Thoughts
It’s interesting in retrospect how much vision Tim Cook had.
2011: Tim Cook takes over as CEO of Apple
2012: Apple introduces EarPods
2013: Apple launches iTunes Radio
2014: Apple buys Beats
2015: Apple launches Apple Music
2016: Apple launches AirPods
2016: Apple removes the headphone jack
2012 I was buying songs on iTunes; 2017 I was listening to Apple Music on AirPods. And suddenly a decision like buying Beats (which might have been a good investment on its own merit) becomes hugely magnified into a defining feature of how we interact with the company, in just 5 years.
It’s impossible to know how much of this is Cook. But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in 2012 Jony Ive happens to sit down and design a pair of headphones and then in 2014 Apple happens to buy a wireless headphone company and then in 2016 Apple happens to remove the headphone jack and also happens to release their own wireless headphone. I think in 2012 someone said “people need to wear Apple headphones” and I think that person was Tim Cook.
Cook would say music is in Apple’s DNA, and it is (the iPhone has always been an iPod), but that doesn’t make the 2012-2019 timeline obvious.