Tim Cook is passionate about augmented reality and virtual reality on his GQ profile

Apple CEO Tim Cook is very excited about augmented and virtual reality, as a new profile reveals, a far cry from calling the technology a “fail” in his previous comments.

Cook has often been the subject of interviews from a variety of publications. as a cover star for GQ Global Creativity Awards 2023 edition, he discusses how he works and his legacy at Apple, but also reveals more about himself.

In his conversations, he is seen to channel the “slightly wide-eyed” kid from Alabama who is surprised to become the most powerful businessman in the world.

“I haven’t been called normal,” Cook says. to publish. “I always hate the word normal in a lot of ways, because what some people use to describe normal equals explicit. Some people might use that word in that kind of way. I don’t know—I’ve been described as a lot of things, but normal isn’t one of them.”

As CEO, Cook is noted for being very approachable, going beyond eye contact and using first names in conversations. On campus, it is assured that no one gets distracted when they enter a public place and sit down, regardless of the mild tides.

Cooking reasons “I generally think people feel comfortable approaching me” upon hearing the remark.

AR, VR and headsets

Much of the profile is devoted to future technologies, like the much-rumoured AR and VR headset, and Cook had a lot to say on the subject, though he stopped short of confirming the headset’s existence.

“If you think of the technology itself through augmented reality, just to take one side of the AR/VR piece, the idea that you can overlay the physical world with things from the digital world can greatly enhance people’s communication, people’s communication,” he said. cook. “It can enable people to achieve things they couldn’t achieve before.”

He continued, “We might be able to collaborate on something a lot easier if we were sitting here brainstorming about it, and all of a sudden we could come up with something digital and see it together and start collaborating on creating it. The idea of ​​having this environment that might be better than just the real world — Overlaying the virtual world on top of it might be a better world.”

“And that’s exciting. If it can speed up creativity, if it can just help you do the things you do all day that you haven’t really thought about doing differently.”

When referring to Cook’s previous comments that he was skeptical about augmented and virtual reality, and acknowledging that “we always thought it was going to flop,” Cook defended himself by referring to Steve Jobs.

“My thinking is always evolving. Steve taught me well: to never marry your ex’s convictions. Always, if you’re presented with something new that says you were wrong, admit it and move on instead of continuing to hunker down and talk ‘why’ right.”

Apple Park and grab jobs

When discussing Apple Park itself, Cook spoke of an under-estimation of the value of workplaces. “It drives architecture to have these rectangular blocks on campus.”

Cook continued “You know, we can all design it fairly easily. You have to think on a deeper level to come up with something that promotes collaboration and openness and serenity.”

Coming to the inevitable discussion about Steve Jobs, Cook is said to be most comfortable with the crowd-facing elements of the job in which Jobs thrived.

“Obviously I had to grow into it,” Cook explains. “I thought the general focus on Apple was because of Steve. And so my mentality was taking the CEO role, especially without him, after he passed, I thought the fixation and so forth would continue. And it didn’t.”

At the moment after Jobs’ death, Cook felt “completely broken, completely empty.”

“I knew I couldn’t be Steve. I don’t think anyone could be Steve,” Cook added. “I think he was a once-in-a-hundred-year kind of individual, original in any way. And so what I had to do was be the best version of myself.”

Creative complaints

In his defense against characterizations that he was a spreadsheet guy, Cook insisted that Jobs saw creativity in action. “One of the things I loved about him was that he didn’t expect innovation from just one group in the company or creativity from one group, he expected it everywhere in the company,” Cook said.

This “everywhere” is included in Operations, Cook’s area of ​​expertise.

“When we were running operations, we tried to be innovative in operations and innovative in operations, just as we were innovative in other places,” Cook explained. “We basically had to build the products we were designing.”

“With my background, I’m used to people being decisive in some ways. I’m used to being offensive,” Cook recalls, given his high position in the company. “I try so hard not to take things personally that I don’t think they’re supposed to be personal. Critical heads talk—that kind of thing goes through me. It has to be, or I won’t be able to function.”

To combat these complaints, Cook uses various relaxation techniques, such as looking into the glass windows of a café. “I always think about hiking and things that are really calming when I’m here.”

Cook said he started cycling and hiking to further his love of the outdoors, then when he was told about hiking in California it became “almost a sin not to go out and enjoy it.” Nature is a “mind cleanser” for Cook, and it is “better than anything else you can do!”