Is New Apple CEO Tim Cook Gay?

Thursday, August 25, 2011 11:03 AM EDT

Is New Apple CEO Tim Cook Gay?

By IBTimes Staff Reporter

Apple's new CEO Tim Cook not only might be the most influential technology leader in his new position, but also the most powerful gay man in America.

Cook has never publicly commented on his sexuality, but Gawker reports that it's generally known within the Apple and Silicon Valley circles that he's gay.

Out Magazine named him its most powerful gay or lesbian person of 2011. In its profile, it wrote "Although Tim Cook has chosen to be discreet about his sexuality, just know that Apple's heir apparent is gay sends a compelling message of the opportunity to thrive in the workplace. That's a big deal."

A Gawker profile of Cook in January 2011, stated that Apple management would support Cook if publicly acknowledged his sexuality, but did have "concerns about whether his coming out would impact the perception of the Apple brand."

Cook took over the helm of Apple after Steve Jobs shockingly decided to resign on Wednesday night. Jobs cited an inability to meet his current expectations as CEO, but asked to remain within the company as chairman.

Cook is known as a private person - which could be why no official announcement will ever be made - and as an "operational genius."

While Jobs was known for his showman's flair, Cook is known for improving profit margins and for being strong with supply chain management.

"Tim's just not a real social person," Gina Glosk, a classmate of Cook's at Auburn, told CNN Money. "He's not antisocial, either. He just never seemed that interested in other people."

Cook has had stints as Apple CEO in the past when Steve Jobs was forced to take leaves of absences due to illness. At each stint, the company performed well and sometimes even flourished.

If Cook were to ever come out as gay, he'd immediately be the most influential gay person in the technology industry, and perhaps in the entire business world.

Apple has performed extraordinarily well of late, even recently surpassing Exxon Mobil as the world's most valuable company. It doesn't get much more powerful than that.

Enlarge

(Photo: REUTERS)
Tim Cook addresses crowds.

iPhone 5 Sushi Snap? Apple Engineer’s Lunch Photo Fuels Speculation

Evidence is mounting that a photo of a plate of sushi — of all things — may have been taken by Apple’s next-generation iPhone.
The photo would be one of the first iPhone 5 photos to reach the public as the device’s launch approaches.
The photo, titled “lunch” and discovered by PocketNow, was found on the Flickr account of Apple software engineer Anton D’Auria. While the photo looks like a simple plate of sushi, its EXIF data reveals that there is more to this photo than meets the eye.

SEE ALSO: iPhone 5 Rumor Roundup [INFOGRAPHIC] The EXIF data says the photo was taken with an iPhone 4, but several things don’t fit with what we know about that version of the iPhone. First, the original picture was taken with a 3264×2448 pixel resolution (approximately 8 megapixels) and cropped to 2235×2291 (approximately 5 megapixels). The iPhone 4 is a 5 megapixel device, so it wouldn’t be capable of taking a 3264×2448 photo.
The second piece of evidence is that the photo was taken with a 4.3mm f/2.4 lens. The iPhone 4 has a 3.85mm f/2.8 lens.
The photo was also likely taken at Apple HQ. Its GPS data pinpoints the photo’s origin to 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, CA — which, as every geek knows, happens to be the address of Apple headquarters.
D’Auria’s Flickr account has since been made private, but the image is already widely available online. While it’s possible the image is a fake (EXIF data can be altered rather easily), we doubt an Apple engineer would make so many EXIF changes to an iPhone 4 picture. If the photo is indeed from an iPhone 5, expect an 8MP camera with the quality of a point-and-shoot on iPhones in the next month or so.

New iPad To Feature a Thinner, Lighter Battery [REPORT]

The iPad 2 is already a very thin device – 0.34 inches, to be exact – but the next generation might be even thinner and lighter, thanks to an improved battery pack.
According to Taiwan Economic News, two suppliers of iPad and Macbook batteries, Simplo Technology Co. and Dynapack International Technology Corp., are ready to produce the new pack as early as Q4 2011, with mass production expected in the first quarter of 2012.
The new batteries will make the iPad thinner and lighter and extend its battery life, but they will also come at a 20 – 30% bigger price point due to the advanced technology used. Hopefully this will not mean a bigger price for the end product as well.

New iPhone iteration lost in a bar: CNET

Technology news website CNET on Wednesday reported that a new version of Apple's coveted iPhone went astray in a bar in a replay of an embarrassing loss that took place last year.

An Apple employee lost a yet-to-be released iPhone model in a tequila bar in the San Francisco Mission District in July, according to CNET.

Apple electronically tracked the device to a San Francisco home but the resident denied knowing anything about the missing iPhone, which may have been sold for a couple of hundred dollars at online auction house eBay, CNET said.

The report prompted speculation whether the missing iPhone was a next-generation expected to be unveiled by Apple in September or October.

Word of another unreleased iPhone model disappearing in a bar came just weeks after prosecutors decided not to pursue criminal charges against Gizmodo technology bloggers who got hold of a lost iPhone 4 prototype last year.

Criminal charges were filed against a man who purportedly found the iPhone 4 prototype in a bar and another who brokered a deal to sell it to Gizmodo, according to the district attorney's office in San Mateo County, California.

Early last year, Gizmodo published pictures and details of the iPhone prototype after buying it for $5,000 from a man who claimed to have found it in a beer garden where it was lost by an Apple software engineer.

By David Paul Morris | AFP News – Thu, Sep 1, 2011

Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, and Apple's Innovation Premium

As Steve Jobs steps down as Apple's CEO — and Tim Cook takes over — many folks are wondering whether Apple can keep its innovation engine humming. This is not the first time, of course, that Jobs has left the helm at Apple. He was first shown the door when John Scully and other marketing folks led the charge at Apple — a charge that quickly took a nosedive. During Jobs' absence from 1986-1998, Apple's innovation premium dropped from 37% to negative 31% as the company quit innovating and its investors lost confidence. When Jobs returned in 1998 he restructured his team with senior managers who possessed a rich mix of strong discovery- and delivery-driven skills, and as a result the company churned out hit after hit, from the iMac and iTunes to the iPad, iPhone, and iPad. It took a few years to get things back on track, but from 2005-2010 Apple's innovation premium jumped to 52%.


With Jobs' unexpected exit in 2011, Cook's key task is to not only keep Apple humming but to deliver something surprising. Can he do it?

History suggests Cook's task will be difficult, but not impossible. Any company would face an uphill marathon trying to sustain a streak like Apple's recent run, so we shouldn't be surprised if Apple's innovation track slows down a click or two. But if Cook wants to keep Apple's capacity for innovation going, our analysis of the world's most innovative companies suggests a few things Cook should consider:

• Keep Apple populated with people — including senior managers — who excel at the five skills of disruptive innovators: questioning, observing, networking, experimenting, and associational thinking
• Keep processes that encourage employees to question the status quo, to engage in observations in all types of environments, to network far and wide for ideas, and to experiment on a regular basis.
• Keep encouraging everyone at Apple to "think different" and reward those who do.

But the key question is whether Cook can sniff out technology and market opportunities while knowing intuitively (or with the help of others) what risks to take. Jobs did this when he saw the mouse and graphical user interface (GUI) at PARC. He did this when he saw the computer animation technology at George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic division, bought the key technology and players from it, and transformed it into Pixar. He did this with the string of Apple "iProducts." Disruptors like Jobs are simply better at "seeing" potential industry innovations, in part, because they apply questioning, observing, networking, experimenting skills, and most important, associational thinking to uncover insights that leap across industries. Most acknowledge Cook as exceptional at execution, but we know little about whether he has the innovator's DNA to "see what's next," the way Jobs did consistently. Apple's innovative future hinges on these critical senior-leadership skills.
It is also unclear whether Cook is capable of attracting innovators. Innovators like to work for other innovators — with people who get it. Can Cook do this? Close colleagues and friends vouch that he can. But a lack of public data calls their conclusion into question. Time will tell whether Cook and his team will actually catch the front edge of the next disruptive innovation.
Apple's transition is not without precedent. When co-founder Akio Morita ran Sony in the 1980s, the company was humming along with a consistent innovation premium above 30%, the same as Apple's during Jobs' initial tenure. With Morita's departure — and Apple's arrival — Sony's innovation premium plummeted to zero. Staying at the top of the innovation heap is not easy but it is possible. Before A.G. Lafley took over in 2001, Proctor & Gamble delivered a solid innovation premium — 20% on average — but when Lafley took the helm P&G's premium jumped to 35%.
CEOs can take a good company and make it better, but it's tough to take a great company and make it better. Clearly, Cook's challenge is daunting. Steve Jobs once said: "Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." We'll soon see whether Cook really is a true innovation leader, or whether he was just a Jobs follower.