I downloaded ONE game on my i-devices: SpellTower. Every single time I open the app, the OS breathlessly instructs me to !!!LOG INTO GAME CENTER!!!. I have turned off Game Center EVERYWHERE. I have signed out of Game Center EVERYWHERE. Nothing will make that message go away. If I could shoot Game Center into the sun, I would. But I can’t because it’s built into the OS.
And boy do I feel your pain re Apple Music. I never use it, and it’s not the default app for anything, but I swear it launches itself a couple of times a week just to remind me that it’s there and needs attention.
I emailed Cook this week with a few paragraphs and got a short reply (was actually two sentences, all but one other from him have been just one sentence). Criticizing him is not my place, and heaping praise on him is not helpful. I simply thanked him for overseeing the making of tools I use daily. He took over in 2011, and I started my tiny neck of the woods in 2014, and these aluminum objects before me are still amazing to me. I got a MBP on my way out the Apple Store with my discount in 2011 and it was the tool that helped me get my feet wet (as far as the admin side of the job) in the career I’m in now.
The other thing I thanked him for was the humility to know when the time was right to step aside and be ok with someone else transitioning into the title he once held. There’s an area of my life, forgive my crypticness, that is filled with nothing but jealous envy at organizations and people who have the foresight to not plan to be in their role forever. The ability to think about the future of your organization affects so many little lives down the line that down have the visibility of the person at the top.