's death in 2011, but before that he was the company's chief operating officer. Recently, there have been many rumors about who will replace him when he retires — although Cook himself now denies he ever plans to leave.
