Apple Executives Open Up in Extensive Interview with Fast Company

Fast Company recently gained exclusive access to Apple CEO Tim Cook, along with executives Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi for their upcoming September issue. The interview details how Cook and company are being patient in their work at Apple in coming up with the best products for customers, despite setbacks along the way.

According to Cook, “The most important thing is, Do you have the courage to admit that you’re wrong? And do you change?” He followed up to say “The most important thing to me as a CEO is that we keep the courage.”

“People like things they can do now, not just think about,” Cook explained. “I’ve been thinking about The Jetsons since I was a kid. But occasionally you want The Jetsons to come to reality. That’s what Apple is so great at: Productizing things and bringing them to you, so you can be a part of it.”

The long piece also reveals why Apple opened up iOS betas to the public—to help improve Apple Maps, long seen as one of the company’s blunders since it launched.

“The reason you as a customer are going to be able to test iOS,” Cue says, “is because of Maps.” He went on to say “Maps presents huge issues relating to data integration and data quality, things we would need to do on an ongoing basis.”

Today, “several thousand people” work on Maps, whereas when it launched, the former ousted executive Scott Forstall, oversaw only dozens of people working on the product. Cue explained “We needed to develop competencies that we initially didn’t appreciate.”

As for the future of Maps, Cue didn’t elaborate, but did provide an example of what could be coming: “Let’s say I’m at home doing email before work,” he says. “I’d like Maps to tell me, ‘Don’t leave now. Your commute will be cut by 15 minutes if you stay home for a while.’ That would be very helpful.”

The entire interview is worth reading (we won’t spoil it)—you can check it out here.

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