苹果CEO库克：只做正确的事，不管有没有人反对

苹果CEO蒂姆·库克不久前表示，在涉及隐私、人权和环境的问题上，他最关注“什么是正确的”，哪怕这会让一些客户和股东感到不快。

在纽约市举办的“《时代》全球最具影响力100人峰会”上，库克表示：“我尽量不去纠结是谁让我们不好受，我认为当尘嚣落定、浮华散去的时候，人们怎么评价我们，更多取决于我们为自己的信仰坚持了什么……”

他继续说道:“我认为即便人们不认可我们的做法，也会赞赏我们的立志。我们这样做，是因为我们深信这样做是对的，相信我们自己独特的视角。我们关注的是政策，不是政治。”

在近30分钟的讨论中，库克谈到了大企业在政治中的地位，和他从科技行业中看到的善与恶。另外他还表示，他认为苹果对社会最大的贡献，最终将是在医疗保健领域。

库克于2011年接替乔布斯成为苹果CEO。在周二的大会上，他谈到了很多具体问题，当然其中也有一些利己主义的成份在，不过他的话也使我们了解到，作为世界最强大的公司之一的领导人，促使他继续奋斗的动力是究竟什么。

以下是他谈话的要点：

企业在政治中的角色

库克认为，世界上的问题不能只靠政府来解决，在某些情况下，企业也必须参与进来。

不过库克也表示，苹果不可能在每次政治对话中都扮演一定的角色。不过，在气候变化、移民和教育等问题上，苹果还是会坚持“正当的立场或看法”。

在库克的领导下，苹果在移民、中美贸易政策以及一系列社会问题上，都采取了与美国总统特朗普针锋相对的立场。众所周知，特朗普是个不肯吃哑巴亏的人，他曾多次公开抨击反对其政策的企业高管，库克也是其中之一。去年库克曾表示，特朗普提出的关税政策将损害苹果的海外业务。

对科技行业加强监管

库克表示，他是一个“思想上非常崇尚自由市场的人”。不过他也强烈支持对科技行业进行监管。

库克表示：“我们必须理智地承认，我们现在的做法是不管用的。科技行业需要被监管，有太多例子证明，如果不对科技行业进行规范，必然会给社会造成巨大损失。”

虽然库克并没有举具体的例子，不过由于用户信息泄露事件频频发生，科技行业已经遭受了激烈了批评。另外，科技行业也尚未采取足够的防范措施，避免不法分子窃取敏感的个人信息。

不过库克也表示，要想对隐私问题和科技行业的各种商业做法都实行有效监管，难度是非常大的。库克称，美国的商业气候是“大家认为所有的监管都是坏监管，这种思潮是很难克服的。”

编程的重要性

许多年来，苹果一直主张，我们每个人都应该懂编程，这样大家才能写程序和做APP。他表示，编程“是孩子们需要掌握的一项核心技能”，因为它使孩子能创造性地表达自己，同时它也为培养孩子的数学和逻辑能力打下了坚实基础。他还认为，编写软件还有助于孩子们点燃对艺术的热情。

“我认为世界上的每个孩子都应该学习编程，因为我认为，这是你能学到的最重要的第二语言。”库克表示：“编程是唯一的全球性语言。”

苹果将成健康巨头

在过去几年间，苹果已悄然进入了医疗领域。它的苹果手表（Apple Watch）添加了健康追踪功能，苹果还与斯坦福大学合作开展了一项对人类心脏的研究。

库克表示，这些才仅仅是个开始。

虽然没有透露细节，但库克表示，苹果目前正在做“做更多的事情”,来帮助人们了解自己的健康状况。随着时间的推移，库克相信，苹果可以“在医疗保健领域做出重大贡献”。

库克表示，苹果今天可能是一家硬件和服务公司。但与未来苹果从事的业务相比，今天的一切都会相形见绌。

库克表示：“我认为，总有一天，当我们回首往事的时候，我们会说，苹果公司对人类最大的贡献，是在医疗保健方面。”（财富中文网）

作者：Don Reisinger

译者：朴成奎

Apple CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday that he focuses on “what’s right” when it comes to decisions touching on privacy, human rights, and the environment even though it may not sit well with some customers and shareholders.

“I try not to get wrapped up in a pretzel about who we upset,” Cook said at the Time 100 Summit in New York City. “I think at the end of the day, and not in the thick of the moment, we’ll be judged more on what did we stand up for what we believed in…

He continued: “I think people appreciate that, even when they do disagree. We do them out of believing deeply that they’re right and we do have a unique lens. We focus on the policy, not the politics.”

Cook talked about big corporations and their place in the political process during a nearly 30-minute discussion. He also spoke about the good and bad he sees in the tech industry, and why he believes Apple’s greatest contributions to society could ultimately be in healthcare.

While his comments were often light on specifics and a bit self-serving, Cook, who took over for Steve Jobs in 2011, did shed some light on what drives him as leader of one of the world’s most powerful companies.

Here are the big takeaways:

The Role of Business in Politics

Cook said that the world’s problems cannot only be solved by government. In some cases, companies must get involved.

But Cook said it’s not Apple’s place to play a role in every political conversation. The company will, however, take a stand when it has a “legitimate position or lens on the issue,” he said, like climate change, immigration, and education.

Apple, under Cook, has faced off against President Donald Trump on topics as far-ranging as immigration, China trade policies, and other social issues. Those public rebukes have earned Apple some pushback from a President who is known for publicly attacking executives who oppose his policies. The attacks include Cook, who said last year that Trump’s proposed tariffs would hurt Apple’s overseas business.

Regulating the Tech Industry

Cook said he’s a “deeply a free-market person in mindset,” yet he strongly believes that the tech industry needs to be regulated.

“We have to be intellectually honest and admit that what we’re doing isn’t working,” said Cook. “Technology needs to be regulated. There are now too many examples where the no rails have resulted in a great damage to society.”

Although Cook didn’t cite examples, the tech industry is facing intense criticism over its sharing of vast troves of customer information, as well as concerns that it’s not doing enough to secure services from bad actors looking to steal sensitive personal information.

Still, Cook cautioned that the chances of actually getting effective regulation on topics ranging from privacy to tech industry business practices may be difficult. Cook said that the U.S. business climate is one that “thinks all regulation is bad regulation, and that’s a very difficult tide to work through.”

The Importance of Coding

For years, Apple has argued that everyone should know how to code so they can build apps or programs. Cook echoed that by saying that that coding is “a core skill that kids need to have” because it lets children express themselves creatively, while still providing a foundation of mathematics and logic. And he thinks the software children create could allow them to ignite passion in the arts.

“I think every kid in the world should learn to code because I think it’s the most important second language you can learn,” Cook said. “It’s the only global language.”

Apple, the Healthcare Giant

Over the last several years, Apple has been moving into healthcare with health-tracking features in its Apple Watch and a partnership with Stanford University on a study involving human hearts.

But it’s only the beginning, Cook said.

Without discussing specifics, Cook said that Apple is currently “working on a bunch more things” to help people track their health. And over time, he believes Apple can “make significant contributions to health care.”

The tech giant may be a hardware and services company today, Cook said, but all of that could pale in comparison to what it will do in the future.

“I do think there will be the day that we will look back and say that Apple’s greatest contribution to mankind was in health care,” Cook said.