The AppAdvice Week In Review: Tim Cook In Charge At Apple Edition

by Bryan M. Wolfe

December 9, 2012

Here are just a few of the stories that made news during the week that was.

Tim Cook becomes his own man

Tim Cook chose the holiday season to give two interviews with the media. During both, the Apple CEO made news. In his Bloomberg Businessweek sit-down, Cook discussed his September firing of Scott Forstall and John Browett. He also offered much praise for the members of his team that remain. Senior Vice President of Industrial Design Jony Ive, for example, is described by Cook as having the “best taste of anyone in the world.” Kind words are also said about Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, and for Bob Mansfield, the company’s senior vice president of technologies. Cook met with NBC's Brian Williams of "Rock Center," at Apple's Grand Central Station store in New York City. Here he discussed Steve Jobs’ death, the iOS 6 maps fiasco, a possible Apple television, and much more. Of most significance, the Apple CEO announced plans to manufacture Macs in the United States beginning in 2013. Here is the entire interview; if you are having trouble viewing this on an iPad, download the free Rock Center app and view it from there:

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Both interviews came 16 months after Cook was named Apple's CEO following the resignation of Jobs in August 2011. The former co-founder of Apple died in October of that year.

Meet George Jetson?

One of the topics Cook discussed during his "Rock Center" interview was Apple's interest in "television viewing." Calling it "an area of intense interest," Cook suggested that the long-rumored Apple television could eventually debut. Cook even said that "The Jetsons" served as one of his inspirations in bringing such a product to market. Following this, I suggested a number of reasons why Apple shouldn't produce a television, but rather concentrate on developing a set-top box usable with any HDTV. My summary: Apple does deserve a place in our living rooms. However, that place should be inside of existing televisions. As such, I suggest that Apple forget about producing an actual television and instead create a set-top box that can be used on any HDTV. This way, they could forgo the low profit margins that come with producing televisions, yet still have a larger say in the entertainment industry going forward.

T-Mobile USA is finally allowed to take a bite of the Apple

The Deutsche Telecom company will finally become an Apple reseller next year after years of trying. This means that the fourth-largest carrier in the U.S. will finally get to sell the iPhone 5 and iPad. Of course, the devil is always in the details. As Brent Dirks explained, T-Mobile will sell the iPhone without a subsidy attached.

Instead of a subsidized price, consumers will apparently pay a low up-front fee when they purchase a device, and then pay the rest of the phone cost off in monthly installments of $15 to $20. The benefit for consumers will be in lower monthly rate plans.

Regardless, I'm just happy the T-Mobile girl is finally getting her iPhone!