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Tim Cook joined Apple because even 'when customers got mad at Apple, they'd continue to buy'
It's epic storytelling time at AllThingsD 10 as audience Q&A has begun, with Apple CEO Tim Cook opening up on why he came to join the company in the first place in response to a question from Lance Ulanoff of Mashable. To hear him tell it, an executive search firm came calling and he wasn't pressed -- until five minutes into his meeting with Steve Jobs. We'll let him tell it: It was a very interesting meeting. Steve had hired an executive search firm to find someone to run operations. They kept calling, and eventually I said 'Okay, I'll talk.' I flew out Friday on a redeye for a Saturday morning meeting with Steve. The honest-to-God truth, five minutes into the conversation I wanted to join Apple. I was shocked. Why did I want to do it? He painted a story and a strategy that he was taking Apple deep into consumer when I knew others were doing the exact opposite. I never thought following the herd was brilliant. He told me a bit about what would late be named the iMac, and I saw brilliance in that. I saw someone unaffected with money, and that has always impressed me when people do indeed have it. Those three things to me to throw caution to the wind and do it. I went back, and resigned immediately. Did I see the iPad and iPhone? No. What I saw was this: Apple was the only technology company that I knew of, including the one I was currently at, that when a customer got mad at a company, they'd continue to buy. If people got mad at Compaq, they'd buy Dell. If you were mad at Dell, you'd buy IBM. But an Apple customer was a unique breed; there's this emotion that you just don't see in technology in general. You could see it and feel it at Apple. When I looked at the balance sheet of the company, I thought I could do something in turning around a great American company. Whether you call it the reality distortion field or simply a strong brand attachment, it was enough, along with Steve Jobs' vision, to lure Tim Cook to work at Apple even when things weren't going so well back in 1998. Can he keep the shield generators running as CEO? Time will tell.
Patch 4.1: Blizzard explains new valor point mechanics
The era of the daily heroic is over! After much speculation that the one run per day random dungeon valor point rewards would turn into seven runs per week randoms instead, it turns out we are all getting exactly what we hoped for. Blizzard has finally commented on (and explained) the incoming valor point change, which will hopefully make gearing up and gaining valor points easier for players who don't have the time or want to play each and every night to run a random for their points. Lylirra explains:
PTR Patch 4.1: New code hints at random dungeon change
A bit of new code recently added to the PTR that's been uncovered by MMO-Champion might hint at an awesome new change to the way valor points will be earned from the random dungeon finder. Of particular note is this string: LFD_RANDOM_REWARD_EXPLANATION1 = "The first seven random dungeons of this tier that you complete each week will earn you:"; What this seems to suggest is that instead of doing one random heroic dungeon per day to gain valor points, the system will be changed so that the first 7 random heroics you do, no matter which days, will grant valor points. This is an awesome change for those of us who do not play every day and instead like to stockpile our heroic dungeoneering on the weekend. Many of us weekend warriors have been asking for this very specific change to the random dungeon "highest tier" badges/points reward system since the beginning of the random heroic system. Hopefully this wonderful change makes it to live. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Darth Steve deploys the RDF in latest Taiwainese news animation
This cinematic masterpiece is well beyond any comment or explanation we can provide, but I'll try. 3D animated re-enactments of the news are popular in Taiwan, and several top stories from the past few months have broken out as viral videos. In this case, the animators decided to give visual life to Steve Jobs' legendary Reality Distortion Field as the power of the dark side of the Force, complete with Darth Vader's trademark helmet (earned in single combat with another tech legend). From eager buyers in a line for 'iCrap,' to Darth Steve force-choking a certain blogger, to a rather permanent lightsaber-based solution to the iPhone 4's antenna issues -- this one's got it all. Enjoy. [via Daring Fireball]
Found Footage: The reality distortion field, caught on video
Think Apple's products are "really great," "incredible," "amazing," "really easy" to use, "awesome," "terrific," "incredible," "great," and "amazing"? If so, it's probably because Apple told you that's what they were in last week's presentation. The above video's been making the rounds -- it's all of the adjectives cut out of the recent Apple event, and compiled together into a machine-gun lineup of just how Apple sets up their products. Now, just because these words kept showing up and being used doesn't mean there's some malicious brainwashing going on here -- it's probably true that Apple really does think that their products are "incredible," and "amazing," and "really great." And let's face it, they've never really been real up-to-date on the language anyway. They probably could use a thesaurus: maybe at the next event, the new MacBooks could be "marvelous," "extraordinary," or "glorious." But it does show you just how much we're shaped by what we see at these events -- Steve's and Apple's enthusiasm for these things is infectious. Apple's products really are amazing, but it doesn't hurt that most of us sit down to watch, read, or listen to an hour or two of them telling us just how "amazing," "incredible," and "really great" they are.
Apple Store team busy installing extra noise, additional funk
As has been widely emailed by our crack readers, the Apple Store is down as of midnight. We'd chalk this up to actual maintenance, but since it is officially Tuesday on the US East Coast, we'll give it the new-product benefit of the doubt. Some items, including Airport Express units and the Mac Mini, have been reported in limited availability mode for a while, so it's possible that we'll see some revisions come daylight. We also have been told that the iPod touch January Update is mysteriously unavailable for purchase at the moment (thanks Will!) so perhaps that's in play as well. Of course, it could just be, you know, maintenance.The question must be considered: are the Apple Store outages really technically necessary to update the store content, or are they a form of grass-roots marketing that primes the buying audience for something new? After all, Amazon, Dell and Newegg add products constantly and never seem to stall into these extended cones of silence. Is the Tuesday lacuna just a passive-aggressive way to get our attention, like a child throwing a sulk? Recently, former Apple staffer Chuq von Rospach suggested via a Twitter response to Shawn King that the architecture of the Apple Store really, truly does require extended downtime to make changes to the product lineup. If that's the case, then this is an astonishingly powerful argument for the existence of the RDF -- only a marketing force capable of warping the fabric of space could turn an engineering flaw into self-generating hype with every minor tweak of the product line.Update 7 am ET: Looks like it was only maintenance after all.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
The Onion: Apple launches iLaunch
One things about Apple geeks: We're not afraid to make fun of our own fanatical devotion. Take this great article at The Onion which describes the latest Apple product, The "iLaunch:""The iLaunch runs Keynote-formatted presentations in high definition through a built-in projector while displaying a 3-D rotating image of the product. Voice-recognition software, Apple's most advanced to date, can recite a speech highlighting the features of the device while injecting several clever digs at competitors..."I'd like to see a "Reality Distortion Field: Home Edition."
BBC: "Why I don't believe Steve Jobs"
Bill Thompson doesn't particularly like Apple. In his latest BBC News column, he manages to hit a bunch of anti-Apple notes: Apple is over-covered in by the media, Jobs single-handedly stole attention from the Consumer Electronic Show with the iPhone announcement, that Macs are regularly mentioned in the same breath as the PC, the "reality distortion field", and so forth. Finally, about halfway down the column, Mr. Thompson makes his point: Apple is bad for refusing to license FairPlay and they are bad for using DRM on tracks that are sold elsewhere without DRM. "Jobs also said that Apple would stop using DRM in an instant if they could...I don't believe him." He does, however, believe reports that EMI is willing to set up stores without DRM despite any official announcement and he believes that Jobs will be crushed under foot by "those who really understand the music business and didn't sell their souls to the record companies back in the days when they believed in DRM." I personally think that non-DRM is the way of the future. I also agree with Mr. Thomson's suggestion that removing DRM from sales will open up digital downloads to a much bigger audience of consumers, who are put off by the "only plays on iPods and iTunes" restrictions. I'm just not sure that Apple will be crushed under foot to get there.
Steve Jobs likes to repeat himself
Now that Steve Jobs is throwing us all for a loop with this brand new "Thoughts on X" series of his (please let it be a series, we're dying to know how he feels about season three of Lost), we thought it would be appropriate to remind ourselves of his glorious RDF moments of yore, and there didn't seem to be much of a better way to capture it all in a nutshell than this, um, repetitive video of his favorite RDF-inducing expressions. If that's not enough of his Steveness to wash that crazy "transparency" taste out of your mouth, you could always peep that second read link for a nice collection of his better moments in front of a camera. Long live NeXTStep! Read - Steve Jobs' favorite phrasesRead - Steve Jobs live
Analysis: Phone Keyboards - Out of the RDF
I guess I'm as susceptible to the famed Steve Jobs "Reality Distortion Field" as the next guy, but even during my initial viewing of the Keynote there was one thing that really bugged me: Jobs' claims about smartphone hardware keyboards. He said:"the problem with them is... they all have these keyboards that are there whether you need them or not.." Further, if the manufacturer happens to "think of a great idea six months from now you can't run around and add a button to these things; they're already shipped."Hmm...
Macworld 2006 Stevenote: boon or bust?
The dust has cleared, Steve's Reality Distortion Field faded away, and the Keynote is a mere memory. Now is the right time to ask you, our dear readers, if you thought this keynote was great or a yawn. On the showfloor reaction seems to be mixed, but I would have to say that more people are excited than now, how about yourself?
I've got your Reality Distortion Field right here
My new favorite Mock Apple Web Page: Reality Distortion Field. Damn them for making the entire page an image! How am I supposed to gratify myself if I can't keep adding more G5 minis and iPod monos into my shopping cart??? BTW - did you know that "reality-distortion field" is actually an entry at Dictionary.com with a specific reference to Steve Jobs? Does anyone know exactly who first used the phrase to refer to Jobs? I know Michael Malone uses it often in his book, Infinite Loop, but it was coined long before that. [thanks to Robert for the tip]
