In a Los Angeles Occasions evaluation of a brand new guide about Tesla, there is a story that Elon Musk and Tim Cook dinner reportedly as soon as met to speak about whether or not Apple should purchase the electrical automobile (EV) maker. The dialog apparently occurred at one among Tesla’s low factors, the launch of the Mannequin 3, which Musk says virtually bankrupted the corporate.
It is price noting that Musk has beforehand stated that he was very a lot fascinated about having such a dialog, however Cook dinner would not take the decision. That differs from the Occasions report, which says the pair mentioned the concept and that Musk advised Cook dinner he wished to be CEO-of Apple. Cook dinner, based on the story, hung up on Musk after expressing his ideas with phrases I can not use right here.
Apple has denied the story.
The guide bases the story on a secondhand supply, apparently an worker that overheard the dialog. The purpose is that there is a number of room there for dramatic interpretation, particularly since all events deny such a dialog ever occurred in any respect.
Whether or not Apple ever thought of shopping for Tesla (I doubt it) and even had such a dialog, Elon Musk is not the individual anybody ought to need designing iPhones and Macs. Extra importantly, he is not the one who ought to be working Apple. That may be horrible for Apple.
I am not suggesting that Musk is not one of the vital completed entrepreneurs of his technology. The factor is, Apple is not a startup. It is the world’s most dear firm, and it generated virtually as a lot revenue within the first quarter this 12 months as Tesla’s whole annual income final 12 months.
Musk is clearly gifted at championing large concepts, even when they by no means really come to fruition (self-driving automobiles, for instance). To his credit score, he is additionally far more of a product man than Cook dinner.
Apple’s present CEO reportedly would not spend a number of time designing merchandise, particularly compared to his predecessor, Steve Jobs, who was famously concerned within the smallest particulars of all the things Apple made. There are actually some that will see Musk as extra of a visionary chief extra within the mildew of Jobs.
Definitely, you might make the argument that Apple may use slightly extra Jobs, particularly when you’re within the camp that its merchandise are beginning to get slightly dated-at least from a design perspective. It is onerous to think about the final product Apple launched that had the identical impact because the iPhone.
Nonetheless, that is extra a press release about simply how transformational a product the iPhone was, and fewer an indictment of all the things Apple has accomplished since. The Apple Watch is the world’s hottest watch, outselling not solely all different smartwatches however the complete Swiss watch business.
AirPods, on their very own, generate greater than $12 billion a 12 months, and are the corporate’s second-most profitable product launch ever. Each merchandise are extremely profitable, however Apple’s tempo of innovation seems lots totally different than it did 15 years in the past.
Cook dinner, nevertheless, oversees a finely-tuned machine that persistently produces new merchandise, and extra importantly, hefty income. Neither is particularly true of Musk, who is much extra recognized for making large guarantees and stirring up controversy on social media.
The factor is, Musk’s guarantees and exaggeration are a part of his salesmanship at Tesla. He makes extravagant claims and everybody form of elements it into what you get with him on the prime.
That is undoubtedly not the kind of character you need on the prime of an organization like Apple. Is Apple as thrilling because it was in 2007 when it launched the iPhone? I feel we will all agree the reply is not any. Nonetheless, the answer is not to set the complete factor on fireplace in pursuit of slightly pleasure.
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