Aleen Mean

New Apple

When the WWDC keynote started with a video from Bill Hader, I tweeted, “This is a new Apple.

Today, Phil Schiller took the stage with John Gruber at The Talk Show live. I don’t think this is something that would have happened even a year or two ago.

Steve Jobs was all about products, design, and experiences. It obviously served Apple well, but I think things are starting to shift as Tim Cook really falls into his role as the new leader of the company. It’s been long enough now that those who believed Apple would be doomed under his watch are no longer of any import–clearly the company is alive and well.

In the last year, Tim (can I call him Tim?) has done more to put a human face on the company than Steve Jobs ever did. Last year, he ended years of speculation about his sexuality with a wonderfully written article in Bloomberg. He’s talked about his commitment to increasing diversity in technical spaces. Just a few days ago, he stated that the dearth of diversity in the tech community was one that we created ourselves. Apple is taking steps to improve that (I’m attending WWDC on a scholarship because of my involvement with App Camp for Girls), and yesterday’s keynote had female engineers on stage for the first time since 2007.

I believe that we’ll look back on Tim Cook’s time at Apple and see how it became about people and not about things.

I’m excited to be a small part of this, and I can’t wait to see where it goes.