Cook admits that he was previously unaware of the existence of many of the exhibits. It was only when preparing for this exhibition that he realized what was lying dormant in the company archives. The first patent granted to the company concerned the Apple II, the first mass-produced computer. The group has now been awarded between 140,000 and 150,000 patents.
Sudden successes only in retrospect
On other tables, the exhibition shows oversized internal developer versions of iPods and iPhones in roughly screwed-together cases, along with wide cables and bare circuit boards. The early prototype of the Apple Watch led Cohen to note that the smartwatch was not an immediate success. Cook replied that one never perceives an immediate success in the present, but instead only appears that way when one looks at it later: iPhone, iPod and Apple Watch were not all overnight success products. The ultimate success, however, is due to continuous innovation.
iPod instead of CD changer
Cook shared a personal anecdote about the iPod: At the time, he thought it was very cool to have a CD changer in the car so that he could switch between five albums. Then suddenly carrying a collection of 1,000 songs in his pocket (an advertising slogan from 2001) seemed revolutionary to him. When asked what song he was listening to when he first tried out the iPod, he replied, “I think it was the Beatles. It was probably ‘Hey Jude.’ He countered the question about future products with a metaphor: “You can’t have a ship that leaks from the top.” And when does he want to step down as CEO and choose a successor? “When the day comes, I will know.”
