Apple still strong without its founder
Tribute video posted to mark the death of visionary Steve Jobs
To mark the one-year anniversary of Steve Jobs’s death, Apple Inc. posted a tribute video and letter from current CEO Tim Cook on its website Friday.
The video, scored with classical music, features close to two minutes of images of the late CEO presenting new products — from the iMac, to the iPod and the iPhone — and voice-overs from Jobs himself.
It begins with the Apple co-founder sharing some inspiration: “There is an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love: ‘I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.’ ”
Cook’s letter states, “One of the greatest gifts Steve gave to the world is Apple. No company has ever inspired such creativity or set such high standards for itself.”
Many wondered whether the postJobs company could remain on top of the fickle technology world.
Under Cook, Apple has debuted several new products, including the new iPad, a refreshed line of MacBook computers and the iPhone 5.
It faced challenges as sales of older iPhone models slumped somewhat as consumers held off, waiting for the new device, and it ceded ground in the smartphone market to rival Samsung Electronics Co., its foe in numerous patent cases around the world.
The iPhone 5 debuted to huge consumer demand and although supply issues have caused delays in availability, it is still expected to be a huge seller for the company.
One of the company’s most serious public-relations snags arose over its replacement of Google Inc.’s mapping application with its own app in the new version of its mobile operating system.
Widespread complaints over the Maps App in iOS6 forced the company to apologize last week and even suggest consumers use competitors’ applications while it works to improve its own technology.
There was debate over how the issue would have been handled under Jobs’s watch, with many suggesting he never would have released a product that was not ready or that he would not have apologized, pointing to the company’s handling of “Attenagate” in 2010.
There’s little debate over Apple’s profitability however: Its stock is up 75 per cent in the year since Jobs’ death.
Its shares closed at $671.45 U.S. on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange on Thursday and its market capitalization is more than US$625-billion.
In August, it surpassed Microsoft Corp.’s record $620-billion market capitalization (set in 1999) to become the most valuable company in history, although the comparison does not take inflation into account.