Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, was interviewed by the BBC yesterday. He talked about Apple, its major rivals Samsung and Microsoft, Tim Cook and the future for Apple. He said that Tim Cook isn’t out of place as the company’s leader as Steve Jobs “chose Tim Cook to be in that role, in that position,” because Jobs had a strong feeling of what makes a company and its products great, adding that Apple has remained “nimble and innovative” over the years despite its size. It was rumored recently that the company’s board had urged Tim Cook to be more innovative, market analysts often rant about how Apple hasn’t released a truly innovative product over the last two years, even Larry Ellison is pessimistic about Apple’s future without Jobs.. Wozniak said people who criticize Apple for that need to realize that “great advances in mankind don’t happen every year.”
On Microsoft, Wozniak has the view that it has been “resting on” the markets that it build up quite a long time ago. He doesn’t think that the outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer had a significant reign like Bill Gates had. Wozniak acknowledges that Samsung is a strong competitor for Apple, particularly because of their marketing prowess and distribution channels in many markets around the world where Apple does not command much influence. He says that the fight with Samsung is worth fighting for. Steve Wozniak’s interview can be viewed on the BBC’s website.