Apple Claps Back

There are four words that Tim Cook uttered in a feature by Ben Cohen for WSJ Magazine this week. But they aren’t the four words that Apple clearly wanted us to take away from the puffy piece. Anyone who has followed Apple long enough already knows the concept of “not first, but best” and it’s hardly surprising that Apple is trying to frame narratives around such words right now. But more interesting to me were the four words that Cook utters earlier on in the piece, “every day, every product.”

That’s Cook talking about his own usage of Apple products. And while it’s also not surprising on the surface, it is a bit surprising, assuming he’s telling the truth. For example, is Cook really, honestly, using the Vision Pro every day? I’d find that pretty surprising given my own usage is closer to once every few weeks, and that's if there’s a bit of content I want to watch. And while I’m an Apple die-hard product user — I just bought the new iPad mini on day one despite already owning two other iPads, not to mention two Macs, an iPhone, and basically every other Apple product, including, yes, the Vision Pro — I’m still just one person. But I happen to know about a dozen people now who also own a Vision Pro, and all are in the same general boat as me with regard to usage of that device. Which is apparently not the same boat that Cook is in. If nothing else, the Vision Pro is too much of a pain in the ass to use on a regular basis. But I guess if you have a $3T+ company you’re running riding on it, even just in part, you’re going to use it. And, to Cook’s credit, there are plenty of CEOs of companies that don’t use their products at all!