What a New CEO is Likely to Mean for Apple’s Future

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Not a whole lot. That’s my take on it anyway, and here’s why:

The new CEO Tim Cook, appointed just minutes ago after Steve Jobs’ sudden resignation, has been at Apple since 1998 and has been a key player on the company’s road to success.

His now-outdated Apple bio says that as COO he was “responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries.”

And like Jobs, he is evidently passionate and deeply familiar with Apple’s mission. Cook said this on an earnings call two years ago:

We believe that we’re on the face of the earth to make great products and that’s not changing. We’re constantly focusing on innovating. We believe in the simple, not the complex. … We believe in saying no to thousands of projects so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us.

So Apple is in good hands, just as it was for periods during 2004 and 2009 when Cook was appointed temporary CEO during Jobs’ health-related leaves of absence.

Steve Jobs deserves recognition for remarkably turning Apple from a company in peril to the most profitable technology company in the world. Here’s hoping his resignation was not due to deteriorating health issues, although it very likely was.

The question is: Will Cook wear a black turtleneck and jeans on stage when he announces the iPhone 5 this October?

D.C. Earthquake Reporting & the Power of the Mobile Web

D.C. Earthquake

Minutes after 1:53 p.m. EST today, I noticed my Facebook and Twitter connects updating their statuses and tweeting about an event: “earthquake!”

I searched Google News and found this: Rare Strong Earthquake Hits Colorado, when today’s first quake struck Colorado. Five minutes after the event, few if any mainstream news organizations had posted a story about the D.C. quake.

Yet Twitter was exploding with people posting about the D.C. earthquake the instant it was happening, many from their mobile phones:

D.C. Earthquake Tweets

This is the power of the mobile web and a powerful side of technology. We are all citizens, always reporting.

Thankfully, no injuries were reported.

Updated Comment Policy & Community Guidelines

Commenter on a Soap Box

In response to some recent mean-spirited comments left on this blog, I have decided to write this Comment Policy to clarify basic etiquette that I expect from commenters at AppleiPhoneReview.com.

To be clear, most commenters are courteous and helpful, but these rules are intended for those few bad apples who offer no value to the conversation.

I reserve the right to edit or delete your comment if you disobey any of the following community guidelines. Breaking any of these rules more than once may get your IP address(es) banned from the comments section, at my discretion.

Thank you to the majority of commenters on this site who are kind in their replies.

Mandatory Community Guidelines

1. No insults. You have a right to express disagreement with an article on this site or with a comment, but express yourself in a civil manner. You probably wouldn’t call someone you disagree with “an idiot” (or worse) to their face, so don’t do it on this blog.

2. If you represent a company or institution of any kind, then you must disclose your affiliation in the comments. It is acceptable to talk about your commercial product or service on this site, as long as you are honest about who you work for.

3. Add value to the conversation. If your comment is simply a valueless statement such as “I love iPhone,” then it is not worth posting. Please either make an insightful comment, ask a question, or help someone by answering theirs.

In the coming days, I will be removing and/or editing past comments that do not follow these guidelines. Thanks for your patience as I deal with the occasional mean or dishonest commenter.

7 Features iPhone Could Have Had if iOS 5 Got Facebook Integration

iPhone Facebook Integration

Apple recently boasted about Twitter integration on the upcoming iOS 5, but what if we had gotten Facebook integration instead?

iPhone already lets you link your friends’ profile pictures to their contact information in your phone, but Facebook features are otherwise restricted to the Facebook app itself.

Below are 7 Facebook features that we could have had if Apple had gone through with Facebook, instead of Twitter, integration on iOS 5:

  1. Add a friend on Facebook through your Contacts.
  2. Post a photo to your Wall or to a friend’s Wall directly from the Photos app.
  3. Get updates in your status bar about incoming Facebook messages, comments, and other Facebook Notifications.
  4. Post to Facebook systemwide.
  5. Check into Facebook Places in the Maps app.
  6. Facebook Chat integration in Phone or Messages.
  7. Link Facebook Events into your iPhone Calendar.

No one knows for sure why Apple chose to integrate Twitter and not Facebook as a core part of the iOS platform, but one thing is certain: Facebook integration would be a much-valued feature for many users, and potential users, of the iPhone.

I use Twitter and will appreciate Twitter integration on iOS 5, but Facebook integration would have been even better, in my opinion.

What Facebook features would you like to see integrated into the iPhone?

Google Music for iPhone is a No-Go

Google Music iPhone

Well, what do you know: Google Music for iPhone is a no-go. Google’s new cloud music service is yet another major cloud service to snub the iPhone and iOS platform, after Amazon Cloud Player recently brushed aside the iPhone in its March 2011 launch.

Can the lack of Google Music for iPhone, along with other missing services on iPhone, give Android enough of a boost to continue to eat away at iPhone’s market share?

Google Music Beta, which was unveiled today, lets you upload your music collection and play it from your tablet or mobile phone, but that does not include your iPad or iPhone.

Google Music Not on iPhone

Rather, Google Music Beta makes your music accessible on Android tablets like the Motorola Xoom, and Android phones like the Motorola Droid and HTC EVO.

The question is: can major services afford to snub iPhone and still remain popular, or is ignoring iPhone a good strategy to take down the iPhone as a leading player in the smartphone market?

Would you like to see a Google Music iPhone version?
Feel free to voice your opinion in the comments.

Foursquare: Should a Company Owner Be the Mayor of His Own Venue?

Foursquare Check In

This post may be irrelevant to non-users of Foursquare, but I wanted to relay an interesting debate I had with my friend the other day: should the owner (or employees) of a company be the mayor of their own venue on Foursquare?

If you’re not familiar with Foursquare, the idea is that you “check in” to venues that you visit in the real world, and you in turn earn badges, points, mayorships and other rewards based on your check-in activity.

Many venues use Foursquare to reward customers who frequent their establishments. So if you are the mayor of your favorite Italian restaurant, for example, you might get special treatment such as your own exclusive table or a free glass of wine if the venue chooses to reward the Foursquare mayor. But here arises the dilemma:

Foursquare Etiquette & Ethics

If you are the mayor or employee of your own venue — that is, you own a restaurant and you check in every time you go to work — then you lose the opportunity to reward your best customers who are competing for the mayorship at your venue.

Personally, if I was the owner of a brick-and-mortar business, I would not check in to my own venue. Lots of people are using Foursquare nowadays, and I would want to find out who my best customers were and reward them.

The owner of a bar I frequent is the Foursquare mayor of his bar, and my friend upheld an opinion opposite my own, arguing that if you own a business — i.e. you are “king of the castle,” so to speak — then you are entitled to be the mayor of your own restaurant.

I have a friend who works at a restaurant and only checks in if he purchases something from the restaurant before or after work.

What’s Your Opinion?

If you use Foursquare, do you think that owners and employees of businesses should check in to their own establishments? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments.