
I, Cringely 2019 Prediction 1- Apple Under Tim Cook Emulates GE Under Jack Welch - protomyth
https://www.cringely.com/2019/02/27/2019-prediction-1-apple-under-tim-cook-emulates-ge-under-jack-welch/
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kevin_b_er
Jack Welch pioneered stack ranking. Anyone trying to emulate him should be
looked at dimly by the workers. It is a disaster to employee culture due to
its nature of backstabbing and dirty tricks to get the best "score" to keep
your job. Being on an "amazing team" becomes a bad idea, because even if
everyone is amazing, someone's gotta get fired still.

Jack Welch ended GE as a company that symbolized good products and turned it
into a financial company. Jack Welch represents American job loss.

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fgonzag
I think that's a very dangerous pivot though. True, there is a lot of money to
be made in financial engineering, financing, et al.

I also think that's where companies go to die long term, even if it is a huge
profit center short term. It means you are no longer looking forward to
innovation and are now just looking to grease the wheels as much as possible.

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woodandsteel
My thoughts exactly.

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musicale
Transforming into a financial firm might be OK for Apple's cash hoard and
shareholders in the short run, but it would also be turning away from the most
interesting and beneficial parts of the company - the ones that make
technology companies valuable to humans in the first place.

I'm more interested in a company that applies technology to create tools to
help people work, play, learn, create, and communicate. Or one that helps to
improve health care and education. Even businesses like streaming music and
video, improving cars, or making headphones and speakers seem more interesting
and beneficial to humans.

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timoth3y
Tim Cook is a supply chain expert and is positioning Apple to profit
accordingly. By controlling who can sell and repair the hardware, who can sell
software and at what margins, he is making a lot of MBA-smart moves.

But it looks like Apple has moved into a phase where it is milking its
ecosystem and customer base rather than building it.

In the same way, Apple engineers are focused on creating Apple devices than
trying to create new and innovative products.

I love Apple. I had an Apple II and there are three different Apple devices in
front of me right now, but I'm not optimistic about the future of the company.

You either die a hero or live to become Microsoft.

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kalleboo
> _You either die a hero or live to become Microsoft_

Indeed the comparison I see a lot is to Steve Ballmer, milking Windows for all
it was worth

The Jack Welch/GE turn is a new one though

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aNoob7000
I think one of Apple's biggest issues right now is the incessant focus on
margins and profits. For a company with a cash horde of 150+ billion, they
should be focusing on attracting more users.

I have no idea how Apple is going to transition to a services business when
they price their products for a very high-end consumer, and most of their
services are tied to their products which means a limited customer base.

Also, I know people are going to think I'm crazy but I think Apple should buy
DropBox. I personally iCloud is not fixable, just buy something that works.

