Apple: CEO Tim Cook On Ping, Instagram, Lawsuits And Oxygen

A few hours ago, I posted an extra-long live blog of Apple CEO Tim Cook's kickoff session at this year's D: All Things Digital conference. I'd encourage you to take a look-see; there a lot of there there. I've been schmoozing with the digerati for the last few hours, and the consensus seems to be that Cook - who many in the audience had never seen in person before - handled himself well, even if he didn't break a lot of news.

But he did have a few noteworthy things to say, which I wanted to highlight for those not ready to tackle the full fire hose of the original post.

• Cook said Apple did not consider buying Instagram, the photo-sharing app Facebook has agreed to acquire for about $1 billion in cash and stock.
• He says the company is not in talks for any large acquisitions - but that he would not rule out the possibility. He also says the company often makes small acquisitions without announcing them.
• On the social networking service Ping, he conceded that it has not worked as planned. "We tried Ping, and the customer voted, and said this is not something I want to put a lot of energy into it," he said. "Some customers love it, but there's not a huge number of them that do. Will we kill it? I don't know."
• He suggested repeatedly that Apple has incredible new things on the way, but gave no indication about what they were.
• Cook on what he learned from Steve Jobs: "He ... taught me that the joy is in the journey. And he taught all of us that life is fragile, and we are  not guaranteed tomorrow, so give it everything you got."
• He said the company is going to "double down on secrecy" when it comes to new products.
• Cook said it is possible that Apple at some point could assemble some products in the U.S. (But I wouldn't count on that happening for a long, long time to come.) For one thing, he notes that you could basically fit all of the U.S. tool-and-die industry in one hotel ballroom, which would make it harder to do that kind of manufacturing here.
• Cook says Apple has never filed patent litigation over what he calls "standard and essential" patents. He says no one should be able to get an injunction against production of specific goods over "standard and essential" patents. "If you add up what everyone says [their wireless phone] patents are worth, no one else could be in the phone business," he said. "It has kind of gotten crazy. Some of this is maddening. It is a waste, a time suck; however, does it stop innovation? It is not going to stop us. It is overhead, overhead that I wish didn’t exist."
• "Our north star is to make the best product."
• Apple TV remains "an area of intense interest" for the company, he said. But he would not say if they will make actual TVs.
• "I don't think Apple has to own a content business."
• Siri has become many people's best friend, he says. Cook aded that the company is doubling down on Siri.
• Asked about his heros, Cook cited Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King...and Disney CEO Robert Iger.
• Apple has no interest in entering the carrier business, he says.
• Cook says that Apple "is my oxygen."