There's a lot of Apple-related questions right now, like "Why is Apple buying Beats?" or "is Apple really planning an iWatch?" The good news is that there are a few hours left to win an auction to share lunch with Apple CEO, Tim Cook so you can ask him yourself.
Do lunch!
Cook is offering one winning auction bidder the chance to share lunch at Apple HQ. The auction closes at 2 pm ET today (May 13). An auctioned coffee meeting with Cook last year raised $610,000 for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.
“Tech stars have become the new rock stars of the digital age," Coppy Holzman, founder and CEO of Charitybuzz, said. "It's a sign of the times that nothing is in higher demand than access to industry titans like Tim Cook. In fact, the power meeting with Cook last year brought in more money for the RFK Center than experiences with some of Hollywood's A-list celebrities.”
The auction isn't for the rest of us: the bidding currently stands at $180,000 meaning a date with Tim is something only the super-rich can aspire to; perhaps the auction could be run again as a lottery so Apple users from across the planet could win the chance to meet Apple's boss?
Despite that complaint, auctioning a luncheon date seems a nice way to raise cash for a leading human rights organization, and it underlines the depth with which Cook regards his role as a corporate citizen: It's not just about making money, it's also about delivering real benefit.
Not Steve Jobs
No surprise, of course, that under Cook's watch Apple has opened up charitable contributions to employees and made major moves to improve employee rights, environmental support and to end use of conflict minerals -- all things those climate-change-denying, greed-focused types may complain would "never have happened when Steve Jobs ran the firm."
Cook is evidently committed to making a positive difference on a personal and corporate level, and while his critics continue to point out the incredibly obvious truth Cook is not Steve Jobs, it is also clear that Cook has been far from idle as he quietly assembles the components Apple needs to underpin its coming moves into new industries, with R&D, M&A and recruitment activities at an all-time high.
If you have the cash to bid in the auction and would like to ask Cook about what he's planning, then be warned he probably won't tell you anything. You'll simply have to read his non-verbal cues. Though you might want to take a close look at what he's wearing on his wrist.
Google+? If you use social media and happen to be a Google+ user, why not join AppleHolic's Kool Aid Corner community and join the conversation as we pursue the spirit of the New Model Apple?
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when fresh items are published here first on Computerworld.