The days may be containing a (supposed) crisis in Cupertino, but that did not stop Tim Cook from receiving journalists for an interesting interview touching on various topics about Apple, his personal life and related topics.
This is exactly what happened last weekend: the CEO welcomed Ina Fried and Mike Allen, from Axios, in the middle of Apple Park for a chat later broadcast by HBO. The conversation started off lightly, dealing with the day-to-day executive Cook said he gets up just before 4 am and spends the first hour of his day reading messages from Apple users and customers; then he leaves for the gym to “keep stress under control”.
Journalists also cited the millionaire deals between Apple and Google that keep the latter's search service as standard for Safari in the ecosystem of the former. Asked if such a contract would go against Apple's privacy commitment, Cook replied:
First of all, I think their search engine is the best. But two, look at what we've been doing with the controls. We have private browsing, we have intelligent tracking prevention. We have many ways to help users throughout the day. Not perfect, but it helps a lot.
Continuing on the issue of privacy, Cook also spoke about his constant defense and reinforced, in recent times, by other important names in the technological world of stronger regulations to protect user data, specifically in the United States. The executive stated that, in general, he is not a fan of regulations and prefers the free market, but a line must be drawn.
In general, I am not a fan of regulations. I believe a lot in the free market. But we have to admit when the free market doesn't work and it didn't work here. I think it is inevitable that there will be some level of regulation. I think that Congress and the current administration will approve this at some point. () It is not a matter of privacy against profit, or privacy against technological innovation; This is a false choice. Your device has incredible wisdom about you, but I, as a company, cannot have that.
Journalists have also tackled the issue of gender diversity in Silicon Valley, citing data that indicate a culture still dominated by men in the biggest tech companies in the included Apple area. Cook stated that Ma is trying to make changes in this paradigm and is not alone in this, even though Vale has been silent on the issue for a long time.
I think Vale is more open and more receptive to people with different backgrounds, but I totally agree that, from a gender perspective, we let it go and the technological world in general let it go. I know that we spend a lot of energy on this and we are constantly asking ourselves "how can we improve more"? and listening to what people tell us. I believe other people do that, too. I feel confident in saying that we will see a more noticeable improvement over time.
At the end of the interview, journalists from Axios they also had the opportunity to visit one of the laboratories used by Apple for activity tests related to the Apple Watch.
There, testers wear heavy masks that measure calorie expenditure and other bodily information when performing physical activities such as running, canoeing, yoga and swimming. Three rooms can acquire varying temperatures, either very hot or very cold, for testing in extreme conditions.
via 9to5Mac
