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Tim Cook slams author who claims Apple on the decline after Steve Jobs

Published Mar 18th, 2014 4:32PM EDT
Tim Cook Vs. Yukari Kane: Haunted Empire

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Tim Cook may come across as outwardly calm and collected but he definitely has fire in his belly when the time calls for it. Business Insider notes that the Apple CEO was asked during a CNBC interview on Tuesday about Yukari Iwatani Kane’s new book about Apple after the death of Steve Jobs and he didn’t mince words.

“This nonsense belongs with some of the other books I’ve read about Apple,” Cook said. “It fails to capture Apple, Steve, or anyone else in the company. Apple has over 85,000 employees that come to work each day to do their best work, to create the world’s best products, to put their mark in the universe and leave it better than they found it. This has been the heart of Apple from day one and will remain at the heart for decades to come. I am very confident about our future.”

Kane, a veteran Apple reporter who has a lot of sources within the ever-secretive company, has written a new book called Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs that argues Apple has been on a downward trajectory ever since Jobs’ passing and has stopped making the “insanely great” products that could only come from a visionary leader like Jobs. Kane has also routinely bashed Apple’s current management for being too focussed on the past and not doing enough to produce the next “disruptive” major tech product.

That Cook would not be a fan of Kane’s book isn’t surprising since she regularly takes him to task for the grave sin of not being Steve Jobs. However, it is somewhat surprising to hear him slam Kane’s book not only because he’s generally restrained in his public remarks but also because these remarks are all but guaranteed to raise the book’s profile and boost its sales even higher.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.