Tim Cook hat unlängst im Interview mit Walt Mossberg ein wenig aus dem Nähkästchen bezüglich Apple und den Visionen für deren Produkte geplaudert:

Walt: A lot has happened in the last year…Samsung and Android have grown, stock is down. Sense that Apple has lost its cool. Is Apple in trouble?

Tim: Absolutely not. We’re a product company and we think about products. Restates some sales numbers, customer satisfaction and usage ratings. 59% share of web usage. I feel pretty good. Unprecedented number of new products coming out of December of last year.

Kara: But still, you have competent rivals now, and Wall Street is sensitive to this.

Tim: We’ve always had competent rivals. Microsoft, Dell, etc. But we’ve always suited up and fought. I don’t see that different today. We always focus on making the best products.

Kara: So outside perception doesn’t bother you?

Tim: If you look at the stock, it’s been frustrating…for investors and us. But this isn’t unprecedented. Having been around awhile, you see many cycles. What we have to do is focus on products. If we make great products that enrich people’s lives, the rest just happens.

Walt: You need hits. It’s been awhile (since your last „Game-Changer). Are you still that company?

Tim: Yes, we’re still that company. Have some incredible plans we’ve been working on for a while. Incredible ideas. Same culture that brought you the iPhone, iPad, iPod, and some who brought you the Mac…still here.

Kara: You talked about television last year. Where is that project now?

Tim: We’re still playing in TV with Apple TV. We’ve now sold over 13 million, half of those in the last year. It’s been good from a learning point of view for Apple. We think a lot about the TV experience can be better. We answered some of those with Apple TV, but not all, and we’re still working on that.

Kara: Is there a grand vision (Apple TV)?

Tim: There is.

Kara: So what’s your take on Google Glass?

Tim: There are some positives. Likely to appeal to certain markets. Hard to see broad appeal though. Wearables are incredibly interesting…it could be a profound area.

Kara: So…glasses, clothing. Where are you interested?

Tim: I’m interested in a great product. I wear glasses because I have to. People generally want glasses to reflect their fashion, style, etc. So this is difficult from a mainstream point of view. I think the wrist is natural. I think there are other things in this space that could be interesting. Sensors are exploding. It will become clearer over time.

Walt: Want to talk about Android. You started the modern smartphone movement, and now Android swamps you in unit share and carriers. How do you feel about that? It’s happened pretty quickly.

Tim: Do I look at it? Of course…I don’t have my head stuck in the sand. But winning has never been about having the most for us. Arguably we make the best PC, but not the most. We make the best music player, and did wind up making the most, but we didn’t initially. We make the best tablet, and we make the most. We make the best phone, but we don’t make the most. To assess the health of a company, you need to look at a lot of measurements…usage, for example. iPad share is in the 80s. Twice as many e-commerce transactions on iPad as on all Android devices combined…tablets plus phones.

Walt: Let’s talk about iOS

Tim: Last fall we changed things up, to really ramp up our innovation. The key in the post-PC era is to have incredible hardware, software, and services, and to combine them so you can’t tell what’s what. The magic is at the intersection. So we amped it up. We recognized Jony’s contributions to the look and feel of Apple over the years, and that he could do it for software too.

Kara: How are you different than Steve?

Tim: In a ton of different ways. But in the most important ways, we’re the same. Keeping the culture of Apple…that’s the most important.

Walt: Some people like a lot bigger screens. Then some like devices between phones and tablets, that operate with a stylus. Are those concepts different enough?

Tim: A large screen today comes with a lot of tradeoffs. Customers are looking at size, but they’re also looking at „do photos show the right color?“ White balance, reflectivity, battery life, longevity…all very important. Our customers want us to weigh those and come out with a decision. At this point we think the Retina display is the best. In a hypothetical world where tradeoffs don’t exist, screen size would be a differentiation.

Walt: Let’s talk about control…open vs. closed. Facebook did Facebook Home, which hasn’t done well. I understand they talked to you about it, and Apple wouldn’t let anyone take over the lock screen. Your keyboard, recognition, predictive typing, etc. hasn’t kept up with Android. They allow others to make that technology. Have you given thought to a little less control?

Tim: Of course. In general, you’ll see us opening up more APIs in the future, but not to the degree where customers are at risk of bad experiences. Always a fine line, or maybe not so fine. The customer pays us to make choices on their behalf. But you’ll see us open up more.

Q: Best products have great services, and Google is running circles around you with search, maps, etc. What services are coming to help keep people on iOS?

A: iMessage is an interesting service…we deliver 2 billion messages per day. iTunes delivering incredible content. FaceTime is used tremendously. But we’re making tons of adjustments in services…the magic is where hardware, software, and services meet.

Q: What’s going on with maps?

A: It’s very important…one reason why we’re investing as much as we are. Mapping is complex, and not just underlying data, but things like POIs and other pieces. We’ve made many, many improvements.

Q: Is Apple Maps fixed?

A: We screwed up there. Things are greatly improved, and we’re putting a lot of bright people on it. Still work to do.

Q: On the Mac, iLife was a differentiator. Is it important to have something similar for iOS?

A: On the iPad, productivity has been very key. Some were concerned it would be consumption-only, but it isn’t. We got iWork on there, and Pages is the most popular paid app of all time on iPad. We have GarageBand, iMovie, etc. We’ve tried to put balance on content creation. You’ll continue to see some cool things there.