Following WWDC 2014, there has been a lot of positive commentary about how Apple seems to have opened up and was listening to the requests from developers. There was also a lot of discussion on how wonderful the new “Continuity” focus was as compared to efforts from Microsoft and Google.
Given that Craig Federighi was on stage most of the time to explain these new features, Craig and his personality is getting a lot of attention. However, we have to remind ourselves how and when Craig was promoted to his current position.
It was on the occasion when Scott Forstall was ejected from the head of iOS development. Craig was given control of both OS X and iOS development, and was given the task of improving collaboration. And there is no doubt now that he has done a wonderful job.
But it is also true that this was Tim Cook’s vision all along. Tim Cook valued collaboration over the genius of Scott Forstall. He was the one that made the decision between choosing Craig and Scott. And his wisdom has paid dividends.
As much as WWDC2014 was about the new Apple, it also showed that Tim Cook was spot on in his strategy for the company as a whole. We can expect more fruits as the second half of 2014 unfolds.
Naofumi Kagami 